Course Description
Topics and problems concerning religions of the Americas with emphasis upon extensive reading in primary sources and individual and/or group research projects. Selection of topics will vary with instructor and interest of students.
Additional Requirements for Graduate Students:
Additional readings and a research paper along with more
extensive examinations to reflect the additional
responsibilities.
Athena Title
Study of Religions of Americas
Prerequisite
Junior or senior standing or permission of department
Semester Course Offered
Not offered on a regular basis.
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
• To focus on reading primary source texts and key periods and figures in various areas in the study of Religion in America, such as history, literature, religions represented in the American context, race, America as a religious construct, and ecumenical and interreligious dialogue in the American context, and so on. • To teach students research methods and to foster independent research. • To strengthen high-level critical thinking skills, such as analysis, synthesis, evaluation, and constructive argumentation by means of activities and assessments, such as reading, reflection, discussion, essays, papers, reports, and examinations. • To strengthen skills in written composition by means of activities and assessments, such as reflection questions, essays, papers, reports, online discussions, and examinations. • To strengthen skills in oral expression and dialogue by means of activities and assessments, such as presentations, discussions, debates, and oral examinations. • To enhance and facilitate computer literacy by the use of word processing, the e-Learning Commons (eLC), web-based research (including OASIS), and multi-media course materials and assessments. • To assist in the continued development of moral and ethical reasoning and reflection by encouraging creative thinking regarding individual and community concerns and needs, the challenging of prejudices and stereotypes, and examining rational and ethical bases of constructive social interactions.
Topical Outline
Topical Outline may vary according to professor and topic. An example below concerns the Slave Narrative Tradition in America “The Classical Slave Narrative” I. Slavery in the American context a. The slave trade b. The slave ship c. Slave life d. The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African. Written by Himself II. Early Republic Sojourner Truth, The Narrative of Sojourner Truth: Truth as bridge to abolition III. Abolitionist Narrative Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave “Reconstruction and Beyond” IV. W. E. B. DuBois, The Souls of Black Folk V. Transformations: The Contemporary Slave Narrative Tradition a. Alice Walker, In Search of Our Mother’s Gardens: Womanist Prose b. Ta-Nehisi Coates, Between the World and Me c. Caryl Phillips, The Atlantic Sound