RELS 2022 9-30 Syll

R ELS 2001: I NTRODUCTION TO W ORLD R ELIGIONS Fall 2022 I NSTRUCTOR : A SHLYN W. S TROZIER , P H D, SHE / HER CRN: 920209 E MAIL : astrozier2@gsu.edu R OOM / BUILDING : O NLINE S YNCHRONOUS C LASS DAY / TIME : M ONDAY /W EDNESDAY 9:30pm- 10:45pm O FFICE H OURS : By appointment via Webex or in person, you may email for a quicker response To learn more about Religious Studies: • Follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/GSUReligion • Join the Religious Studies Student Forum, our student group • Check out our website at https://religiousstudies.gsu.edu • Become a religious studies major! Email me at astrozier2@gsu.edu for more information Welcome to Introduction to World Religions!!! In this course we will read about, think critically, challenge, write about, and discuss religions of the world. The semester will explore how religion interacts with much of the modern cultural issues, such as race, gender, health, and the environment. Religion for many people is a part of their identity and decision-making process. Therefore, how a person resolves many contemporary cultural issues. This is a “thematic” introduction and exploration into world religions, NOT a survey of major world religions. If you are interested in surveying majoring world religions, we offered a more in-depth study in 3270, “Religious Traditions of the World.” Ask me if you have more questions about this class. Course Goals RELS 2001 Student learning outcomes 1. Students will be able to distinguish between public, lived religion and academic approaches, becoming aware of, and engaging critically the knowledge of religions that they bring into the classroom. 2. Students will apply what they learn to daily public conversations about religion and its influence on societal change through engagement with community partners, scholarly debates, and cultural representations of religious traditions. 3. Students will think intersectionally, understanding the embodied nature of religion, the interplay of religion, race, gender, class, and science. 4. Students will develop a transferable skill set, including critical reading, strong writing, and research skills, that can be used across the curriculum and for personal and professional pursuits. Students will express themselves clearly and persuasively in written and oral communication. 5. Students will be able to recognize and critically engage scholarly conversations in Religious Studies. 1

Course Design This course is organized thematically to introduce students to various topics in religious studies. The course is designed to specifically achieve the learning outcomes previously stated. The course incorporates the learning outcomes intentionally through designed modules. The modules on iCollege are thematically arranged which include readings, videos, links, and other resources valuable for student success. For each module, students are expected to complete readings, videos, lectures, and quizzes. More importantly, the modules are created with guiding questions. Students should focus on these questions as they are preparing for class, quizzes, and exams. Students should be readily able to answer these guiding questions after completing the modules. Students' competencies are shown by being able to answer the questions. Students should use the guiding questions to prepare for ALL assessments, NO STUDY GUIDES will be provided. Students will have several assignments during the semester. Students will participate in polls to monitor understanding during each class, which will contribute to their attendance/ participation grade. In addition, students may have to complete a quiz for each module, these quizzes will be 5-10 questions in length. Finally, students will have a writing assignment that directly relates to course learning outcomes. Writing assignments will have a checklist and rubric, so students are clear about the expectations and how to achieve their preferable grade. Finally, the course concludes with a comprehensive final exam. Required Texts Good news – there is no required textbook. All readings will be available through the library or directly on iCollege. Grading Assignment Weights Religion & Media Essay & Concept Map - 20% Midterm Exam - 25% Final Exam- 25% Quizzes- 15% Participation -15% The Department uses a “+” and “-“grading system as follows: 98-100% = A+ 93-97 %= A 90-92%= A- 87-89%= B+ 84-86%= B 80-83%= B- 77-79%= C+ 70-73%=C- 60-69%= D 59% or below= F 74-76%=C PLEASE REMEMBER!!!! • Grades will not be rounded up. • Please schedule an appointment through email to discuss grades. • Please refrain from requesting to discuss grades after class. A designated time allows the professor to be prepared to discuss grades with needed materials. • Your grades will be visible in I college until grades are submitted in the PAW system. 2

Hero, OneClass, Stuvia, StuDocu and other similar sites. Unauthorized sale or commercial distribution of such material is a violation of the instructor’s intellectual property and the privacy rights of students attending the class and is prohibited. Sexual Harassment Statement : In instances of sexual misconduct, the present instructor(s) and teaching assistants, are designated as Responsible Employees who are required to share with administrative officials all reports of sexual misconduct for university review. If you wish to disclose an incident of sexual misconduct confidentially, there are options on campus for you do so. For more information on this policy, please refer to the Sexual Misconduct Policy which is included in the Georgia State University Student Code of Conduct (http://codeofconduct.gsu.edu/ ). Diversity, Inclusivity, and Respect Statement : In this class, we commit to supporting diversity and inclusion. We strive to construct a safe and inclusive environment by respecting each other’s dignity and privacy. We honor each class member’s experiences, beliefs, perspectives, and backgrounds, regardless of race, religion, language, immigration status, sexual orientation, gender identification, ability status, socio-economic status, national identity, or any other identity markers. Our virtual class meetings and on-line discussions are meant to provide safe spaces for free inquiry and open exchange of ideas. Difficult issues may be confronted, and controversial ideas exchanged. While at times it is appropriate to share our beliefs and opinions, we are committed to basing those beliefs on evidence-based thinking. We agree to act and communicate respectfully toward one another, both directly and indirectly, both inside and outside the boundaries of the class. All members of the class contribute to a caring, inclusive learning environment that promotes empathetic listening, encourages productive participation and sharing, and engenders growth among us all. As a classroom community, we share those values. If you ever have any concerns about the (virtual) classroom climate, please let me know. Your suggestions about how to reinforce the values of diversity and inclusion are encouraged and appreciated. I hope that we will continuously reflect upon our class processes so that we can build an inclusive intellectual community where all feel valued and supported in our learning. Respect & Civility Faculty and students in Religious Studies courses commit to supporting diversity and inclusion. We strive to construct a safe and inclusive environment by respecting each other’s dignity and privacy. We honor each class member’s experiences, beliefs, perspectives, and backgrounds, regardless of race, religion, language, immigration status, sexual orientation, gender identification, ability status, socio-economic status, national identity, or any other identity markers. • Please use the names and pronouns preferred by students and faculty. Students who wish to use a name or pronoun other than what is available on the class roll may introduce themselves to the class using it, or they may contact the instructor via email. Please address the professor by the names she has states are acceptable- Dr. Strozier or Professor Strozier.  In instances of sexual misconduct, the present instructor(s) and teaching assistants, are designated as Responsible Employees who are required to share with administrative officials all reports of sexual misconduct for university review. If you wish to disclose an incident of sexual misconduct confidentially, there are options on campus for you do so. For more information on this policy, please 4

refer to the Sexual Misconduct Policy which is included in the Georgia State University Student Code of Conduct ( Student Code of Conduct ).  Students who wish to request an accommodation for a disability must do so by registering with the Access and Accommodations Center (AACE) located in Student Center East, Suite 205. Students may only be accommodated upon issuance of a signed Student Accommodation Letter through the AACE. The signed Student Accommodation Letter may be submitted electronically to the course instructor or hand delivered by the student to all classes in which the student is seeking accommodations. Academic Honesty & Netiquette  While the penalty for academic dishonesty is a matter of the instructor's discretion in the Department of Religious Studies, the customary penalty for a violation of the academic dishonesty rules is an "F" in the course. See the University Policy on Academic Honesty on the reverse of this sheet.  The selling, sharing, publishing, presenting, or distributing of instructor-prepared course lecture notes, videos, audio recordings, or any other instructor-produced materials from any course for any commercial purpose is strictly prohibited unless explicit written permission is granted in advance by the course instructor. This includes posting any materials on websites. Unauthorized sale or commercial distribution of such material is a violation of the instructor’s intellectual property and the privacy rights of students attending the class and is prohibited.  In keeping with USG and university policy, instructors will make every effort to maintain the privacy and accuracy of your personal information. Specifically, unless otherwise noted, your instructor will not actively share personal information gathered from the course with anyone except university employees whose responsibilities require access to said records. This course may use websites and technologies such as iCollege. As such, some information collected from iCollege, websites, or other technologies may be subject to the Georgia Open Records Act. This means that while your instructor does not actively share information, in some cases your instructor or university officials may be compelled by law to release information gathered from the site. Also, the course will be managed in compliance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), which prohibits the release of education records without student permission. Deadlines & Withdrawal  Students are responsible for confirming that they are attending the course section for which they are registered. Failure to do so may result in a WF or F for the course.  The midpoint is Tuesday, Oct. 11 th . The withdrawal period begins Monday, Aug. 29 th and ends Tuesday, Oct. 11 th . Please view the calendar for other dates and information.  Students who are involuntarily withdrawn may petition the department chair for reinstatement into their classes.  A student may be awarded a grade of "W" no more than 6 times in their career at Georgia State. After 6 W’s, a withdrawal is recorded as a WF on the student's record. A WF counts as an F in a GPA.  By University policy and to respect the confidentiality of all students, final grades may not be posted or given out over the phone. To see your grades, check the web (student.gosolar.gsu.edu). 5

Definitions and Examples The examples and definitions given below are intended to clarify the standards by which academic honesty and academically honorable conduct are to be judged. The list is merely illustrative of the kinds of infractions that may occur, and it is not intended to be exhaustive. Moreover, the definitions and examples suggest conditions under which unacceptable behavior of the indicated types normally occurs; however, there may be unusual cases that fall outside these conditions which also will be judged unacceptable by the academic community. 1. Plagiarism: Plagiarism is presenting another person’s work as one’s own. Plagiarism includes any paraphrasing or summarizing of the works of another person without acknowledgment, including the submitting of another student’s work as one’s own. Plagiarism frequently involves a failure to acknowledge in the text, notes, or footnotes the quotation of the paragraphs, sentences, or even a few phrases written or spoken by someone else. The submission of research or completed papers or projects by someone else is plagiarism, as is the unacknowledged use of research sources gathered by someone else when that use is specifically forbidden by the faculty member. Failure to indicate the extent and nature of one’s reliance on other sources is also a form of plagiarism. Failure to indicate the extent and nature of one's reliance on other sources is also a form of plagiarism. Any work, in whole or part, taken from the internet without properly referencing the corresponding URL (along with the author’s name and title of the work, if available) may be considered plagiarism. Finally, there may be forms of plagiarism that are unique to an individual discipline or course, examples of which should be provided in advance by the faculty member. The student is responsible for understanding the legitimate use of sources, the appropriate ways of acknowledging academic, scholarly or creative indebtedness, and the consequences of violating this responsibility. 2. Cheating on Examinations: Cheating on examinations involves giving or receiving unauthorized help before, during, or after an examination. Examples of unauthorized help include the use of notes, texts, or “crib sheets” during an examination (unless specifically approved by the faculty member), or sharing information with another student during an examination (unless specifically approved by the faculty member). Other examples include intentionally allowing another student to view one’s own examination and collaboration before or after an examination if such collaboration is specifically forbidden by the faculty member. 3. Unauthorized Collaboration: Unauthorized collaboration means working with someone or getting assistance from someone (a classmate, friend, etc.) without specific permission from the instructor on any assignment (e.g., exam, paper, homework) that is turned in for a grade. It is also a violation of academic 7

honesty to knowingly provide such assistance to another student. Collaborative work specifically authorized by a faculty member is allowed. 4. Falsification: It is a violation of academic honesty to misrepresent material or fabricate information in an academic exercise, assignment or proceeding (e.g., false or misleading citation of sources, the falsification of the results of experiments or of computer data, false or misleading information in an academic context in order to gain an unfair advantage). 5. Multiple Submission: It is a violation of academic honesty to submit substantial portions of the same work for credit more than once without the explicit consent of the faculty member(s) to whom the material is submitted for additional credit. In cases in which there is a natural development of research or knowledge in a sequence of courses, use of prior work may be desirable, even required; however, the student is responsible for indicating in writing, as a part of such use, that the current work submitted for credit is cumulative in nature. Anti-Racist Statement As faculty members in a public research university, we recognize our cultural and economic privilege. We are both caught up and complicit in institutions that perpetuate racism, sexism, and hegemony. In response to the murders of Mr. Rayshard Brooks, Mr. George Floyd, Ms. Breonna Taylor, Mr. Ahmaud Arbery, Mr. Trayvon Martin, Mr. Michael Brown, Mr. Eric Garner, Mr. Daunte Wright, Mr. Adam Toledo, and Ms. Ma’Khia Bryant and many others, including members of Atlanta’s Asian community, we stand with colleagues, students, and community members demonstrating against the institutions and structures that perpetuate hate and enable racist violence. As we stand together, we mourn and reflect on our personal and collective responsibilities to be actively anti-racist. We recognize the great potential our diverse and innovative community has to overturn racist, sexist, and hegemonic structures as we reinvent it in the wake of the crises we now face. We commit to an anti-racist and inclusive environment in our department, programming, and classes. Our commitments are listed here . Course Assignments: 1. Participation 15%: Student engagement will be formally measured using polls. Students will have polls throughout the class. All students begin with 100 pts at the beginning of each class. Students lose ten points for every poll they miss during a class, not for the number of polls you get correct. So, if you miss 3 of the 5 questions the student’s grade for the day is 70. Polls are not about correctness but to monitor understanding and engagement. You only lose points if you miss the poll, not if the answer 8

C LASS S CHEDULE The course syllabus provides a general plan for the semester; it is tentative, and changes may be necessary. Please see icollege for material. Each module will have links, videos, and pdfs that are loaded on Icollege, not all of them are listed on the syllabus. As a learning community we may have to adjust and rearrange the schedule, a revised schedule will be posted in those situations. In addition, as a learning community we may make decision concerning the order of modules. Class 1 - Introduction of Syllabus Module One: What is religion? August 24, 2022 1.1 Guiding Question: What is religion? Are we religious? Defining “religion” and concepts and theorists Videos 1. See I College 2. http://www.faculty.rsu.edu/users/f/felwell/www/Theorists/Essays/Durkheim2.htm 3. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1469&context=ccr 4. https://www.jstor.org/stable/45223784?seq=4#metadata_info_tab_contents 5. https://www.qcc.cuny.edu/socialsciences/ppecorino/phil_of_religion_text/chapter_10_defini tion/the-definition-of-religion.htm August 29, 2022 1.2 Guiding Question: What makes something a religion? What makes someone religious? Readings: 10

1..“More Americans now say they’re spiritual but not Religious” Micheal Lipka & Claire Gecewicz https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/09/06/more-americans-now- saytheyre-spiritual- but-not-religious/ Module Two: What Makes Something Sacred? August 31, 2022 2.1 Guiding Questions: What makes something sacred? What is a sacred text? What is a sacred story? How are sacred stories and texts similar and different? Reading(s): 1. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/11/books/review/the-lost-art-of-scripture- karenarmstrong.html 2. Dogon Myth 3. Native American Myths - 4. Watch these videos o https://youtu.be/0qWDMBIZwM8 o https://youtu.be/QdsQEfD98EE September 7, 2022 2.2 Guiding Questions: What is a criteria for a religion? Who determines is something is a religion? How does a religion having a text affect whether people consider it a religion? Why or how is Buddhism different from other religions of the world? Reading: 1. Hexham- Chp2 “A Biased Canon” 2. Introduction to Buddhism 3. https://youtu.be/Lxq-RiLb-6M 4. https://pluralism.org/introduction-to-buddhism 5. See I College for readings, videos, and links. September 12-19, 2022 2.3 Introduction to Judaism Guiding Question : What makes it Abrahamic? Who is Abraham? Who is a Jew ? Readings: 1. See I College for readings, videos, and links. 11

3.2 Guiding Questions: How is reality television framed for various demographics? Reality television is driven by social media and other various forms of technology? Why do some black Christian reality television focus on black religious leader’s depictions of sexuality, especially black female sexuality? You should be able to define and describe the theories. What is racialized holy sex? What is radicalize holy sex? What is the clash of the cultural marketplace? Readings/Videos: “Preachers of Oxygen: Franchising Faith on Reality TV” by Mara Einstein “Black Female Sexual Agency and Racialized Holy Sex in Black Christian Reality TV Shows” by Monique Moultrie October 19-24, 2022 Step 1 in Writing Process: Submit Episode Choice October 19 In Class Modeling We will watch two episodes of television. Law and Order (Conversion) and Dallas (Episode1). We will watch the episodes and complete concept maps for each episode as a class. This is considered step two in the writing process. You will submit your concept map for your episodes on October 27 by midnight. Your paper is due November 9 by midnight. Midterm October 17 Module Four: How do you do religions? October 26-31 2022 4.1 Guiding Questions: Why is the supernatural important? What is a ritual? Introduction to Hinduism Readings: “Our Religion and Superstition Was All Mixed Up?” in Black Magic by Yvonne Chireau Catherine Bell's "Introduction to Ritual" "The Holy Communion and African Rituals" By Themba Ngcobo 13

November 3, 2022 4.2 Guiding Question: Why are rituals important? Describe Hindu death rituals? Readings: “A Contemporary Burial Practices in Three Caribbean Island Among Christians of African Descent” by Camille Huggins & Glenda Hinkson A Hindu Cremation Ritual in Nepal (Hindu) "In the Midst of deep Grief, a scholar writes how Hindu rituals taught her to let go" by Ketika Garga https://theconversation.com/in-the-midst-of-deep-grief-a-scholar-writes-how- hindu-rituals-taught-her-to-let-go-145370 Module Five: Race and Religion in America November 7, 2022 5.1 Guiding Questions: What is modernity? How are race and capitalism related? Readings/ Videos George Fredrickson: Chap. 2 “The Rise of Modern Racism(s): White Supremacy and Anti-Semitism in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries” in Racism: A Short History November 9 ,2022 5.2 Guiding Questions: How does religion become an importer of racism? How is race and religion related? What is liberation theology ? Readings/ Videos George Fredrickson: Chap. 3 “Climax and Retreat: Racism in the Twentieth Century” in Racism: A Short History Sojourner Truth – Aren't I a Woman Fredrick Douglass- "What does the Fourth of July Mean to Negro" Douglas Groll " Where Guiterrez Got It Right: Reflecting on Liberation Theologies in Light of the Worl d Immigrant Crisis" November 14-16, 2022 5.3 Guiding Questions: How has religion or religious discourses influenced the racial conversation in America? 14

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