New Religious Movements: "cults" in the "New Age"
Course Outline
| Religious Studies 2-319 | TTH 2:30-4:00; | EC 223 | |
| Thom Parkhill | office: EC 315 | office hours: MW 1:30-2:30, F 2:00-3:00 | e-mail: parkhill |
September 9, 1997
Overview
Let's face it: "cults" are cool. Or, maybe they're hot. In any case they attract our attention; and
they hold our attention; and they precipitate up all kinds of intense reactions in most people in
North America. At no other time does religion seem to mean as much to most North Americans
as when they confront "the cults." To have the opportunity to study such a phenomenon in
popular mainstream culture is, frankly, exciting. But it's also a bit intimidating.
Last week I was meeting the parents of first-year students in an official university capacity. The
third parent I met was, when she learned I was in the religious studies department, direct in her
questions. She was worried, she said, about her daughter. She didn't go to church regularly, and,
although she didn't want to pressure her daughter in any way, she was worried that she was
susceptible to "the cults." In the face of her genuine fear, I could offer statistics and my
professorial calm, but it soon became clear to me that "the cults" stood for the dangers her first-child-leaving-home would face without her guidance. Not for the first time did I wonder if our
attitudes to "cults" were not shaped by biases that distorted much of what we see in pictures and
in writing. It is there biases that make the study of new religious movements intimidating.
I thought again about the end of last term as the Heaven's Gate event dominated the popular
media. I remembered that I'd been part of that domination, appearing for 30 seconds on the local
television news as an "expert" whose job it was to calm people down. They found a philosophy
professor at St. Mary's, another expert, to warn people to keep their kids off the street. In fact,
neither of us knew squat about the Heaven's Gate group. I had access to the wire service that the
television producer sent me, and while I refused the interview twice because I felt I needed more
time to research this group, I ended up on television because I knew what the other "expert" was
going to say, and, frankly, because I was flattered. I tell the story of my grand media exposure in
order to make the point that when I speak of bias I am not pointing fingers, or, rather I am
pointing fingers, but at myself as well.
Method
One label applied to courses like this is "collaborative inquiry." What this means is that people
learn together by investigating a topic or topics then writing up their findings for each other.
Often they continue the cycle of investigating and writing in light of the knowledge they have
made together.
In RS 2-319 I anticipate this happening by individuals, and then groups, carrying out inquiries into
specific new religious movements. That is, someone may choose to find out about the Branch
Davidians, someone about the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, someone about
the followers of Rajneesh, and so on. Later, on the basis of preliminary studies, groups of class
colleagues will carry on the investigation into some of these groups. During these inquiries, in
order to remain mindful of the problem of bias, we will foreground a series of questions:
What does this new religious movement say about itself?
What does the popular media say about this new religious movement?
What does the anti-cult movement say about this new religious movement?
What do the academics say about this new religious movement?
Obviously we will be learning how better to use the library and electronic tools to come to an
answer to these questions.
That's the "inquiry" part. The "collaborative" part of the label comes because we will be sharing
our resources, working with and learning from each other -- in writing and in oral discussion.
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, often in front of a computer, sometimes in the computer lab; that they typically have to
work in the library; that they work with their class colleagues on projects in groups of different
sizes. To provide a means for you to write and to read each other's writing we rely on the linked
computers on the top floor of Sir James Dunn Hall and in the basement of this building, as well as
on the photocopiers of the University and the Harriet Irving Library.
I will ask you to keep a "portfolio" of your individual work. "Portfolio" is a fancy word for a
record of your academic endeavours -- a place where you keep a copy of every piece of writing
(aside from anonymous inksheds) you do for this course. I will ask to see your portfolio at the
end of the term, on December 4. In addition, I will ask you to reflect on your learning for the
course.
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; they also are a record of the
work you will do.
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 these three parts:
Part 1) the minimum 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, for a
"base grade", a grade in the "C" range. What's "consistently" mean? For me it means missing no
more than a week's worth of classes (that's three) 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 base grade will go down.
Regardless of how you do in the other two areas of evaluation, your final mark will not, however,
be lower than your base grade. It may, of course, be higher. You can earn a higher-than-base
grade by doing well in the other two areas of evaluation.(1)
Part 2, a mark, added to this minimum, based on my assessment of the quality of your work as
reflected in the learning reflections of your colleagues. I will try to assess whether others learn
from you, how well you are able to share your learnings orally and in writing. I will base my
assessment on what they write about your contribution to their learning;
Part 3, a mark, added to the minimum, based on my assessment of the quality of your portfolio,
including your learning reflections. This will especially include what and how you write about
what you have learned from your class colleagues.
I will ask for your learning reflections on three different occasions: October 14, November 6, and
December 4. Doing these will involve filling out an electronic form with questions that I hope
will help you focus your thoughts. I am aware that students often find writing learning reflections
difficult. If learning to think about what one has learned were not so vital to thinking critically
and well, I wouldn't be asking you to do it.
Learning Group Covenant
While my experience is that I learn most efficiently in groups, I also remember group
experiences that were real disasters. Early in the term I will probably ask the members of RS 2-319 to work with me to negotiate a learning group covenant of group norms. We will be
discussing such issues as rules for discussion, attendance at small group meetings held outside of
the classroom, and a whole host of issues around time -- starting on time, ending on time, time for
breaks, getting written work to the group on time, and so on. We'll also discuss ways of dealing
with colleagues who just don't seem to want to do any work. I have found that by working
through some of these issues early on, some group-related problems can be averted. I will also
encourage any "working groups" which form to accomplish a long-term task to formulate a
learning small-group covenant consisting of additional clauses that apply only to the work of the
working group.
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 (and do) forgive most
absences and lapses in responding to prompts; but I cannot excuse them. There are no excuses
in RS 2-319. 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. This requirement flows naturally from the
collaborative nature of the course.
2. Save all the work of the course. We produce lots of writing in this course. Despite the use of
computers, there's a huge amount of paper, which I expect you to save and keep track of at least
until December. The prompts are only a small part of these. I find a three-ring binder and a paper
punch a great way to keep track of all the paper. You will learn ways 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. Keep your portfolio up to date. It need not be fancy (I'll pass out file folders that will do the
job), but it is your responsibility to make sure that your portfolio represents your work. If you
don't want something to appear there, simply leave it out. I will assume that you intend missing
items to be missing. I'll ask for your portfolio only once -- on the last day of classes. I will ask
for your final learning reflection at the same time. If your portfolio is not up to date, you will find
the final learning reflection difficult to do.
4. Textbooks, Photocopies, and Examinations. There is no textbook. 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 2-319. 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 approximately five
hours outside of class time each week.
5. 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 cited for it.
The Class Begins On Thursday
After reflecting on this course outline and on what will be happening in this afternoon's class,
you may feel you are not comfortable with the style of learning in RS 2-319. 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; there are other years to take this course.
I suggest we treat today as an information session; the class begins Thursday afternoon ... I'll
take the first attendance then. If you need to drop RS 2-319 before then, that's okay. I know the
course will work best with and for people who want to be here.
An Assignment for Friday
Should you decide to join us in the course, please e-mail me. Your message can contain just your
name and Login ID (at St. Thomas this is the five letter non-word beginning with G), or, if you
wish, a longer message. I need an electronic record of your name and Login ID for making
electronic lists. Please do this by Friday, September 12. I have a one-page instruction sheet for
this.
____________________
Endnotes
1. I noted that your base grade is augmented by the two other marks. The exception to this is if you earn an F as a base grade. 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 base grade; if there are other marks they are not counted. What does "lots" mean? Miss some combination of 10 classes and prompt-responses and you earn a failing grade.