WORLD RELIGIONS OUTLINE
Spring 2011
WEEK 1
1/5-1/7
review policies & procedures
prayer assignments
Luke review
course introduction
“Keeping the Faith” film clip
compare/contrast Eastern and Western religions (overview)
FORWARD
“The Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions”
(Nostra aetate)
Forward & Nostra aetate QUIZ
WEEK 2
1/10-1/14
WEEK 3
1/18-1/21
WEEK 4
1/24-1/28
Feast of Don Bosco
CH. 1: STUDYING THE WORLD’S RELIGIONS
perennial religious questions
DOCUMENTARY FILM: “In God’s Name”
basic elements of religions
Glossary pg. 19
Ch. 1 vocabulary QUIZ
archetypes: Joseph Campbell to George Lucas (w/”The Empire
Strikes Back” film clip)
CH. 2: PRIMAL RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS
primal vs. primitive
The Australian Aborigines, the African Yoruba, and the North
American Plains Indians
stories of origin NARRATIVE ESSAYS
separation of church & state
elements of religious ritual
male initiation rites & spiritual development (“Finding Nemo” &
Richard Rohr)
Glossary pg. 39
“Baraka” film clip
Ch. 2 TEST
review Salesian Curriculum: Preventative System, Oratory Model,
accompaniment, and 2011 strenna
[OUTREACH PROJECT assigned]
CH. 3: HINDUISM
reincarnation & caste
intra-religious pluralism: monism, monotheism, and polytheism
three paths to salvation
WEEK 5
1/31-2/4
Upanishads & Bhagavad Gita
Glossary pg. 67
Mahatma Gandhi (w/“Gandhi” film clips)
modern India and Pakistan (and Afghanistan) RESEARCH
Ch. 3 TEST
CH. 4: BUDDHISM
Siddhartha Guatama (w/”Little Buddha” film clips)
images of the Buddha RESEARCH
WEEK 6
2/7-2/10
WEEK 7
2/14-2/18
WEEK 8
2/28-3/4
Four Noble Truths & Noble Eightfold Path
Dhamapada
monastic vs. popular Buddhism
Glossary pg. 91
Siddhartha/Jesus Venn Diagram ACTIVITY (Tich Nhat Hanh)
Tibet & the Dalai Lama (w/“A&E Biography” film clips)
CH. 9: ZEN BUDDHISM
India-China-Japan-West progression
meditation ACTIVITY
talking koan with the roshi in dokusan: student-teacher
Rinzai & Soto
Glossary pg. 165
Thomas Merton: Catholic Zen master
Chs. 4 & 9 TEST
Chinese religious complex & Communism: how the symbols of
the 2008 Beijing Olympic opening ceremonies wrote the
20th ce. historical narrative
CH. 7: CONFUCIANISM
K’ung Fu-tzu, Mencius, and Chu-Hsi
“The Four Books”
Five Constant Relationships
Glossary pg. 137
religion or social philosophy?
WEEK 9
3/7-3/11
WEEK 10
3/14-3/17
CH. 8: TAOISM
Lao Tzu and the Tao Te Ching
yin/yang
nature and the arts
Glossary pg. 151
The Tao of Pooh & The Te of Piglet
Chs. 7 & 8 TEST
3rd Quarter COLLABORATIVE ASSESSMENT
WEEK 11
3/21-3/25
WEEKS 12-13
3/28-4/7
WEEKS 14-15
4/11-4/20
WEEKS 16-17
3rd Quarter Collaborative Assessment review
DOCUMENTARY FILM: “Three Faiths, One God: Judaism,
Christianity, Islam”
[Western Religions WEBQUEST assigned]
[Extra Credit FIELD RESEARCH assigned]
CH. 12 JUDAISM
covenant with YHWH
Tanakh (Torah), Mishnah and Talmud
Salvation History: Patriarchs; Exodus; monarchy; prophets
(Jeremiah focus); Exile; Greek occupation; Roman
occupation; destruction of the 2nd Temple; classical period;
medieval period (Maimonides & Kabbalah); modern period
(Hasidism, Holocaust, Israel)
three branches
ethics, worship, feast days, and rites of passage
Ch. 12 TEST
CH. 13: CHRISTIANITY
Mysteries of the faith: Trinity, Incarnation, and Resurrection
Liturgical Year (w/emphasis on Easter)
Jesus of history
CRITICAL ANALYSIS: Jesus in film
Peter and Paul
early church leadership models
the Patristic period and the Creed
three branches: the Great Schism & the Reformation
“Luther” film clips
ecumenism: Unitatis redintegratio & John Paul II
Ch. 13 TEST
{OUTREACH PROJECT PRESENTATIONS DUE 5/2-5/3}
5/2-5/13
CH. 14: ISLAM
Muhammad and the Qur’an
the Five Pillars
two branches: Sunni & Shi’i
Sufism (whirling dervish video clip)
Nation of Islam and Malcolm X’s hajj (as told by Alex Haley and
Spike Lee)
Islamist fundamentalism & jihad : Al-Qaeda
Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq & Iran
Ch. 14 TEST
WEEK 18
5/16-5/19
WEEK 19
5/23-5/25
THE “CHILDREN OF ABRAHAM” IN JERUSALEM
timeline and current demographics for the three major Western
religions
Middle East modern history and geography
JOURNALISTIC REPORT: “Jerusalem Stories” (Peter Jennings)
2nd semester review
2nd SEMESTER EXAM