Mar 28, 2024  
2019-20 Syllabus 
    
2019-20 Syllabus [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

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REL 3140 - Religion in the Modern World -Online (4)


Oakland University, College of Arts and Sciences, Religious Studies Program
Syllabus

Course Information:
CRN: 11501
Campus: Internet
Schedule Type: Fully Online

The course addresses fundamental issues facing Western civilization at the beginning of the 21st century as these issues relate to the world’s great Western religious traditions-Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. It also explores the accumulation of generational “wisdom capital” found within these religious expressions as they struggle to find authentic expression in light of modern challenges broadly faced throughout the Western cultural experience.  Specific issues addressed are the following: (1) The nature of women’s perspective on religion and their contemporary struggle for social equality; (2) the peculiar religious issues associated with the rise of the Internet; (3) the scope and underlying presuppositions of modern religious fundamentalism (found throughout the spectrum of Western religious experience); and (4) the peculiar earmarks and core dynamics of acts of religious violence and terrorism.


Professor Information:
Instructor:   Charles Mabee, Ph.D.    

Office: 217 Varner Hal

E-mail: cmabee@oakland.edu    

ffice Phone:  1-248-370-2154

Office Hours:  by cell phone appointment    

Cell Phone:  1.517.944.5550

 


Learning Outcomes:
 

General Education Learning Outcomes:  On completion of this course the student will demonstrate

       1.    Knowledge of the core values, key terms and concepts of the formative religious traditions impacting Western civilization, especially as those living traditions continue to evolve within the broader context of this over-arching civilization.

       2.    The ability to analyze and critique the application of these core values, terms and concepts to contemporary social, cultural and political issues that continue to challenge Western civilization.

 

Cross-Cutting Capacities: 

      1. Social Awareness-This course raises the awareness of fundamental issues facing Western culture and provides resources for the assumption of the role of the critically aware citizen through gaining the knowledge of religious thought that both emanates from the broader society and offers potential avenues of resolution for its problems.
      2. Critical Thinking-This course examines religious ideas and commitments from the standpoint of neutral analysis, encouraging the formation of critical judgment on the part of the student. It explores the underlying meaning of religious language and thought, and gives significant attention to the problem of developing an independent voice freed from the restraints of institutional persuasion.
 

Course Objectives:

1.    Characterize the nature of religious studies as an academic discipline.

2.    Demonstrate detailed knowledge and understanding in selected content areas of religious studies; including the application of seminal ideas found at the core of major religious traditions of the West to contemporary issues, broad knowledge of the history of those ideas expressed within the various religious communities associated with core religious traditions, and a critical awareness of the search for common ideas and practices within these various traditions, with special attention given to shared ethical beliefs and practices.


Textbooks and Materials:
Lynn Japinga, Feminism and Christianity:  An Essential Guide (Abingdon, 1999)

Craig Detweiler, iGods (Brazos, 2013)

Steve Bruce, Fundamentalism [Key Concepts in the Social Sciences] (Polity, 2000)

Mark Juergensmeyer, Terror in the Mind of God: The Global Rise of Religious Violence, 4th ed. (California, 2017)


Assignments and Grading:
Grades in this course will be based on equal evaluations of each of the six learning modules and the final paper.  Remember: Late submission of work is not acceptable!!  Don’t put yourself in the position of “last minute” scrambling to post your essay.

 

There are 6 major learning modules in the class that last approximately 2 weeks each.  Generally, throughout the semester, you are given the first week of the module to complete the assigned reading and produce a rough outline of the key points you will develop in the “content” essay that is due near the beginning of the second week of the module (all due dates are given on the Moodle homepage and are absolute).  No late work is accepted unless cleared with the professor ahead of time.  The purpose of this “content” essay is to show that you have completed a detailed and careful analysis of the assigned reading (hence the name!).  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 this reading essay (generally 3-4 pages, single-spaced, space between paragraphs).  Then, several days later after you have had a chance to read the posted essays of your fellow learners, you will submit a second essay which is more subjective in nature. This is called the “dialogical” essay.  The intention here is to show how you are understanding and processing key ideas that you find in the posted content essays of your fellow learners in the class. Now you complement the objective reading essay with a subjective essay that serves to help “personalize” your learning experience by relating it to your own life history, or it may provide additional research that you find helpful to augment the assigned reading, or it may elaborate on the ideas of your fellow students that you wish to develop with 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 (approximately 75%) in the grading determination.  


Classroom and University Policies  



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