This course allows students to embark on an in-depth examination of fundamental religious themes that shape the human experience across cultural boundaries and traditions. The course seeks to provide a broad understanding of the various ways in which human societies cope with and experience existential concerns, focusing on fundamental themes such as the meanings of religion and life, the religious significance of suffering and evil, and ideas of death and afterlife. Special emphasis will be placed on promoting dynamic class debates via online discussion boards, and students will participate in a Podcast research project to further develop their grasp of core religious ideas.

Unit 1: Introduction: Studying Religion in a Global Society

Unit 2: What is Religon?

Unit 3: The Absolute, the Ultimate, the Holy

Unit 4: Origins and Founders

Unit 5: World Scriptures

Unit 6: Myths, Stories, and Histories

Unit 7: Suffering and Evil

Unit 8: Religion and Art

Unit 9: Ritual

Unit 10: Religion, Morality, and Ethics

Unit 11: Religious Experience

Unit 12: Salvation and the Meaning of Life

Unit 13: Religion, Personality, and the Individual

Unit 14: Religion and Society in a Global Age

Textbook:

• TBA

Further readings (non-mandatory):

• Ninian Smart, The World’s Religions (2nd Edition, Cambridge University Press, 1998)

1. Participation: Discussion board posts addressing weekly study questions (30%)
2. Podcast: Sacred Narratives Essay (30%)
3. Podcast: Sacred Narratives: Exploring Personal Perspectives on Defining Religion through Ethnographic Interviews (40%)

• Communication Skills: Develop, interpret, and express ideas and information through written, oral, and visual communication that is adapted to purpose, structure, audience, and medium.
• Critical Thinking Skills: Gather, analyze, synthesize, evaluate, and apply information for the purposes of innovation, inquiry, and creative thinking.
• Personal Responsibility: Identify and apply ethical principles and practices to decision-making by connecting choices, actions, and consequences.
• Social Responsibility (Civic and Cultural Awareness): Analyze differences and commonalities among peoples, ideas, aesthetic traditions, and cultural practices to include intercultural competence, knowledge of civic responsibility, and the ability to engage effectively in regional, national, and global communities.