Anthropology of Religion

Anthro 305

Spring 2008 on the web

Instructor: John McDermott

Phone: (562) 965-0951

Email: jmcdermott@fullerton.edu

Office & hours: MH104k~ Tues and Thurs 12:00-1:00

Description: Beliefs and practices in the full human variation of religious phenomena, with an emphasis on primitive religions. The forms, functions, structures, symbolism, history and evolution of religious systems. (3 units)

Text:

Magic, Witchcraft and Religion An Anthropological Study of the Supernatural 7^th edition, Arthur C. Lehman, James Myers, Pamela A. Moro

There will also be articles posted in Course Documents

Learning objectives:

To assess the structure and function of religion through out different cultures and through out time.  The power of myth and ritual and the meaning religion or the lack of meaning religion has in peoples lives and why.  Using case studies from around the world, the course will also explore various religious movements such as shamanism and witchcraft.  This class is intended to respectfully examine various religions in the context of their cultural origins and meanings. The course will study religion as a form of cultural expression, and will not evaluate the inferiority, superiority, or validity of any particular religion. The course seeks to foster and promote free inquiry and critical thinking; it is not intended to be a forum for the promotion of individual religious views.

General Education fulfillment:  Anthropology 305 meets General Education Category III.B.3 (Arts and Humanities within the Disciplinary Learning Section).

Anthropology of Religion as a General Education Requirement:  According to CSUF, General Education courses fulfilling category III.B should address the following learning goals:

            ·  To understand broad, unifying themes in the arts and/or humanities from cross-disciplinary perspectives.

                ·  To solve complex problems that require artistic or humanistic understanding.

                ·  To relate the arts and/or humanities to significant social problems or to other related disciplines.

                ·  When deemed appropriate, to apply disciplinary concepts from the arts and/or humanities in a variety of

                     settings, such as community-based learning sites and activities.

General education courses must also include a writing assignment. “Writing assignments … should involve the organization and expression of complex data or ideas and careful and timely evaluations of writing so that deficiencies are identified and suggestions for improvement … are offered. Assessments of the student’s writing competence shall be used in determining the final course grade” (UPS 411.201). Your Reflective Essays, Ritual Summary, and Research Paper will fulfill this requirement since you will need to conceptualize and express complex ideas related to religious perspectives. Timely feedback will be provided.

Technological requirements and skills:  Students must have access to a computer and the Internet. There are several labs available on campus if these resources are not available in you home. For more information about campus computer labs, please contact the University Learning Center at www.fullerton.edu/ulc; 714-278-2738.

In order to succeed in this class, students will need to be able to (or be willing to learn how to):

            ● Use Word and its main features

● Access and navigate Internet sites

● Access and navigate the course Blackboard site

● Receive and send emails

● Create, open, and send attachments via email

● Access and post on the Discussion Bulletin Board

Blackboard:  

The course will be conducted through the Campus Blackboard site. All lecture materials, discussions, assignments, and quizzes will be administered or submitted via Blackboard. The course Blackboard site may be accessed through your student portal by visiting http://my.fullerton.edu from any web browser. You will need to use your CWID and PIN to login to the portal. Once logged in, select the Blackboard tab and your classes will appear.

Technology Help:  If you are having technical problems (such as difficulty accessing your student portal and/or Blackboard), please contact the Help Desk at http://www.fullerton.edu/it/about_us/Help_Desk.asp, or 714-278-7777.

Exams: Will be multiple choice – True / false …There will be a midterm and a final.  They will include: lecture postings, study guides, questions from the articles read, discussions and Power Points posted

Readings/Blackboard:

There will be weekly readings in addition there will be weekly quiz questions and topic discussions related to the readings, on blackboard.  You will have one week to answer the quiz questions (when a quiz is posted) and to begin your discussion for each topic.  The discussions do not close after the first week they will optimally last all semester, but if you postpone your contribution you will loose half the points possible (points possible will vary by discussion), after the first week.   But, as you gain knew knowledge this semester you can go back and contribute to the discussion.  The quizzes (when posted) will be open only for a designated period of time.  There will also be links to films

Discussions: Discussion will be on selected articles assigned and materials presented. 

Blackboard:  There will be an open and ongoing blackboard discussions, points earned on Blackboard will depend on *very important*

• the discussions must reflect not only your ideas, but the concepts discussed in the articles assigned and your ideas about them
• the depth and thought you put into your contributions, how interactive you are with student contribution.  This is a discussion board
• You will NOT be marked down for disagreeing with the articles, etc., but explain your position thoroughly, I want your legitimate feelings and thoughts in this class, no one should feel they need to write what someone else wants to hear !!!!!
• Remember Netiquitte

I will also post PowerPoint and lectures in Blackboard Assignments Section.

Quizzes

(when posted):  Will consist of questions on articles read and PowerPoint presentations posted.  These quizzes can also be used as a study guide for the exams. (a study guide will be posted)

Grading:

Grades will be based on articles read, discussions and quizzes for each article on blackboard, term paper and exams. 

Your success in this course will depend primarily on self-discipline and perseverance in keeping up with the reading, discussions, and exams. The quality of your written work will also be important.

Blackboard Discussions (IMPORTANT)

“The diversity of CSUF student population provides us with a unique opportunity to experience the differences among us. At times we may disagree on a particular point; however, our discussions will always remain respectful of these differences.  We will treat others with dignity and respect throughout our discussions.”

Academic Honesty:  Academic honesty is expected. Academic dishonesty will be dealt with harshly and may result in a failing grade for the course at the discretion of the instructor. Academic dishonesty not only includes plagiarism and cheating on exams and/or assignments, but also includes turning in work that is not your own (make sure to clearly cite ALL sources).

Discussion and participation will enhance the diversity of information and increase our knowledge base.  Anthropology deals with all aspects of humans through time, at this moment your opinion matters and is part of the knowledge base continuum that we will share.

Grading policy

15 - Blackboard - discussions and quizzes        = 200 - 50%

  1 - Midterm                                                        = 100 - 25% 

  1 - Final                                                              = 100 - 25%

Total                                                                          400 =100%

Point Break down

Blackboard Discussion

Discussions are a large part of the grade for this class; your thoughts on the material are necessary.  Participation will be graded on input, depth of thought and sincerity.

Online blackboard discussions will be ongoing on selected topics…Quizzes (when posted) will be weekly and left open for one week from posting.  I will track number of visits by each student through Blackboards online tracking and will read and assess each response for depth of thought and how well your response addresses or contributes the discussion.  I will not grade or judge your contributions on how different or similar they are to mine, feel free to express your ideas and thoughts, fully. 

Contact

Feel free to contact me for any questions or comments you have, you have my cell phone number,  If however, I am not available I will return your call as soon as possible (24 hours), you can email me (response within 48 hours) or speak to me in person during my office hours posted above.  We can also meet on campus during office hours.  If I do not contact you within the time specified above, please contact me again.

Special Needs:

Please contact me, regarding any special needs I should be aware of

Netiquitte:  In an online course, students primarily communicate with fellow classmates and the instructor through the public course bulletin and e-mail. Online manners are generally known as netiquette. As a general rule, you should adhere to the same conduct that you would in a classroom setting. Following are a four netiquette tips:

1- Avoid writing messages in all capital letters. THIS IS GENERALLY UNDERSTOOD AS SHOUTING!

2- Be careful about what you put in writing. Although you may send an email to a single    individual, it is very easy to forward it to others.

3- Grammar and spelling matter. Online courses demand the same standard of academic communication and use of grammar as do on-campus classes.

4- Never use profanity in any area of an online course. Transcripts will be viewed by the instructor and are savable.

5- Avoid unkind public criticism of other people’s thoughts and viewpoints.

6- Always be respectful and courteous to your fellow students and instructor.

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General suggestions: Each Week Check Announcements, go to assignments for lecture blogs and power points, read the articles assigned, Then watch clips or films associated with the articles in assignments.  All the assignment material is titled with which chapter it is associated with.  Afterwards take the quiz and join in the discussion.  New this semester, there will be links to full films that will be assigned.  These links will be in announcements.  This is new, because the library is just beginning to digitalize and link films.   

After the first week or maybe two you will understand how this works…

*DISCUSSIONS WILL BE HELD ON ARTICLES WEEKLY IN BLACKBOARD, Discussions will be graded on the amount of thought put into your participation

--* SEE ANNOUNCMENTS FOR LECTURES, QUIZZES AND OTHER WEEKLY ASSIGNMENTS

Week 9_ “Religion as a cultural System” Clifford Gertz – Course Documents

Download syllabus Microsoft Word (.doc) file. If you do not have Word, please use the Word Viewer.