Montclair State University, Department of Religion

Course Syllabus, Spring 2018



RELG101_04: Understanding Religion
Dickson Hall 279, Mon/Wed 10:00-11:15
Instructor: Professor Stephen Keating

Contact: keatings@montclair.edu

Office Hours: By arrangement only, before or after class.

Course Description

Religion is a strange word that we use to describe an incredibly diverse range of phenomena.
Today, we mostly say “religion” when we are describing global traditions such as Judaism,
Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Shinto, Daoism, Confucianism, and a
number of indigenous traditions. However, religion can mean many other things and the use of
“religion” to classify all these human activities leads to interesting problems. For example, is
Scientology a religion? Is football a religion? Who gets to define what religion means, and what
privileges/disadvantages come to those who are defined as religious? We will think critically
about these questions and more through the use of texts, both fiction and nonfiction, along
with film and TV.

Required Books
• Stephen Prothero – God is Not One
• Hugh Urban – The Church of Scientology: A History of a New Religion
• Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie – Purple Hibiscus
• Malcolm X and Alex Haley – The Autobiography of Malcolm X: As Told to Alex Haley

Assignments

Attendance & Participation (100 pts)

Field Study Project (100 pts)
Divine News & Pop Religion Presentations (50 pts)
Quizzes & Reading Notes (100 pts)
Final Paper (100 pts)

Note: The Field Study Project, Religion Presentation, and Final Paper must all be
completed in order to pass the class.

Total: 450 points

A = 418-450 (93-100%) C = 328-345 (73-76%)

A- = 405-417 (90-92%) C- = 315-327 (70-72%)

B+ = 391-404 (87-89%) D+ = 301-314 (67-69%)

B = 373-390 (83-86%) D = 283-300 (63-66%)

B- = 360-372 (80-82%) D- = 270-282 (60-62%)

C+ = 346-359 (77-79%) F = 268 and less

Attendance & Participation (100 pts)
Weekly attendance and regular participation in class are a requirement of this course. Careful
preparation of assigned readings will allow you to offer comments and raise questions to
challenge all of us to think more creatively and critically about the issues under discussion.
Each student is permitted four absences for any reason (tired, indigestion, cranky, forgetful)
without penalty. Each absence after that will result in a reduction of 15 points (about 3% of total
course grade). Attendance and involvement in discussion is recorded for each class. Only
documented medical or family emergencies constitute excusable absences after your four free
“skips.”

Field Study Project: Visits to Religious Sites (100 pts)

At some point during this semester, on your own time, you’ll need to visit a live religious event
(meditation, puja, mass, worship service, Bat Mitzvah, etc.) at a center of worship within a
tradition other than the one most familiar to you. Feel free to go with a friend, and you need
only participate to the extent that you’re comfortable; simply attending as a respectful observer
is what’s required. If you do attend with a friend, make sure to write your papers independently.

Following your visit, you’ll submit a 2-3 page (1.5 pages is too short) reflection paper where you
describe your observations & critically reflect on your experience (whether positively,
negatively, or – more likely – both). Be sure to address the following points in the course of your
reflections:

• Describe the event & worship space (what was the occasion? what kinds of rituals &
events happened during your visit? how did the architecture shape the experience of
worshippers? what kinds of people were there?)

• What were the most memorable (weirdest, most uncomfortable, funniest) parts of
your visit—and why?

• Did the event cause you to think differently about any religious questions (e.g. God,
prayer, morality, community, meditation) or about the role of religion in society today?

NOTE: You must include a picture of yourself at the site (inside, or outside) at the time of your
visit. The selfie does not count towards your page count. Convince me you were there! Projects
are due through Canvas by midnight, Wednesday, March 21st.

Divine News & Pop Religion Presentations (50 pts)

Each day, two or three students will each individually deliver a 5-minute presentation on a
significant and current (as in, the past week) news story or pop culture event that deals
directly with religion. Your selected story might be deadly serious or sort of fringe, local or
international, but it must be a legit story worthy of analysis. Your job is to tell the class:

1. What are the facts of the story?


2. What are the key religious issues at stake?

3. What’s your own opinion on these issues—and why?

Sample stories might include: religious reactions to attempts at repealing Obamacare or DACA,
or the pope’s climate agenda, or the terrifying flight of Rohingya Muslims from Buddhist-
majority Myanmar, or religious themes in the ongoing Star Wars film franchise— or, a thousand
other options. Don’t forget to look for stories the rest of us might miss. Your sources are nearly
endless: politics, fashion, film, sports, art, theater, food, human rights, medicine, comedy—and
lots of others!

Each presentation include:

 1. oral presentation, including:

• background & explanation of your find (What’s the story about? Why does it
matter? Be sure to get the details right!)

• opinionated analysis (What’s your take on the religious aspect of


this story? Offer real analysis! Move beyond, “Religious violence is bad.”)

2. visual component: a photograph you took, a 30-second video clip, a website, a

cartoon, a ceremonial object, etc.

3. 1-page typed summary of your analysis (approx. 250 words) submitted through
Canvas before your presentation.

Presentation sign-ups will be done on Canvas. Be sure to find stories that have not been
treated by other students earlier in the year. I strongly suggest that presenters in any given
week email their chosen topics to other students presenting the same day in order to avoid
duplicate presentations.

Quizzes & Reading Notes (100)

There will be announced, in-class quizzes and reading responses throughout the course. I will
notify you at least one class session in advance for quizzes and a week ahead of time for
reading responses. However, you can assume that reading responses will be required every
Wednesday class session where fiction reading is assigned.

Final Essay (100)

The paper is due by the end of the day (11:59PM) on Tuesday, May 1st. The paper is to be
submitted through Canvas only and must be either a PDF or DOC file. Details concerning the
paper (its format and content) will be posted to Canvas. Do not plagiarize. See the Montclair
Academic Dishonest Policy for instructions on what constitutes plagiarism.

Essay Format (standard MLA)

For the field study project, include a selfie of you outside the site at the end of your paper to
verify that you actually went (the picture doesn’t count towards your 3-4 pages). I’m not strict
about formatting style, but you should be consistent. The first page of your essays should look
something like this:

Last Name Page#

Name

Date

RELG 101
Professor Keating
Field Study Project

Title of Your Essay is Centered


You should indent the first line of every paragraph and make sure to double-space

all of your lines. Your font should be 12 point Times New Roman and your margins set to

1 inch, all around.

Essay grades will be based on:
• Argument: responses should demonstrate careful reading of assigned texts, sound logic,
and well-defended personal opinions.

• Creativity: take intellectual risks, with humor and wit; avoid clichés!

• Craft: submit well-written papers using standard English.

NOTES
1. Late assignments will receive a 10% reduction for each class period they are late.

2. Plagiarism and other incidents of academic dishonesty (e.g. cheating on a quiz) will result,
at minimum, in a zero for the assignment, without the possibility of resubmitting it. Cases
that I consider flagrant will result in a referral to the Dean of Students Office and/or failure
for the course. On assignments big or small, lifting even one short sentence directly from
another source and dropping it into your paper as if the words are your own (i.e. without
quotations and a citation) is plagiarism. If you find yourself in a situation where you simply
will not be able to complete an assignment on time and are contemplating stealing
someone else’s work to meet a deadline, I strongly advise you to submit the assignment
late and accept the penalty. It’s simply not worth jeopardizing your academic reputation.

Tentative Schedule
Readings may vary depending on student interest and considerations of time. Be sure to check
Canvas weekly to download additional readings.

January 17 - Week One

Syllabus Discussion / What is Religion?

January 22/24 - Week Two

What is Religion? continued, Religious site visit assignment discussion

Reading:

Monday: Prothero, Introduction (1-24)

Wednesday: Prothero, Atheism (317-329)

Quiz Wednesday

January 29/31 - Week Three

Yoruba Religion

Reading:

Monday/Wednesday: Prothero, Yoruba Religion (203-241)

Quiz Wednesday

February 5/7- Week Four

Film: Get Out
Reading:

Monday/Wednesday: Prothero, Hinduism selections (136-159)

Get Out discussion Wednesday

February 12/14 - Week Five

Scientology

Reading:

Monday: Urban, Church of Scientology, Introduction (1-25)

Wednesday: Urban, Church of Scientology, Chapter 1 (26-56)

Quiz Wednesday

February 19/21 - Week Six

Scientology, cont.

Reading:

Monday: Urban, Church of Scientology, Chapter 2 (57-88)

Wednesday: Urban, Church of Scientology, Conclusion (201-216)

Quiz Wednesday

February 26/28 - Week Seven

Purple Hibiscus

Reading:

Monday: Adichie, 1-36

Wednesday: Adichie, 37-88

Reading notes due Wednesday in class

March 5/6 - SPRING RECESS, NO CLASS

Use this week to get ahead in the reading.

March 12/14 - Week Eight

Purple Hibiscus

Reading:
Monday: Adichie, 89-109

Wednesday: Adichie, 110-161

Reading notes due Wednesday in class

March 19/21 - Week Nine

Purple Hibiscus

Reading:

Monday: Adichie, 162-205

Wednesday: Adichie, 206-239

Reading notes due Wednesday in class

Field Study Project due by end of day (11:59 PM), Wednesday, March 21st

March 26/28 - Week Ten

Purple Hibiscus

Reading:

Monday: Adichie, 240-270

Wednesday: Adichie, 271-307

Quiz Wednesday

April 2/4 - Week Eleven

Malcolm X

Reading:

Monday: X, 1-40

Wednesday: X, 41-72

Reading notes due Wednesday in class

April 9/11 - Week Twelve

Malcolm X

Reading:
Monday: X, 73-110

Wednesday: X, 111-153

Reading notes due Wednesday in class

April 16/18 - Week Thirteen

Malcolm X

Reading:
Monday: X, 154-194

Wednesday: X, 195-239

Reading notes due Wednesday

April 23/25 - Week Fourteen

Malcolm X

Reading:
Monday: X, 240-293

Wednesday: X, 294-348

Reading notes due Wednesday in class

April 30 - Week Fifteen

Malcolm X, and Wrap-up Discussion

Reading:
Monday: X, 349-389

Quiz Wednesday

Final paper due by end of day (11:59 PM), Tuesday, May 1st