History 112 - Intro to World Religions

Fall
2018
02
4.00
Charles Weisenberger
TU TH 5:30PM 6:45PM
UMass Amherst
75415
Mary Lyon House rm 119 (loung)
cweisenberge@history.umass.edu
What is religion, and why do people care so much about it? This course will examine the origins and development of some of the world's major religions including Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. We will read sacred texts and travel to sites of worship. We will also consider how religion continues to shape current affairs. Students will prepare analytic essays, participate in group discussions, and attend off-campus field trips. The course will demonstrate that understanding religion is critical to participating in a global community and will neither advocate or denigrate religious participation. (Gen. Ed. I, DG)
Open to students in the Exploratory Engineering RAP in Dwight or the Engineering Majors RAPs in Dickinson and Leach. HISTORY 112-02
See http://www.umass.edu/rap/global-perspectives-rap

Students will explore the similarities and differences in cultural backgrounds and how these experiences may influence an individual's transition to college life. Specifically, in this course we will:

(1) Learn how scholars in the past have thought and spoken about religion and religious issues
(2) Learn how to think openly and objectively about cultural and religious differences
(3) Learn how to talk about religion in a scholarly way as students and scholars in a modern university
(4) Develop an understanding of several religious traditions from different geographical areas, and see how they have developed over time
(5) Write analytically about important issues in religious studies

Our activities in the course will include the academic study of religion and personal experience of religious activity, including Sacred Texts, Sacred Acts and Sacred Objects. Therefore, we will have a variety of activities such as:

(1) Reading from the sacred books of several religious traditions, and from theories of religion by scholars of the past
(2) Discussions of religion in the news (especially important in an election year!)
(3) Direct observation of religious rituals from different traditions
(4) Field trips to local museums to discover the sacred in art

This course is meant to help you to learn to read critically, to write critically, and to become critical observers as members of a community of university students.
Permission is required for interchange registration during the add/drop period only.