Department of Religion

Mary Suydam 

Prof. Mary Suydam	Merriam Webster Online Dictionary
	The Bible Unbound
Class: MWF 10:10 - 11	E-Res
Phone PBX 5067	Pluralism
	Ten Commandments for Essay Writing
Office: Ascension 011	Twenty Rules Not to Follow
	Film Viewing Guidelines
Office Hours: Monday-Wednesday 1-3	The Academic Study of Religion
	Defining Religion
Email: suydam@kenyon.edu	The Seven Dimensions of Religion
	Symbolism
	Myth

Timelines and Glossaries

Chronology of Hinduism: Literature	Glossary of Terms: Islam
Background for the Bhagavad Gita	Glossary of Terms: Hinduism
Christianity: Timeline	Glossary of Terms: Buddhism
Ancient and Early Rabbinic Judaism: Timeline	Glossary of Terms: Christianity

Goals of the Course

The aim of this course is to enable you to think clearly and critically, from an academic rather than a devotional perspective, about the various human phenomena that we call "religious". The academic study of religion takes a global and pluralistic approach, looking at religion critically while attempting to understand religious phenomena from the perspectives of participants. Learning the ways in which scholars attempt this "double stance" - critical yet empathetic - is a major goal of this course.

A second major goal of this course is to introduce you to some of the basic concepts and categories that are used by scholars in the academic study of religion. The major categories that we will study this semester are: IDENTITY, MYTH, MORALITY (or ethics), in terms of both INDIVIDUALS AND SOCIETY, RITUAL, and the SACRED.

These concepts do not exist in an abstract vacuum but were created as tools to understand specific religious phenomena. Therefore, a third major goal of the course is to introduce you to some of the major religious traditions and to see how these concepts help us to understand these traditions better. The traditions that we will survey this semester are Islam, Christianity, Hinduism, and Buddhism. In our study, we will learn 1) some of the basic worldviews of each tradition, 2) how the traditions have developed historically, and 3) how religion shapes and is shaped by cultures.

Course Requirements

This course is structured as a collaborative exchange of information between students and professor. The format of the class is a combination of lecture and discussion. Active discussion of the topics is a critical component of this class. Missing more than two classes or two weekly assignments will lower your final grade by one full point (B becomes C, for example). Grades will be based upon:

• Discussions and weekly assignments: 40% total

There will be weekly writing assignments each week to aid in preparing for discussions of the texts. Because critical reading of the texts is so important, you will be assigned a study partner for this class. Reading and assignments will be done as a partnership. Some writing will be in-class; some will be done outside of class and brought to the class.  Click here for weekly grading guidelines. All assignments are due on the day assigned. Without prior permission of the instructor, failure to turn in an assignment or to take one of the tests will result in a zero on that assignment.

• Four short tests on Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Christianity: 5% each
• The annotated bibliography project due Friday, November 20: 20%
• Final Exam: 20%

Refer to Guidelines for the Annotated Bibliography Project

Texts

Required:

Lawrence Cunningham and John Kelsay, eds., The Sacred Quest: An Invitation to the Study of Religion, 3rd edition (New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2002)

Malcolm X as told to Alex Haley, The Autobiography of Malcolm X. NY: Ballantine Books.

Ramdas Lamb, Annual Editions World Religions Reader (McGraw-Hill)

Barbara Miller, trans., The Bhagavad Gita.

The Bible: New Advent Library (Note: You may use your own copy of the Bible, or download sections you need from the Online Bible listed on the course website)

Course Outline

UNIT ONE: IDENTITY AND COMMUNITY
Week 1: Aug. 31, Sept. 2, 4: Intro to class; the academic study of religion. Readings: Huff, Religion: A Search for Meaning, chapter 1" "Who Am I? Who Are We?", 2-23 (E-Res) The Autobiography of Malcolm X, chapters 1-3 Film: Inside Mecca World Religions Reader: Raimundo Panikkar, "Each Religion Expresses an Important Part of the Truth" and John Charlot, "The Hula in Hawaiian Life and Thought"
Assignment 1

Week 2: Sept. 7, 9, 11: Identity and Community: Symbols
Readings: The Autobiography of Malcolm X, chapters 9-11, 12-14 Cunningham, Sacred Quest, chapters 1 and 2 Huff, Religion: A Search for Meaning, chapter 2, "How Do We Communicate? Symbols and Identity" (E-Res) Film: Inside Mecca Qur'an Excerpts World Religions Reader: "Veve: The Sacred Symbol of Vodoun" Background: Haiti, Catholicism, and the Lwa Some Catholic Saints Matched with Lwa Click here to see some Veve images
Assignment 2

Week 3: Sept. 14, 16, 18: Identity and Community: Ritual
Readings: Autobiography of Malcolm X, chapters 16-17 Cunningham, Sacred Quest, chapter 5 Film: Malcolm X Tom Driver, "Transformation: The Magic of Ritual" (E-Res) Richard Sosis, "The Adaptive Value of Religious Ritual" (P/Class) Friday: Test 1: Islam Studying Ritual

UNIT TWO: MYTH
Week 4: Sept. 21, 23, 25 Myth; Hinduism Monday: Film:  330 Million Gods Readings: Cunningham, Sacred Quest, chapter 4, "The Language of the Sacred" World Religions Reader: "Sun Mother Wakes the World" Genesis, chapters 1-2 Bhagavad Gita, chapters 1-4
Assignment 3

Week 5: Sept. 30, Oct. 2 Myth in Hinduism
Monday: Library Research Strategies with Karen Greever Alternate date: Tuesday, Sept. 29, 11:10-12 Readings: Bhagavad Gita, chapters 5-9 Cunningham: Myth Outline Eliade, "The Structure of Myth" (E-Res) The Parade of Ants (E-Res) Assignment 4

UNIT THREE: ETHICS
Week 6: Oct. 5, 7, 9 Hinduism Readings: Cunningham, Sacred Quest, chapter 8 Bhagavad Gita, chapters 10-14 Test 2:  Hinduism READING DAYS OCT. 12 AND 13
Week 7: Oct. 14, 16: Buddhism Film: Footprint of the Buddha Milinda's Chariot, The Man Who Lost his Body (P/Class) Cunningham, Sacred Quest, chapter 7 Parable of the Burning House, Bibliography Topics due

Week 8: Oct. 19, 21, 23: Mahayana Buddhism Sign Up Sheet: Paper Bibliographies Readings: Cunningham, Sacred Quest, chapter 3 Nagarjuna on Emptiness; The Skillful Means of Vimalakirti (P/Class, in "Experience of Buddhism", pp. 9-19 ) "The Sacred is Complete Emptiness" (P/Class) Strong, Experience of Buddhism: Sangha (P/Class) World Religions Reader: The Beginnings of Buddhism Assignment 5

UNIT FOUR: THE SACRED
Week 9: Oct. 26, 28, 30: Mahayana Buddhism Readings: Going for Refuge and Taking the Precepts Test 3: Buddhism Selections from the gospels:  Matthew 1:18 - 2:23; chapters 5 - 7; 24:29-35; 25: 31-46; 27:11 - 28: 20 John, chapter 1; Mark 14-16 Selections from Paul:  Romans chapters 5-7; 1 Corinthians 15; 1 Thessalonians 4-5

Week 10: Nov. 2 4, 6: Christianity
Readings: Letter of Bishop Clement Irenaeus of Lyons on the Apostolic Tradition Letter of Henry IV to Pope Gregory Pope Gregory excommunicates Henry IV Cunningham, Sacred Quest, chapter 9 Otto, The Idea of the Holy, chapter 1, excerpts (E-Res) The Death of Joseph Smith (E-Res) Sacraments Assignment 6 List of Sources due
Week 11: Nov. 9, 11,13: Christianity

Readings: Cunningham, Sacred Quest, chapter 6
Readings on the Question of Christian Authority Pope Boniface VIII: Unam Sanctam Anagni, 1303 Rule of the Franciscan Order Poem Criticizing the Avignon Papacy Martin Luther, The Three Walls of the Romanists (The Second Wall) Creed of the Council of Trent World Religions Reader: Resuscitating Passion Film: Protestant Spirit USA Test 4: Christianity; Readings in Judaism (in class) Roman Arch of Titus (81 C.E.) Mishnah Sample 1 Mishnah Avot Talmud Sample

UNIT FIVE: PUTTING IT TOGETHER: IDENTITY AND COMMUNITY, MYTH, ETHICS, THE SACRED

Week 12: Nov. 16, 18, 20:	Putting it Together: Holiness, Community, and Society: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam
Readings: Monday: Exodus 2-20 Psalm 137 Rivers of Babylon: The Melodians Interactive Seder Plate Miriam's Cup Passover and the Exodus America the Beautiful Go Down Moses For the Strength of the Hills
Go Down Moses, another version	Exodus clip

Wednesday:
The Stations of the Cross The Stations of the Cross: Catholic Encyclopedia Online St. Veronica Via Dolorosa

Friday:
World Religions Reader: The Politics of Holiness in Jerusalem (117-121) The Dome of the Rock: Jerusalem's Epicenter (167-170) The Sacred Space of Judaism (112-113) Maps of Jerusalem in different time periods Jerusalem: Where Heaven and Earth Meet Assignment 7 Completed Annotated Bibliography Assignment due.
Thanksgiving Break Nov. 21-29

Week 13: Nov. 30, Dec. 2, 4: Putting it Together:	Holiness, Community, and Society: Hinduism
Monday: Film: Excerpts from the Mahabharata Jerusalem Insights For Wednesday: Readings: World Religions Reader: "Seeing the Sacred" Bhagavad Gita, chapters 17-18 Assignment 8a What is Puja? Smithsonian Guide Some Observations on Brook's film
For Friday: World Religions Reader: "The Sacred is the One True Reality of Brahman" Assignment 8

Week 14: Dec. 7, 9, 11, and 14: Putting it Together:	Holiness, Community and Society: Buddhism
Monday, Dec. 7: Film: Mandala: the Sacred Circle of Vajrabhairava Readings: (Wednesday, Dec. 9) Buddhist pilgrimage: the Bodhi Tree Mt. Kailasa, Tibet Stupas around Mt. Kailash Dalai Lama's Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech Friday, Dec. 11: The Rocket Festival, Pirit Chanting, Victor's Cage (Experience of Buddhism, pp. 20-28 in P/Class/Religion/Suydam)
Friday, Dec. 11 : Assignment 9

Final Exam handed out in class Monday, Dec. 14. Take-home portion will be due at the beginning of the in-class exam, Dec. 18.

Exam date: Dec. 18 at 1:30 in the regular classroom.