Syllabus: Honors Introduction to Religious Studies
Posted: August 20, 2013 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: introduction to religoius studies, pedagogy, syllabus, teaching Leave a comment »I’ve shared syllabi in the past and I thought I’d do it again this semester. Below is the syllabus for my Honors Introduction to Religion Course this semester. As always, I’d love to hear feedback from folks and feel free to steal this and use it as you see fit. No twitter or blogging this time around-saving that for my upper level seminar.
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REL100 Syllabus: Blogging, Tweeting, and Deconstructing Religion
Posted: August 23, 2011 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: academia, blogging, Christianity, Hinduism, REL100, syllabus, teaching, Twitter 2 Comments »I finally finished the syllabus for REL100. Good thing, too. The first day of class is tomorrow morning. It’s all filled up-40 students. Here goes nothin’!
REL 100: Introduction to Religion
Christian and Hindu Traditions
Michael J. Altman
@MichaelJAltman
Office Hours: Thursday 9am-noon, Callaway S220 (or by appt.)
http://blogs.emory.edu/rel100
I. Course Description
This course introduces the academic study of religion through a comparative approach to Hindu and Christian religious cultures. The central question of our course is “What is religion?” We will attempt to answer this question by drawing on a range of examples from Hindu and Christian religious cultures. These case studies will come from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries in both India and America and range from Hindu pilgrimage to Catholic devotionalism to yoga to evangelicalism. These case studies will be organized around three themes: the body, ritual and devotion, and space and motion. In each case and through each theme we will pay special attention to the ways “religion” is constructed, authorized, and maintained. Turning to the ways religion was constructed in the past will shed light on the ways it is understood today. By the end of the course we will have an understanding of the rich variety of religious cultures found within Christianity and Hinduism while also gaining theoretical tools for analyzing various constructions of “religion” in public discourse and culture.
II. Course Outcomes
We will develop expertise in interpreting the plurality of religions (especially Christianity and Hinduism) in their historical settings.
We will critically assess the influence religions (again, especially Christianity and Hinduism) exert in shaping experience and society.
We will investigate the diverse of ways of “being in the world” in Christian and Hindu traditions.
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Drafting a Syllabus: REL100 Intro. to Religion- Christian and Hindu Traditions
Posted: August 15, 2011 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: blogging, digital humanities, REL100, syllabus, teaching, Twitter 2 Comments »I’ve been preparing for my maiden voyage in the world of teaching this coming semester. I’ve been given the privileged of  teaching my own class: Religion 100 Introduction to Religion. At Emory we teach this course comparatively so every class picks two traditions to focus on. Being an Americanist who studies Hinduism in American culture, I of course chose Christianity and Hinduism. I’m really excited about the course. I’m going to try and use Twitter inside and outside of class and we’re also going to set up a public blog for the class. Is this too much? I don’t know. We’ll see.  So, without further ado, below is my first draft of the syllabus. I’d welcome any comments, provocations, or advice. I’ve already turned to Facebook for a lot of ideas and help with it as it stands now. So let me know what you think! (The spacing in the schedule section is a little off from copying and pasting out of Word but I’m too lazy to fix it right now.)
Religion 100: Introduction to Religion
Christian and Hindu Traditions
MWF 10:40-11:30 White Hall 112
Michael J. Altman
@MichaelJAltman
Office Hours: Tues. 2pm-4pm, Wed. 3pm-5pm at the Starbucks in the Oxford Rd. Bldg. and by appt.
I. Course Description
This course introduces the academic study of religion through a comparative approach to Hindu and Christian religious cultures. The central question of our course is “What is religion?” We will attempt to answer this question by drawing on a range of examples from Hindu and Christian religious cultures. These case studies will come from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries in both India and America and range from Hindu pilgrimage to American Catholic devotionalism to yoga to evangelical Christian revivalism. These case studies will be organized around three themes: the body, ritual and devotion, and space and motion. In each case and through each theme we will pay special attention to the ways “religion” is constructed, authorized, and maintained. Turning to the ways religion was constructed in the past will shed light on the ways it is understood today. By the end of the course we will have an understanding of the rich variety of religious cultures found within Christianity and Hinduism while also gaining theoretical tools for analyzing various constructions of “religion.”
