Course Outline September 8, 2000
Religious Studies 3453 MWF 10:30-11:20 EC G13
Thom Parkhill office: EC 315 office hours MWF 9:30 e-mail: parkhill@stthomasu.ca
Overview
As I was driving into Fredericton thinking about this course, it occurred to me that the
inquiry structure that I was foisting on you was completely backwards from my own
academic introduction to the religious traditions of India nearly thirty years ago. Let me settle
into my rocking chair and light up the old corncob pipe and tell you all about it.
Way back then courses like this began with an overview of the "major" religions, and moved
quickly to a consideration of the central sacred texts, usually of Hinduism. Students in such a
course would read some Vedic hymns, an Upaniad or perhaps two, the Bhagavadgita, and a
philosophical text, probably something from the Advaita Vedanta school. By the time we'd
all waded through these texts, we'd be out of time. Buddhist texts might get a week or two,
but that was it. What people in India were doing when they were doing religious things was
rarely discussed. The texts hung in a contextless vacuum, clearly impressive, but also
intimidating, and not a little pristine and distant. Graduate level training was not much
better. I found a place for my interest in stories, but I managed to earn a Ph.D. without
having figured out how the text I had studied for a few years was actually used in India. It was
only later when I visited India to do first-hand research that I finally got some sense for the
religious climate of the place.
Times have changed. Now the study of these religious traditions -- often listed as Hinduism,
Buddhism, Jainism, Islam, and Sikhism -- often begins with what people really do, or what
they have really done, when they are or were being religious. Thus the resource text for the
course is called Religions of India in Practice. Instead of beginning with texts that seem to
hang in midair, disconnected from the people who cherish them, these texts belong to
particular religious communities; some of them are contested by different Indian
communities. Those central sacred texts are still important -- you cannot pretend to have been
introduced to the religious traditions of India without some awareness of them -- but many
scholars understand that these texts can only begin to be comprehensible if we first have some
sense of the religious milieu of the place.
Method
This course will proceed by collaborative inquiry. Let's start with the "inquiry first."
As I noted above, we have a common text, Religions of India in Practice, edited by Donald S.
Lopez, Jr. (Princeton University Press, 1995) which is, or will be, available in the University
Bookstore. We will begin by considering the introduction of this book. It will serve as a
resource and a springboard into deepening inquiries into aspects of these religious traditions.
For a brief time, I will assign common readings that I think all or half of us need to read.
Soon, however, I will be asking you to root around in the four sections ("Songs of Devotion
and Praise," "Rites and Instructions," "Remarkable Lives and Edifying Tales," and "Traditions
in Transition and Conflict") with an eye to finding an entry that you guess will engage your
class colleagues in an inquiry that will take you outside the boundaries of this book. Just
which entries we use as springboards to in depth inquiries will be up to you and your class
colleagues. I am looking forward to finding out what you choose to focus your inquiry.
Because we will be sharing our learnings, working with and learning from each other -- in
writing and in oral discussion -- I call the course "collaborative." One aim of the course is to
encourage each participant to become a class colleague -- to teach and learn from one another.
In other courses like this one students have found they are writing frequently, some of the
time in the computer labs; that their class colleagues are often reading their work; that they
typically have to work in the library; that they work with their class colleagues on projects in
groups of different sizes.
For almost every class I'll be writing you and your colleagues a letter that I call a
"prompt". The prompts are most often intended to guide you in your inquiry.
The prompts will ask you to do academic sorts of things -- reading, thinking, writing. I want
you to keep copies of your writing in a file folder. I will distribute a folder to each person in
the class within the first two weeks of class, just so you'll have one. One of the course
requirements is that twice this term, once in late October and one at the end of the term, you
transform your file folder of collected work into a portfolio. The transformation from file
folder to portfolio will be your task, but I will give as much assistance as I am able. In
addition, I will ask you to reflect -- in writing -- on your learning for the course. This will
take place after the end of the course.
Evaluation and Learning
The standard university course requires students to write tests, exams, and essays. This
course does not. Without these requirements, I cannot evaluate your work by standard
methods. Thus, your evaluation will consist of three parts:
Part 1, the minimum mark or base grade which reflects your attendance, and your responses
to the prompts.. If you attend consistently and respond to the prompts consistently, you will
earn a minimum grade in the "C" range.(1) What's "consistently" mean? For me it means
missing no more than three classes (that's a week-and-a-half) a term, and responding to all the
prompts (see the item on "late assignments and excused absences" which follows). If you do
not attend class consistently and/or do not respond to the prompts consistently, your
minimum mark will go down. Your final mark will -- regardless of how you do in the other
two areas of evaluation -- not be lower than your minimum mark. It may, of course, be
higher. You can earn a higher-than-base grade by doing well in the other two areas of
evaluation.(2)
Part 2, a mark based on my assessment of the quality of your portfolio, both the October and
December versions.
Part 3, a mark based on my assessment of the quality of your work using learning reflections
as evidence. Notice that I used the plural "learning reflections." This is because I will use
both your learning reflection as well as those of your class colleagues. In the former, as part of
convincing me that you have learned about ritual, you will include what you have learned
from your class colleagues. In the latter, the learning reflections written by your class
colleagues, I will look for evidence that you have shared what you've learned with others in
the class in ways that allowed them to learn from you. In other words, I will try to assess
whether others are learning or have learned from you, how well you are able to share your
learnings orally and in writing. I will base my Part 3 assessment on what you write about
your learning and what they write about your contribution to their learning.
Please note that it is certainly possible to earn a mark in the "A" range with this method of
evaluation.(3)
I will ask for your portfolios on two different occasions, October 27 and December 11. I will
ask for your learning reflections only once, at the end of the course, but I'll give you the
prompt for those reflections much earlier so you can begin thinking and writing about your
learning at your leisure. Your learning reflection will be due on December 11.
Information and Suggestions
1. Late assignments/excused absences. When someone asks me to be excused from a class or
an assignment, I often feel the request is really for forgiveness. In fact I can forgive most
absences and lapses in responding to prompts; but I cannot excuse them. There are no
excuses in RS 3453. As you will see, an assignment passed in late is often useless to your class
colleagues and thus is as good as not done; and an absence from class is often an absence from
your group whether you have a good reason or not. Late assignments are assignments not
done; and an absence is an absence is an absence.
2. You will want to keep an electronic copy of your important electronic mail messages and
electronic files. I strongly suggest you keep a paper or electronic copy of every significant
contribution you pass in or write to the shared directory on the computer network. This
means getting a few small diskettes on which to copy electronic files. Ignore this at your
peril.
3. Textbooks, Photocopies, and Examinations. As I noted earlier, there is the one textbook,
Religions of India in Practice, edited by Donald S. Lopez Jr. In addition, please set aside at least
$20.00 for photocopying (the cost of a "big" debit card at the library. You will find it
necessary to photocopy library material as well as your own and colleagues' work. You may
need another $10.00 for laser printing. (These amounts are estimates). There are no
examinations in RS 3453. A caution, however: you can plan on spending the time you would
have spent cramming for exams in this course working consistently throughout the term.
Figure on about approximately five hours outside of class time each week.
4. Many times when you write something in response to a prompt, it will be read by some or
all of your class colleagues. Please keep this simple fact in mind when you are preparing
assignments for this course. If the work is going to be on paper, make sure it is dark enough
to photocopy. If the work takes electronic form (e-mail or a file), make sure you put your
name on it. An excellent piece of work that is unreadable cannot be used. Only you will
know how good it is. Your class colleagues will not, nor will I. If it's unsigned, we can use it,
but you cannot be acknowledged for it. In other words, it won't "count."
5. Keep your file folder up to date. Transforming it into a portfolio with require you to select
three or four individual pieces of work, and to write an annotated table of contents. In other
words you will need to be able to judge your best work to show me. My agenda here is to
give you a couple of occasions to re-read your own work and to discern the better pieces. It is
your responsibility to make sure that your portfolio represents your best work. Remember,
it's due on October 27 and December 11. Your learning reflection this term will be due
December 11. If your file folder is not up to date, you will find the two portfolios and the
final learning reflection difficult to do.
The Class Begins On Monday
After reflecting on what you have just read and on this afternoon's class, you may feel
you are not comfortable with the style of learning in RS 3453. Or you may feel you are not
ready to take on the kind of commitment to learning that the course requires. That's okay.
There are other religious studies courses you may take.
I suggest we treat today as an information session; the class begins Wednesday afternoon
... I'll take the first attendance then. If you need to drop RS 3453 before then, that's okay. I
know the course will work best with and for people who want to be here.
____________________
Endnotes
1. Here's what the university calendar says about the "C" range:
Demonstrating a reasonable understanding of the subject matter, concepts, and techniques; performance in an assignment or course which, while not particularly good, is adequate to satisfy general university requirements and to indicate that the student has learned something useful. [214]
2. I noted that your minimum mark is augmented by the two other marks. The exception to this is if you earn an F as a minimum mark. Missing lots of classes earns you an F; so does not responding to lots of prompts. You cannot pass the course if you earn an F as a minimum mark; if there are other marks they are not counted. What does "lots" mean? Miss some combination of 10 classes and prompt-responses in a term and you earn a failing grade.
3. About the "A" grade the university calendar says,
Demonstrating an exceptional knowledge of subject matter, the literature, and concepts and/or techniques. ... A performance qualitatively better than that expected of a student who does the assignment or course well.