1. Introduction to the Study of Religion
RELS2001

2. Course Information TR 9:30 - 10:45am Langdale 327 CRN: 13688
TR 9: :45am
Langdale 327
CRN: 13688
Course Information

3. Instructor Clare van Holm, MA cvanholm1@gsu.edu
Office Hours: TR 11:00am - 12:00pm
25 Park Place, 17th Floor, Office 1728
Instructor

5. Name academic year hobby / something interesting
Tell me about yourself

6. Approaches in this class:
RELS2001: Course introduction
Approaches in this class:
historical
thematic
comparative
experiential (lived religion)
Introduction to the Study of World Religions:
sections
thinking about religion
historical development & discourse
ritual
religion, gender & sexuality
religion in america

7. Grade determination RELS2001: Course Introduction
This course utilizes the digital platform TopHat. At the beginning of class, use a smart device (laptop, cell phone, tablet) to sign into the app.
Attendance - 15%
“Check-in” at the beginning of class for the day’s attendance
You are allowed four (4) absences before your grade is negatively effected
Participation & Reading Responses - 25%
The participation grade includes response to the interactive lecture via TopHat app. Prompts include multiple choice, open answer, “voting”, etc
In addition to interactive prompts, lectures will include questions directly related to the reading. These answers are graded independently of class participation, instead acting as a “quiz” of sorts to ensure students have completed the assigned readings before class.
Participation grade also includes in-class discussion
You may opt out four (4) times before your grade is negatively effected

8. Grade Determination, Con’t
rels2001: Course Introduction
Grade Determination, Con’t
Travel blogs to Religious Sites - 60%
Visit four (4) religious sites (church, synagogue, temple, mosque, etc) during a service / ritual
Create travel blog using web platform of choice (wix, weebly, wordpress, etc)
Analytically write about experience and connect to class discussion and readings
Detailed assignment guide will be posted on course blog and reviewed in class on Jan 24th

9. Class Discussion & conduct
Rels2001: Course Introduction
Class Discussion & conduct
Thoughtful, critical discussion is vital to studying religion. Personal attacks upon individual students or against religious communities will not be tolerated.
This class with provide a safe, thoughtful atmosphere in which each student is welcome to develop and refine her/his own perspective
Students’ and instructor’s private religious or theological opinions, beliefs and practices are irrelevant to this course
Academic dishonesty: Don’t do it
includes, but not limited to: plagiarism, not citing sources, falsifying attendance

10. What is religion?

11. Some definitions Etymological Definition
Rels2001: Course Introduction
Some definitions
Etymological Definition
latin root - “fear and awe one experiences in the presence of a spirit or god”
Paul Tillich - “That which is of ultimate concern; that which we value about all things”
William James - “Belief in an unseen order, with which we should work to harmonize ourselves”

12. Academic approaches to Religion
RELS2001: Course Introduction
Academic approaches to Religion
Ninian Smart
monothetic (one essence)
polythetic (many essences, not all necessary)
4 “virtues” of the academic study of religion
Bracketing our assumptions
not evaluating Truth
Informed empathy
understanding a perspective is different from accepting it as your own belief
Historical / Contextual imperative
knowledge of the origins and original meaning of a text, belief, or ritual
symbolic sensitivity
symbols are the vocabulary of mythic thinking

13. For Thursday: Thinking about Religion
RELS2001: course introduction
For Thursday: Thinking about Religion
Bruce Lincoln’s “The Study of Religion in the Current Political Moment”
What is Talal Asad’s argument? How does that relate to our conversation today about the definition(s) of religion?
Peter Berger’s Onbeing podcast: “The Cultural Dynamics of Globalization”
What types of interactions does Berger describe in response to modern religious and cultural encounters?