General Class Information:

There are many religions in our world. In our class, we will also explore many of them in much detail. This class will be a careful, explorative study, where the primary goal of the class is to catalyze the student's personal curiosity. But specifically, the class will emphasize

    1. The philosophy of the various religions,

    2. Religions and the cultures they exist within,

    3. Issues to do with the histories of various religions,

    4. Issues to do with the anthropology of religion, and

    5. Economics and religion.

Reading:

Note: Yes, there are a lot books, but they are not expensive and we will surely not read the entirety of each book, and thus you need not worry about being too overwhelmed with reading. Trust me, students that had me before you were fine, you will be too. Here are the books:

Christianity

Brian Wilson

Publisher: Prentice Hall

Islam

Jamal J. Elias

Publisher: Prentice Hall

Creole Religions of the Carribean

Olmos and Paravisini-Gebert

Publisher: HYU

Religion in Contemporary Japan

Ian Reader

Publisher: U. of Hawaii Press

Website.:

Reading assignments, the syllabus, any handouts, and any other information about the class, is given at my website:

http://www.AbstractAtom.com

(or just abstractatom.com). At this page you will see a “Students” link. Click that and it will take you to the students area, where you can then get to the link that takes you to your class information.

Study Guides:

I will put study guides on my website for each section of the class (the three sections of the class are listed under *Class Schedule* below). The study guides can be found on the online syllabus for our class. These are just meant to be a guide to the subjects we will be covering, and these guides are just for your help if you want it. Before each test I will go through the study guide and tell the entire class specifically which topics from the study guide will be on the test, and which are the most important for the test.

Grading:

1. 500 points – Midterm
2. 500 points – Final exam

Total: 1000 points

There are no make-up tests. If you miss a test, you must present valid, legitimate documentation proving you were absent for reasons beyond your control.

Grade Definitions

[ A ] Outstanding. Work displays thorough mastery of material and genuine engagement with the subject-matter. This grade is reserved for those students who attain the highest levels of excellence in thought and study.  Many students who get this grade have been able to not only learn the material in a very impressive way, but they also have developed the ability to critically think about and give interesting feedback on it.

[ B ] Good. Work displays accurate understanding of the material. Writing was adequate.

[ C ] Fair. Work displays basic grasp of material, though there may be the occasional or somewhat frequent misunderstanding or inaccuracy. Writing was not done as instructed in the class.

[ D ] Marginal. Work displays a grasp of the material adequate for credit, but quality of work indicates lack of effort or aptitude. Tests really quite poor. Writing was not at the college level.

[ F ] Unacceptable. Excessive absences, assignments not completed, or assignments unworthy of credit. Tests clearly not at the college level. Cheating or plagiarism will earn an automatic F for the assignment and/or the course.

Tests and Quizzes:

At the start of every class, we will have a quiz over the lecture and reading from the class before. These quizzes will help you keep up in the class, and will prevent you from forgetting important material needed to grasp the philosophic ideas of the class.

The manner in which I will grade the quizzes is as follows. All quizzes are grade as C/NC. At the end of the semester I will drop your two lowest quizzes. I will take the remaining number of quizzes and let each one count towards an equal portion of the 100 points that quizzes are worth. For example, if there are 13 quizzes, each quiz counts as  7.7 points.

All tests will be essay tests. Before each test we will have a review. At the review you can ask any questions you would like, and I will also go over all topics that are fair for me to put on the test.

The final exam is cumulative, but it will have more emphasis on the second half of the semester.

Writing Intensive Course:

This course is writing intensive. This means that there is some emphasis put on teaching you to write well, if you don't already write well. I will tell you exactly what I am looking for in your writing, so you will not have to wonder at all about what I am looking for in good writing. There are several keys to writing well, but in general they all involve you being able to merely get your point across to others. In this class, there are no papers you have to write. Instead, you will have essay tests, where the tests are to be written well. So in addition to knowing the material of the class, you will have to write it out coherently, nicely. I will not be so concerned with spelling errors; I will be mostly concerned with how you organize a piece of your writing, and secondly how you use words.

Attendance:

Please do not arrive late for class. You are expected to attend all class sessions. Getting a good grade depends on having a good attendance record. An absence will be excused when it is due to an illness that is documented by a doctor’s excuse, or because of a death (documented) in the immediate family. If you try to show me a document that is in any way questionable, I will ignore it. (Questionable documents often include, for example, those which do not have your name on them, even though they are doctor's notes.)

If you receive an unexcused absence, the following deduction of points will occur:

1^st unexcused absence — 35 points

2^nd unexcused absence — 125 points

3^rd unexcused absence — 200 points

4^th unexcused absence —300 points

On your fourth unexcused absence you will receive a grade of F for the class.

I will give you one excused absence (but note that this would make you ineligible for the final exam reward--see below). After that all absences are unexcused unless you show that it should be an excused absence. Attendance will be taken each lecture meeting. I will take it by seeing who has taken a quiz. If you arrive late and miss the quiz, you must arrive shortly after class begins in order to receive credit for attendance. If you leave after attendance has been taken but before class is complete, this of course is an unexcused absence.

An excused absence is, for example, documented proof that will inform me that, for example, your pet has died, that a relative has died, that you are very sick.  Excuses such as: “my friend was thrown in jail”, “I overslept,” “it was raining,” or “I ran out of gas” are not acceptable. Absences usually reflect that one has a lack of interest to attend lecture meetings; therefore, grades must reflect this. Also, all material that will appear on tests will be thoroughly covered in lectures; it is therefore critical that you not miss class. However, there are reasons that do arise that prevent one from attending lectures. If you have such a reason, you must talk to me about it. In all but the most particular circumstances, any form of undocumented absence is considered an unexcused absence.

Adequate documentation for an absence is a legitimate note from, for example, an employer or doctor, that shows it was impossible for you to attend class. That note has your information on it, and theirs. If you show me inadequate documentation for your absence, I will not argue with you about whether or not you have given me adequate documentation. Rather, I will merely leave it up to you to provide me with appropriate documentation.

Reward:

There will be a small reward for those of you with perfect attendance. Perfect attendance means you have not missed more than a half-hour of any class class. Therefore, if you have an excused absence, this means you will not be eligible.

The reward is as follows: your lowest grade on the final (with respect to percentage) will be turned into a full-credit answer.

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Films:

Films are a very productive way to gain much philosophical knowledge fast and easily, as you will see throughout the semester. You might have to go out and rent the films we discuss, or you can get them at the public library.

We will be discussing various philosophical films in the class in significant detail. It may help you to view these films very carefully, more than once if needed, in order to apply your philosophical knowledge you will acquire in the class to these films.

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Class-time:

It is your responsibility to be in class to hear class announcements and information that is needed throughout the semester. Typically information such as this is given at the very start of class, and often it is about things such as test dates and times, the nature of tests, reading assignments, and so on.

Lecture, Discussion, and Questions:

            The subject matter in this course will generate much discussion. This is welcomed and expected, and you should feel free to take advantage of this as I see it as often the most beneficial and productive part of a student’s learning. If discussion gets too far off track or too drawn out, I will end such discussion that when appropriate.

            It is very important in a class of this nature that you interrupt lecture or discussion and ask questions every time there is a subject or issue in lecture or discussion that you do not understand. I frown upon those who sit in their seats not understanding the material and yet unwilling to ask for clarification. This usually only leads to frustration during lecture meetings and worse, it usually leads to poor test scores. So it is your responsibility as a student to ask questions as you feel you need to. Students should also note that it is usually the case that, the more basic a question is the better. Therefore, questions such as: What is science? What is God? What is religious experinece? What is nature? Or what is nirvana? are extremely important appropriate and welcomed in this class. In summary, this class will teach you not to ask the “right questions,” (i.e., those that are seen as appropriate and ) but to develop an urge within you to ask the questions that you are truly interested in, regardless of who might say it is the right question or the wrong question.

Important Note: You are responsible for making yourself aware of, and for understanding the policies and procedures in the Undergraduate Catalog that pertain to Academic Integrity. These policies include cheating, fabrication, falsification and forgery, multiple submission, plagiarism, complicity and computer misuse. If there is reason to believe you have been involved in academic dishonesty, you will be referred to the Office of Student Judicial Affairs. You will be given the opportunity to review the charge(s). If you believe you are not responsible, you will have the opportunity for a hearing. You should consult with me if you are uncertain about an issue of academic honesty prior to the submission of an assignment or test.