YOUR NAME SOMETHING OF INTEREST FROM THE INTRODUCTORY SHEET SOMETHING OF INTEREST ABOUT YOU

Example: My mother’s new puppy, Patsy Cline!

The Study of Religion Religious Studies 101 Fall 2010

The Shakers Offshoot of the Quakers Founded in England, most charismatic figure is Mother Ann Lee ( ), a working-class woman, with very limited literacy skills. She has vision that Christ’s Second Coming will happen a) in North America when b) people stop engaging in sin, including selfishness and sexual relations.

Shaker Villages In North America, the Shakers thrived. Arriving in 1775, they established themselves in villages, primarily in New England, the coastal states, and soon the midwest (Ohio and Kentucky). The men and women lived in separate dormitories, and had no sexual contact.

Shaker village locations

Shakers Thriving Despite not having children of their own, the Shakers expanded in the early part of the 19 th century, due to conversions, adoptions, and the safety that communal work provided from the vicissitudes of the economy.

The Shakers are famous for the stylistic grace and simplicity of their furniture.

The Shakers performed loud, ecstatic singing & foot-stomping dancing. But men & women never touched

Men and Women Shared Leadership Positions in the Shaker Communities Dr. William Pennebaker and Shaker Sisters at Shaker Village, Pleasant Hill, Kentucky. Dr. Pennebaker and his siblings were orphan children taken to the Shakers between

A Variety of Approaches I What would a historian theorize? What would a psychologist of religion theorize? What would a philosopher of religion hypothesize? What would a sociologist of religion analyze? What would a feminist scholar of religion see? What would a sexuality scholar surmise?

A Variety of Approaches II What would an anthopologist of religion consider? What would a Marxist scholar detect? What would a (Christian) theologian want to know? Who would a scholar of comparative religion compare the Shakers to?

AND YOU? What does the modest college student see in this thumbnail sketch of a religious movement?

AND YOU? What does the modest college student see in this thumbnail sketch of a religious movement? 1) Is religion something we inherit from our parents? Or something we come to choose for ourselves? 2) Is a religion demonstrably wrong because it is small? Declining? 3) your questions

Professor Jennifer Rycenga At SJSU since 1995, now serving a life sentence. I teach the Religion in America (RELS191), Gender, Sexuality and Religion (RELS 131), Religion and Political Controversy (RELS 162) and Music and Religious Experience (RELS 124) courses. I am a bird-watcher, and an avid traveler. Here’s a person I hope you’ve heard of now… The rarest bird I’ve seen: White-chinned Petrel

Hypatia I may not be that good looking I may not be that smart And I hope I am not hacked to death But I do love to teach in a multicultural and multireligious classroom, and I do love wisdom