Syllabus: Humanities 30: Religion in Contemporary Society
Mon/Wed 10:30-11:45 AM
Contact
Instructor: Patricia Shannon
Email: pshannon@chabotcollege.edu
Telephone: 510-723-6845
Course Requirements
1. Two Exams. Each worth 25% of grade. Both exams are open book, open note. Students
will be given 10 questions. Students will answer 5 questions. Each response should be
complete yet concise. Midterm will be taken in class on October 16. The Final Exam will be
taken on December 16 at 10-12 AM .
2. Weekly work (25%). Using Blackboard, each week students will be required to review
online materials and complete an exercise, respond to a question, or other activity.
3. Project. Contribution to grade 25%. Throughout the class, we’ll be reading, talking, and
thinking about how religion affects and is affected by contemporary life. It will have become
clear within a few weeks that religion is a powerful influence and is also often influenced.
The purpose of this project is to explore one aspect of religion and culture as we’ve examined
in our text: 1) race, ethnicity, and religion, 2) gender and sexual identity; 3) social class; 4)
the secularization debate; 5) religious organizations, institutions, and authority; 6) alternative
religions (new religious ideas); 7) media; 8) politics; 9) science, and 10) social movements.
In your project you will explore one particular REAL example of your area. Once you’ve
identified the area in which you’d like to work, schedule an appointment, so we can discuss
directions for your project. The week after the midterm we will attend a research orientation
in the library so that we can identify valuable source materials. Your project should discuss
the following: 1) what is the role of religion in our lives and culture (in your opinion and
using the sources provided in Parts I, II, and III; 2) considering your area and specific
example, how does religion influence individuals and culture; and 3) how do individuals and
culture affect religion. Ensure 4) that there is a clear description of your example (preferably
using a source to support you; if you do no use a source, see me for help in writing up your
example). Use other resources to support your ideas, but also use the essays we’ve read.
Outline or draft is due Nov. 20, to get you procrastinators going! Finished project is due Dec.
4. Given the work you need to do in this paper, it should not be any shorter than five pages
and for MY sanity, please do not exceed ten pages. (p.s. grades are for content and quality
NOT length!)
Book and Source Materials
Sociology of Religion: A Reader, edited by Monahan, Mirola, and Emerson. This text is a
collection of essays. All readings in the week-to-week section of the syllabus specify the
author’s name, read that essay before coming to class THAT week.
HUMN30
1
Grading Policies
Work is expected to be the student’s or to be appropriately cited. Acts of God, illnesses, or other
catastrophes must be documented. In-class behavior, honor questions, as well as drops and
withdrawals, will be handled as specified in the college handbook. Attendance is expected.
Students will find it difficult, if not impossible, to get high grades in this class without regular
attendance. All written work may be submitted via Blackboard or in class. Unless personal
circumstances make it impossible, the assignments should be typed, using 12 point type, doublespacing, and 1-inch margins. Do not use cover pages. Work that does not meet “college”
standards will be subject to rewrite and revision. There will be no effect to your grade for this
rewrite cycle.
I will accept late work (in this case your blackboard activities) under these conditions: if it is
due before the midterm, then the cut-off for that work is the day of the midterm; if it is due
between the midterm and final, it is due on or before Dec. 12 (except the project, which is due
on the date specified!).
Week by Week Outline
Week 1
Aug. 18-20—A Point of Departure and Part I
Monday: Review of the Syllabus
Wednesday: Lecture: Introduction and Durkheim
Reading: Introduction, Durkheim
Week 2
Aug. 25-27 — Alternative Views, Part I
Monday Lecture
Wednesday: Small group and discussion: compare and contrast
Reading: Marx and Geertz
Week 3
Sept. 1-3 — Another view (my favorite), Part I
Monday: NO class, Labor Day Holiday
Wednesday: Lecture
Reading: Berger
Week 4
Sept. 8-10 — Belief and Ritual, Part II
Monday: Lecture
Wednesday: compare and contrast
Reading: Bellah and Turner (I realize this is out of order!)
Week 5
Sept. 15-17— Belief and Ritual, Part II
Monday: Lecture
Wednesday: finish lecture and discuss
Text: Monahan, Gaines, Covington
HUMN30
2
Week 6
Sept. 22-24 — Part III, Religious Experience
Monday: lecture
Wednesday: lecture and discussion
Reading: MacDonald, Woodward, James, Proudfoot, Yamane and Polzer
Week 7
Sept. 29-Oct. 1 — Part IV, Race, Ethnicity, and Religion
Monday: Lecture
Wednesday: Lecture and discussion
Reading: Emerson, Kurien, Roof and Manning, Nelson, Zhou and Bankston,
Yinger
Week 8
Oct. 6-8 — Part V, Gender and Part VII, Sexual Identity
Monday: Lecture
Wednesday: Lecture and Discussion
Reading: Beaman, Daly, Griffen, Wallace, Pevey, Williams, and Ellison; Mirola,
Dahir, Colbert and Flippen, Hunter, Yip, Thumma
Week 9
Oct. 14-16 — Midterm
Monday: Review
Wednesday: Exam
Week 10
Oct. 21-23 — Part VI, Social Class and Religion
Monday: Lecture
Wednesday: Lecture and discussion
Reading: Mirola, Pope, Gutman, Fantasia, Sawchuck
Week 11
Oct. 28-30 — The Secularization Debate
Monday: Lecture
Wednesday: Lecture and discussion
Reading: Monhan, Berger, Wilson, and Finke
Week 12
Nov. 3-5 — Part IX, Religious Organizations, Institutions, and Authority
AND Part X, Alternative Religions
Monday: Lecture
Wednesday: Lecture and discussion
Reading: Monahan, both Christian Century articles, Weber, Finke and Stark,
Wood, Carroll AND oung, Rosin, Melton, Barker, Bednarowski, Tabor
Week 13
Nov. 10-12— Part XI, Media and Religion
Monday: HOLIDAY
Wednesday: lecture and discussion
Reading: Gormly, Hoover, Venturelli, and Wagner, Alexander, Schulze
HUMN30
3
Week 14
Nov. 17-19 — Part XII, Politics and Religion
Monday: lecture
Wednesday: lecture and discussion
Reading: Wood, Krauthammer, Casanova, Berryman
Week 15
Nov. 24-26 — Science and Religion
Monday: Lecture: background
Wednesday: holiday
Reading: Gormly and MacDonald, Woodward, Simmel, Spencer, Sagan, Davies
Week 16
Dec. 1-3 — Social Movements and Religion
Monday: Lecture
Wednesday: discussion
Reading: King, Robinson, Smith, Pattillo-McCoy, Osa
Project due on or before December 4.
Week 17
Dec. 8-10 — Pulling it all together
Monday: discussion: how does it all fit together (thinking about Durkheim, Marx,
Geertz, and Berger as well as the secularization debate)
Wednesday: Review for the final
Final Exam completed Tuesday, December 16, 10-12 a.m.
HUMN30
4