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Religious Dimensions
Courses in the Religious Dimensions domain offer
students the opportunity to explore the explicitly religious dimensions
of life and culture. These dimensions are found in the culturally
embedded narratives, beliefs and practices of particular religions,
as well as in encounters with realities perceived to be ultimate
or sacred. Through myth, symbol, ritual and doctrine, these religions
not only provide order and meaning, they also carry capacities
to challenge and transform individuals and societies. Intellectual
and social maturity requires understanding the unique contributions,
both positive and negative, of the religious traditions of the
world to culture and consciousness. It also requires coming to
terms with questions of ultimacy. This learning domain offers
courses with a comparative, thematic or ethical focus, as well
as courses in specific traditions.
Courses identified under the category of Religious and Ethical
Questions consider various definitions of religion; identify religion's
important elements and issues; compare these elements and issues
across different religions; examine religious ethical systems;
and investigate the truth
claims made by religions. Courses identified under the category
of Religious Traditions examine the origins and historical development
of particular religious traditions, and explore the impact that
religions, cultures and societies have had upon each other.
Learning Outcomes and
Writing Expectations
Approved by the Liberal Studies Council,
Spring 2006
Reading Guidelines:
By the end of the quarter, as indicated by a course's
syllabus, a student will have read approximately:
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750 pp. for any 100-level
course; and
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1000 pp. for any 200-level
course.
These page numbers are meant as guidelines and
may vary depending on disciplinary learning expectations. For
example, a 250 page novel is likely to be considerably easier
for students to read and grasp than a set of short, 20 page
articles concerned with theoretical or philosophical issues.
The instructor should use his/her best judgment on the difficulties
of the assigned reading, but should try to come as close to
these guidelines as is reasonably possible.
Content and Focus:
As indicated by a course's syllabus, a student
will be able to:
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Demonstrate a working
knowledge of some significant elements of religion such as:
myth and narrative, symbol, ritual law and doctrine, ethics
and/or religious experience as they appear within the context
of religious and/or ethical questions.
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In addition to the
above learning goal that applies to all students in all classes,
a student will be able to address the criteria of either
of the following categories:
Religious and Ethical Questions (formerly called
Patterns and Problems): A student in one of these classes will
be able to:
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Demonstrate an understanding
of distinctively religious lives and practices, either through
critical comparison of two or more religious traditions, or
through an analytic or normative treatment of explicitly religious
themes or issues.
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Identify explicitly religious
modes of thinking, reflecting, acting and feeling, in their
personal significance and/or communal dimensions.
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Demonstrate an understanding
of the relationship between religion and other elements of
society in such issues as the connection between religion
and power, the role of religious movements as forces of personal
and social transformation and social justice, and the role
of religion in social integration.
Religious Traditions (formerly called Traditions
in Context): A student in one of these classes will be able
to demonstrate a working knowledge of:
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The origins and historical
development of particular religious traditions, and the impact
those religions, cultures, and societies have had upon each
other.
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One or more religious
traditions’ evolving self-understanding, and be able to discern
the distinctive features by which outside interpreters recognize
those traditions.
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At least one of the
following two topics, the:
a. Study of interactions of specific religions and cultures
in specific historic settings (the who, what, where, when,
why and what happened); and/or
b. Investigation of the role of religious movements as forces
of personal and social change.
Liberal Studies Learning Goals:
The syllabus will support LSP Learning Goals by
indicating that all students in RDD courses must, in their reading,
assignments, and activities, demonstrate a:
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Development of some
critical and creative reflection skills (spelled out in a
bit more detail in our writing goals);
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Consciousness of how
one or more religious tradition have shaped their vision(s)
of reality, values, and spirituality;
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Critical and balanced
understanding of cultural diversity; and
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Working knowledge
of various approaches to the study and interpretation of religion.
Writing Expectations:
By the end of the quarter, a student will have
written a minimum total of 10 pages of writing beyond whatever
writing s/he does in class, such as essay exams or responses
to discussion questions. These pages are to be done outside
of class and may include assignments such as reaction papers
to their readings, essays answering questions posed by the instructor,
or reports on fieldwork. This does not include journal writing.
The syllabus will indicate this through its assignments.
Students will demonstrate skills in the following
four areas:
Domain Specific Skills: These include skillful
use of both religious studies language and sources, and should
be included in all papers to whatever degree they are applicable:
An Adequate Use of Language Pertinent to the Study of Religions
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Conceptual Religious
language (e.g., dharma, jihad, trinitarian theologies, natural
law, etc.);
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Historical language
(e.g., historical era, places, groups, dates, etc.);
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Methodological language
(e.g., exegesis, apology, culture, norms, deontological ethical
theories, etc.).
An Adequate Use of Sources: This includes
three skills, which should be applicable whether the paper is,
for example, a reaction paper to a reading or a research project.
- A Depth of Use of
Resources (i.e., not simply a mere mention of only one or two
resources);
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The Use of a Variety of
Resources (i.e., again, more than a couple sources, and preferably
not resources that all mirror each other);
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Accurate Assessment of Sources:
the ability to discriminate between reliable and unreliable;
and scholarly and popular sources;
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Adequate and Accurate Citation
according to clear guidelines provided by the instructor.
Methodological Skills: These
include an adequately skillful use of methodological approaches,
including:
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The ability to historically
contextualize the topic, when applicable;
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The ability to adequately
interpret empirical data, when applicable (e.g., historical,
ethnographic, sociological…etc.)
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The ability to consciously
apply theoretical approaches (both by clearly describing those
theories and by either critically analyzing them or actually
using them in a particular context); and
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If the assignment
involves comparison, the paper should demonstrate a nominally
sophisticated use of comparative approaches (i.e., more than
just superficially pointing out some similarity and contrast
without any depth or relating of that comparison to anything
else).
Higher Level Thinking Skills:
In writing assignments, these skills include the following:
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An indication of a
thesis, argument or good question that shows some critical
depth;
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An ability to analyze
a reading or issue by breaking it into its logically related
elements;
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The capacity to synthesize
or bring together distinct elements from various resources
into a logically coherent conclusion; and
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The presence of some
nascent creative thinking, depending on the class context
(e.g., an old idea may be very new for a beginning student
if that idea was not presented to them through the course
materials and lectures; i.e., beginning students are very
good at reinventing wheels, but this can be considered creative
thinking if they are not simply parroting back what they have
already learned in class).
Mechanical and Composition Skills:
In addition to the skills required of writing done for Religious
Studies, a good student paper should demonstrate the following,
somewhat more general skills taught in the Liberal Studies Writing
Program.
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Mechanical Skills:
The following mechanical skills will appear in a good paper;
a good paper will:
a. Mechanics
and Spelling: Be virtually free of errors, spelling, punctuation,
and grammar. Given the availability
of electronic spell-checkers, a good essay will contain no
more than a very few spelling errors. Nor will it contain
multiple mistakes in agreement, punctuation of independent
and dependent clauses, or the placement of modifiers.
b. Sentence Structure: Use sentences that are complete and
lucid, and will not use sentence fragments pointlessly or
statements that are so convoluted that their sense is garbled.
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Composition Skills:
The following composition skills will appear in a good paper;
a good paper will:
a. Responsiveness: Fully respond to the assignment and address
the subject and issues of that assignment.
b. Coherence: Develop an appropriate and coherent position
or point in both its overall structure and its separate parts,
and not merely report data pointlessly.
c. Support: Support its positions or main ideas with clear,
convincing, specific and accurate evidence.
d. Appropriate Diction: Use language that is appropriately
shaped to its audience and accounts for its readers.
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