REL 1250 - Introduction to Christianity-Online (4)

Through an interdisciplinary exploration of the Christian tradition, students will enhance their understanding of the peoples, doctrines, rituals, institutions and values historically associated with Christian life and thought.  Students will sharpen their critical thinking skills and better appreciate the ways Christian adherents shape and are shaped by culture, politics, economics and society. Utilizing an academic approach to the study of religious traditions, cross-cultural competencies and critical thinking skills will be cultivated enabling students to successfully negotiate increasingly diverse environments and workplaces in a progressively interlinked world. 

Office: 217 Varner Hal

E-mail: cmabee@oakland.edu          

Office Phone:  1-248-370-2154

Office Hours:  by cell phone appointment        

Cell Phone:  1.517.944.5550

1. Informs students of foundational Christian ideas and practices that contribute to global cultural capital operative in public spaces beyond narrowly defined faith communities.

2. Provides a deeper understanding of fundamental concepts and values that exert continuing influence upon broader contemporary social behavior.

3. Develops critical-thinking skills which examine Christian religious ideas and commitments from a neutral, state-university standpoint.

4. Explores the cultural meaning of Christian language and teachings, and probes the deeper questions of universal human existence underlying its religious symbolism and ethical teaching.

5. Achieves a deeper understanding of Christian history and thought that provides a basis of a more informed knowledge of its central teachings and doctrines.

6. Broadens the understanding of the role of foundational texts, theology and church doctrine in Christian renewal and development throughout the world.

There are 6 major learning modules in the class that last two weeks each.  You are evaluated throughout the semester for your comprehension of the assigned modular reading in two ways:  by quiz or essay. Throughout the semester, you are given the first week of each module to complete the assigned reading (all due dates are given on the Moodle homepage and are absolute).  In those modules when a content essay is required, the essay is due by 10:00pm sharp on the due date indicated.  No late work is accepted unless cleared with the professor ahead of time due to extreme extenuating circumstances.  The purpose of the content essay is to show that you have completed a detailed and careful analysis of the assigned reading.  A more detailed description of this essay is given on the Moodle homepage.  

At the beginning of the second week of each module you will post in the appropriate Moodle “Forum” the final version of the content essay (generally 3-4 pages, single-spaced, space between paragraphs).  Appropriate dates are given below and on the Moodle homepage. Then, several days later after you have had a chance to read the posted content essays of your fellow learners, near the end of this second week, you will submit a second (next-step) essay which is more subjective in nature.  The intention here is to show how you are understanding and processing ideas that you find in the posted content essays of your fellow learners in the class. At this point you complement the objective content essay based solely on the reading with a second essay: a subjective essay that serves to help “personalize” your learning experience.  You can do that by relating the reading assignment to your own life history, or you may provide additional research that you find helpful to augment the assigned reading, or you may choose to elaborate on the ideas of your fellow students that you wish to develop additional thought and/or discussion. The content essay is the more important of the two essays because it serves as the foundation of your modular learning and is given appropriately greater weight in the grading process (weighted by Moodle to be 3/4 of your final modular grade).  The second modular essay is termed the “next-step essay” because it serves to share with the professor and your fellow learners in class how you personally are taking your learning to the “next step” and provides additional evidence of the depth of your engagement with the subject matter under discussion, as well as your level of interest in the learning experience that the class provides (it is weighted by Moodle to be 1/4 of your final modular grade).    You will be given a separate grade for each essay based on a 20-point scale. However, Moodle will automatically weigh the two essays separately in terms of their modular value: i.e., the content is worth 75%, and the next-step essay is worth 25% of the final modular grade.

Class Grading

Grades in this course will be based on equal evaluations of each of the six learning modules and the final paper:  each module and the final paper is worth 1/7 of your final class grade.  

Remember:   Late submission of any work is not acceptable!!

There are 6 major learning modules in the class that last two weeks each.  Each module requires either two submissions or quizzes.  The individual weighted value of these submissions or quizzes are given on the Moodle homepage.  You will receive a grade for each module indicating the quality of your work utilizing a “20-point” scale.  You can access your modular grade through the Moodle “grades” link. Here is how the grading scale translates into a letter grade.  
 

Highest

Lowest %

Letter

100%

94%

A

Below 94%

90%

A-

Below 90%

86%

B+

Below 86%

80%

B

Below 80%

77%

B-

Below 77%

73%

C+

Below 73%

70%

C

Below 70%

67%

C-

Below 67%

63%

D+

Below 63%

60%

D

Below 60%

0.00%

F

Note:  The Final paper uses a 40-point grading system, but its weighted value is the same as individual modules, i.e., 1/7 of the total class grade.