Religion 189: Abrahamic Religions Spring 2013 Dr. Adam L. Porter E-mail: [email protected] Office: 210 Kirby Hall Office Phone: 245-3429 Office hours: M-F 10 -11 AM; MWF 1:15-2:30; and by appointment. Fax: 245-3480 Class web site: www2.ic.edu/aporter/189.html Class time: Tu-Fr 11-11:50; Lincoln 122 Class Description: This class will introduce you to the three religious traditions that trace their heritage to Abraham: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Adherents to the latter two religions comprise about 50% of the world’s population, so understanding them is especially important. Judaism is MUCH smaller, but is the ancestor, in some fashion, of the other two religions. Understanding and respecting other religions is especially true for us as Americans. We live in a poly-ethnic, multi-religious society, so knowing about other religions is the duty of being an informed and intelligent citizen. Additionally, just as learning a foreign language helps you understand your native tongue better, so studying different religions helps you understand your own tradition. This class will offer students the opportunity to reflect on their own traditions by studying different ways of understanding the divine and how humans relate to it. For this reason, we will be studying Orthodox Christianity: most IC students who are Christian practice various forms of Western Christianity. This class will look at these three religions, employing a comparative methodology. We will look similar topics in each religious tradition (“what is scripture?” “how do we interpret scripture?”) and notice similarities and differences between them. Finally, Israel and the Middle East are a very important part of American foreign policy, in part because of the importance of the “Holy Land” to all three of these religions. We will devote some time to learning about the region and how the groups relate in it. BluePrint Requirements met with this course: Explorations: Social, Spiritual, and Philosophical Issues Embedded Experience: Writing Extensive, Global Awareness Connected Course: Sequentially Bonded to EN173, ED 203. (To qualify for a sequentially bonded class, you need to take the second course in the spring semester) Learning Goals: The course has the following learning goals: Knowledge of Basic Terms - every field of study has special vocabulary and to be able to discuss religion(s), you will need to learn some basic vocabulary. Knowledge of distinctive beliefs and practices - religions differ based on their beliefs and practices; we will see that these three religions have some similarities but also significant differences. Familiarity with historic and contemporary issues in religion - that understanding the way these religions interact in the contemporary world is important goes without saying; this class will focus on contemporary events to highlight this. Religion 189: Abrahamic Faiths, Page 2 Affirmation of Community Responsibility This course is rooted in IC’s affirmation of Community Responsibility (IC Catalogue 2011-12, p. 161), especially the following: 1 Pursue excellence in academic and co-curricular experiences, and in all activities with support the academic program; 2 Exhibit integrity in intellectual development; 3 Practice responsible and effective communication; and 4 Foster tolerance and respect in our community. For this class, the most important values are those tolerance and respect. All the religions we study have many adherents who find their religion to be “right.” Since the debate about which religion (if any) is “right” cannot be answered objectively and definitely, this class will not engage in it. Rather, we will see how they address similar issues and concerns for their adherents. Requirements: 1. Attendance: Most class sessions will be discussions of the assigned readings, so attendance is critical. You are expected to come to class having read the assigned material and be prepared to discuss it. You should be ready to contribute questions, observations, and ideas about the material to be covered each day. Every student is responsible for contributing to the education experience of the class as a whole. Hence, attendance at all class sessions is expected, unless you have an excused absence (as defined on the “Policies” pages below). 2. Learning Experiments This course tries to allow you to experience what it is like to do these religions. So for each religion, we will conduct a week-long learning experiment. You need to document your experiences in a diary for this week. At the end of the experiment, you will write up a “lab report” describing your learning experience (for more on this, see page 4). 3. Field Trips Religions can be studied purely by books, but to be experienced, one needs to observe worshipers doing their religions. So we will have field trips to a synagogue, an Orthodox church, and a mosque at the end of the learning experiment week. You are required to visit these sites. If you have an excused absence (see below) that precludes your coming with the class, you will need to visit the sites on your own, and bring evidence -- such as having your journal signed by the rabbi, priest, or imam -- of having been at the site. The departure and return time for the three sites are as follows. The dates are listed on the syllabus' calendar. Temple Israel, Saturday, 8 am - 1 pm St. Antony's Hellenic Church, Sunday, 9 am - 1 pm Springfield Islamic Center, Friday, 12 noon - 3 pm More information on the field trips (including locations, contact information, and dress-code guidelines) is on the course website. Your observations about the field trip should be included in your learning experiment diary. Religion 189: Abrahamic Faiths, Page 3 4. Exams We will have exams at the end of the Judaism and Christianity modules. We will also have a final exam, which will be 1/2 on Islam and 1/2 on an overall comparison of all three religions. 5. Jerusalem Peace Conference (JPC) Simulation Since one goal for the class is to understand the contemporary situation in the Middle East and how these three religions relate to each other there, we will have a simulation of a peace conference in Jerusalem during the last two weeks of class. The Israel-Palestinian conflict has carried on for over 50 years and, although all sides want peace, the conditions for that peace are very different. We will explore this issue by role-play: each student will be assigned a role to research over the course of the semester and before the JPC, will write a “position paper” describing their group/country's position on the situation in the Holy Land. Students are also expected to follow closely current events in the Middle East and to educate themselves, as necessary, to understand the situation. 6. Reading quizzes We will have periodic reading quizzes on the materials assigned for the course, allowing students to demonstrate their mastery of the material. 7. Extra Credit! A) IC has a Passover Seder meal every spring. You can earn extra credit for this class by attending it. It is about a 90-minute long meal, with much better-than-normal Chartwell’s food and wine. Additionally, you will get to experience (a version) of a Jewish household festival meal. B) You can earn extra credit for sending me links to news stories about Jerusalem, Israel, the Palestinians, and the peace process. Evaluation: Your final grade will be earned as follows: Module Tests 20% (10% each) Learning Experiment Diary and Analysis: 30% (10% each) JPC position paper: 10% Reading Quizzes 10% Final Exam 20% Attendance & Participation: 5% Creative project: 5% Reading Material: You are required to purchase the following materials for this class. Prothero, God is Not One (ISBN 0061571288) Marks, Judaism for the non-Jew (ISBN 0872432610) Ware, The Orthodox Church (ISBN 0140146563 Sadar and Davies, The No-nonsense guide to Islam (ISBN 1904456618) Potok, The Chosen (ISBN 0449213447) Kahf, The Girl in the Tangerine Scarf (ISBN 0786715197) Religion 189: Abrahamic Faiths, Page 4 Learning Experiments: You will do three experiments, one for each of the three religions we study, that enact aspects of the religions as they are practiced by adherents. There are several goals for these experiments: 1) To heighten your aesthetic sense of the spiritual. 2) To give you a greater appreciation of what the believers in each tradition do in their religious practice. Most of what we do in college is read texts; these experiments will allow you an approximate experience of the religion. This isn’t “book learning” but “experiential learning.” During the period of the experiments, you need to pay special attention to how you feel while doing the experiment and record your thoughts and feelings in an experiment notebook. Questions you can answer include: 1) Based on the way you feel during these experiments, why do you think the religions make demands similar to these on their adherents? 2) What do you think it would be like to do these sorts of practices on an on-going, regular basis? Would it heighten your spiritual awareness or not? 3) Compare these practices with those of your tradition. Does your tradition ask you to do anything similar to these observances? If not, why not? Do not write that you hate the experiment, hate the course for requiring you to participate in the experiment, etc. Griping will evoke no sympathy from me, especially since I will be participating along with you. At the culmination of the learning experiment, you need to write an analysis of what you learned from conducting the experiment: why do you think the religion makes these sorts of demands on its adherents? how do they affect them in a daily / weekly way? how is it different from your religious practices? does it seem overly burdensome or is there some aspect of the religion you find interesting, thought-provoking, or attractive? Minimum expectation for the experiment notebook are: At least 150 words (1/2 typed page) per day describing your experience of observing the religion (see below).