Exploring World Religions Online

This course is a study of the world's major religious traditions. The basic beliefs of Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, New Religious Movements--and the beliefs of many indigenous and ancient peoples--will be explored. Several methodological frameworks for religious studies will be provided, and essential differences between Eastern and Western religions will be noted. Literary texts and iconographic images will be studied as appropriate. Class will consist of a combination of reading, lecture, class and  online discussions. 

The class will consist of  readings and discussions to help the student organize the material; highlight important religious ideas; discuss the content of religious writings, focusing on the "original intent" of the author(s); and describe the historical development of religious traditions. The reading material will come primarily from the textbook, World Religions, which documents the historical development of the world's religions and discusses contemporary beliefs and practices. The text is supplemented with quotations of opinions from religious leaders and scholars, as well as excerpts from the sacred scriptures of the world's religions.

This course approaches religion from a humanistic point of view. Religion is a construct of human culture and influenced by language, geography, economy, social organization, gender, and historical context. No religion possesses Truth; all religions hold truths that are valid for that religious system only. Whatever the nature of Ultimate Reality/God (if Ultimate Reality/God exists at all), religions and their God(s) are human constructs that can be studied historically to gain a greater understanding of the diversity of religious experience and a greater appreciation of the human condition.

As a result we will take an interdisciplinary approach to religion. Historical in that religion exists and evolves over time within a historical context, producing texts and artifacts to be studied objectively using inductive and empirical standards of proof; Literary in that sacred texts are literary creations and can be studied using any number of literary theories; Phenomenological in that religious phenomena is a subjective experience and can be studied using psychology, social anthropology, and evolutionary biology.

If you are already convinced of the Truth, or if you are taking this course to validate your own religious tradition against the claims of other religious traditions, please drop this class immediately, or take this class at a religious affiliated school. Quoting John 3:16 in a discussion about African religions (or any other religion), or insisting that the Bible (or the Qur'an, the Bagavad-Gita, the Tao-Te-Ching, etc.) is the sole source of Truth, has no place in this class, and reveals a cultural chauvinism inappropriate for collegial modes of inquiry.

Although this is an online course, it will require considerable effort on the part of the student, perhaps more so than a traditional class. The course will be paced on a MTWR class schedule and will require a similar amount of time per week: 3 contact hours plus 2-3 hours per credit hour for a total of 9-12 hours per week online.

The student will be expected to keep up with the reading assignments as per the course calendar, and the online discussions. And although this is a distance-learning class with no on-campus meetings, the student will need to attend area houses of worship.

If you are unable to attend the Distance Learning Orientation, orientation materials are available online.

You should have already received information in the mail regarding these orientations.

EXAMS. There will be four exams in this course, each worth fifty (50) points, corresponding to the four content modules of the course (located in the relative module by clicking the Lessons tab).  These exams will cover both readings and class material and will be objective in format (identification and multiple choice). The student will have 60 minutes to complete the exam. There will be a one-point penalty assessed for each minute over the time limit. The Final Exam (Exam 4) is not cumulative. The exams constitute 40% of your final grade.

QUIZZES. There will be ten short (ten questions), quizzes during the semester for a total of one hundred (100) possible points, and constitute 20% of your final grade. The student will have 15 minutes to complete the quiz. There will be a one-point penalty assessed for each minute over the time limit.

The dates for the quizzes and exams are listed on the Calendar. An icon linked to the quiz / exam exists on the Calendar, in the relative Module under the Lessons tab, or in the Milestones list in the Taskbar. Students have until midnight on the Tuesday or Thursday following the availability date to complete the quiz or exam (i.e., Tuesday to Thursday, or Thursday to Tuesday). Since Angel is available 24/7, there should be no reason for students to miss an exam.

RELIGIOUS VISITATIONS. The student will be required to attend two (2) religious services during the semester--one Asian or indigenous religion (for example, Hindu, Buddhist, Confucian/Taoist, Native American) and one European / Middle-East or contemporary religion (for example, Jewish, Christian, Muslim, or Wiccan)--that lie outside the student's own religious affiliation. The student will write a short essay--900 word minimum (3 pages of text)--describing the religious service and the student's experience of the service.

Each essay will be worth twenty-five (25) points, and will be worth 20% of your final grade. There will be a one-point penalty assessed for each day that the essay is late. The due dates for the essays are listed on the Calendar. For more information about the religious visitations paper, click the Writing Assignments folder in the Lessons tab.

Note: A student who is a member of a Protestant denomination (Baptist, for example) will not satisfy the criterion of attending a religious service that lies outside his/her own religious affiliation by attending the service of another Protestant denomination (Methodist, Episcopalian, Church of God, etc., for example). Students who are members of an Eastern religion also must go outside their own traditions (for example, a Zen Buddhist can not attend a Mahayana Buddhist metta meditation).

This is not a formal paper, but errors in spelling, format, and grammar, and typographical errors, will be graded. It is strongly recommended (but not required) that students are currently enrolled or have completed Composition 1 before taking this class.

EXTRA CREDIT. The student can earn up to twenty (20) points extra credit by attending two (2) additional religious services--one eastern and one western. The student will write a short essay, 600 words minimum (two [2] pages of text), each worth ten (10) points. Note: students may not duplicate religious traditions of their religious visitation essays. For example, if you attended a Mahayana Buddhist meditation you can not attend a Zen meditation for extra credit, or if you visited a Catholic Christian service you can not attend a Protestant Christian service for extra credit.

ONLINE DISCUSSION. Discussion will be worth one hundred (100) points, and will be worth 20% of your final grade. The online discussions will substitute for a classroom environment. The discussions are located in the Discussion Forums nugget located on the Communicate tab, in the relative module folder on the Lessons tab, and relative date on the Calendar. A new discussion question will be posted every MTWR during the semester.

Students will be required to reply at least twice to each discussion question posted throughout the semester. This is not a self-paced course. As a result, initial replies must be posted no later than 5 days after the date of the original posting. All replies must be made within 7 days, after which the discussion will be closed and graded. The purpose is to create a discussion that exists in real time. Therefore it is important to keep up with pace of the class.

Students will receive full credit (1 point) for each discussion question if they make their initial reply within the 5 day period, and their second reply anytime within the 7 day open posting period. Students will receive partial credit (.5 point) if they reply only once to the discussion question. Failure to respond at all will receive no credit (0 point).  The student's participation score will be calculated by adding points and dividing by total possible points to produce a percentage, and then applying the percentage to the 100 possible points for participation. For example, 21.5 points out of 25 possible points produces 86%, or 86 participation points.

Students MUST respond to the discussion within 5 days of the posting date (for example, the student must reply by midnight on Saturday to a discussion question posted the previous Monday). Failure to meet this requirement will be the loss of one-half (.5) point. Also, students who post all their replies on the same day will be penalized one-half (.5) point. Lastly, students who post all their replies within the last two days of 7 day posting period will be penalized one (1) point, and thus will receive no credit for that discussion question. To help manage the total number of posts per topic, students should post no more than 4 replies per question.

Responses MUST address directly the content of the course and the comments of the respondent in order to receive credit. Short responses such as "I agree" or "Good post" will not count toward your two post minimum requirement. The discussions are editable to allow students to write additional material to short posts. Postings not relevant to the discussion question will be moved to the "Student Lounge" area.

It is important that students read through all the posts even though there is only a two-post requirement for each question. The discussions create the environment where we learn the course content, where questions are answered, and misinformation corrected. Questions you posed in an earlier post may be answered either by me or another student in subsequent postings.

FINAL GRADES. This breakdown provides a final accumulated total of four hundred and fifty (450) possible points for the class (excluding extra credit points). The student's total will be divided by the total possible points to establish final grade percentages, weighted by the percentages of the relative grade categories. Final grades will be assigned as follows:

Students who are on the borderline between grades (79% for example) will receive the higher grade if the student's online discussion is above 80%.

Note: Students must fulfill the following requirements of the course to receive a passing grade of "C": take 4 exams, turn in two religious visitations, and online discussion not less than 60 points. Should you begin to have problems during the semester, either academic or personal, that might prevent you from completing the course requirements, please come see me as soon as possible. Do not wait until the last week of class.

1. No exam/quiz may be repeated and are available only during the dates and time ranges listed. If you are unable to take the exam/quiz within the scheduled dates and time due to illness or some other legitimate reason you must contact me by Angel email or leave an explanatory message on my voice mail at ext. 4191 within 24 hours after the initial scheduled time of the exam/quiz. The student must make arrangements with me to reschedule the exam/quiz on a specific date and time.
   
   Those failing to contact me within 24 hours of missing an exam, but who still wish to take the exam, may do so by special arrangement with me. The student will receive a grade penalty for the late exam. Those failing to make-up the exam will receive a "0" for that exam (and an "F" for the course, as a result). Missed quizzes cannot be made up. However, the student will have the opportunity to make up lost points by attending two additional religious services.
    
2. Those who wish to make an appointment with me and who are not free during my office hours, contact me either by phone or Angel mail to arrange an appointment, or schedule an online chat.
    
3. An "I" (Incomplete) will be given only if special circumstances prevent the student from completing the class. Arrangements must be made before semester grades are submitted, and students must sign a contract with me agreeing to complete the class requirements by the end of the following 16-week semester (refer to the JCCC College Catalog for details).
    
4. No grade of "W" will be given unless the student has officially withdrawn from the class by completing a drop form in the Admissions and Records Office. If you simply stop attending class and do not fill out a drop form you are not officially dropped. You will receive an "F" in the course as a result. The last day to withdraw is listed on the course Calendar.
    
5. Cheating of any kind will not be tolerated. Any violation of the College Honor Code will result in being denied access to Angel, an automatic "F" for the course, and referred to the academic dean for disciplinary action. Because this is an online course, there is a greater temptation to cheat. Just remember, Angel is Big-Brother. Every move you make while logged-in to the system is recorded and made available to the professor.
   
   Note to couples, room mates, and siblings: you can study together, but you must submit your own, independent work. You cannot share a computer for submitting exams or assignments, nor can you use computers in close proximity in a lab. The only exception to this are computers in the Testing Center. Angel registers the IP of the machine of each user. To avoid any suspicion of cheating, my advice is for one of you to enroll in another section.
    
6. Privacy and Angel Access: Access to Angel is extended to you for the duration of your enrollment in the course, providing that you comply with class and school policies. You may not share that access with another person who is not enrolled in the course. Students who do so violate the privacy of other students as well as the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Acts (FERPA). The act may lead to the violator being denied access to the Angel shell.

   On occasion, I permit others to enter the course, to critique my work, to view the operations of the course, or to work on a technical problem. For the entire term, my technical consultant has access to the course to provide continuity for you should the unexpected happen to me.
    

7. Students adding a class after the start of the semester are responsible for material covered and assignments missed. Always consult the Calendar to obtain missed assignments or to catch up with the rest of the class if you fall behind.
    
8. If you are a student with a disability, and if you will be requesting accommodations, it is your responsibility to contact Access Services (202 Student Center) at 469-8500 ext. 3521(ext. 3885 TDD. The Center will recommend any appropriate accommodations to me and/or the Assistant Dean. I and/or the Assistant Dean will identify for you which accommodations will be arranged.

1. define "religion" and describe the diversity of religious experience
    
2. identify the major texts, central religious figures, and ideas of the world's great religions
    
3. recognize concepts and issues basic to the study of religions in a comparative framework
    
4. identify the iconic and artistic traditions of the world's religions
    
5. apply critical methodologies for determining truth that permit correction and dialogue, and that subject the student's cultural beliefs and values to critical, reflective thought
    
6. describe the historical context and development of the world's major religions and their systems of value