GES 211 (Sections 1, 3, & 6); Fall 2007
Foundations of Western Thought: Religious Worldviews
Section 1: 8AM-8:50AM MWF (Gray 301)
Section 3: 9AM-9:50AM MWF (Gray 301)
Section 6: 10AM-11:20 AM TTh (Gray 301)
Mike Wakeford
221 Gray
wakefordm@ncarts.edu
631-1507
Office Hrs: MWF 11-12 AM
and by app’t
Foundations of Western Thought: Religious Worldviews
“Religious Worldviews” is the name we’ve given to the first quarter of the year-long
Foundations of Western Thought sequence. Accordingly, you will be reading, discussing,
and writing about texts drawn from the major religious and philosophical traditions at the
core of western civilization. In addition to the Olympian worldview of the ancient
Greeks, the monotheism of the Hebrew Bible, and the early Christian embrace of a vision
of individual salvation, we will also read comparatively, albeit briefly, into Islam,
Hinduism, and Buddhism, then culminate with a few texts that reflect the complicated
(though not necessarily antagonistic) encounter of religion with science and modern
psychological understandings of the individual. At stake throughout these texts are life’s
big questions: Who are we? Where did we come from? Who or what controls the
unfolding of history or destiny? Where is truth located? Why do we believe? Should we
believe? Does truth exist? Our task is both to engage with each text on its own terms, but
also to develop a critical perspective on how different foundational texts reflect
something about the human condition and human thought generally.
Texts for purchase (at campus bookstore):
--The Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces. Maynard Mack, editor. (W.W. Norton).
Expanded edition, 1 volume.
--http://blackboard.ncarts.edu. All other readings will be available for download on our
course Blackboard website, or handed out in class. [By the end of Week 1, I will have
enrolled you in the Blackboard site, which will allow you access to the readings. If it’s
your first time in Bb, your login and password will both be your NCSA username. Once
in, you can change your password for security.]
—YOU MUST bring paper copies (not reading from your laptop, etc.) readings to class
on the day/s they are being discussed.
Assignments and Expectations
Attendance Policy:
Attendance will be recorded. You need to be in class, with paper copies of the readings
(no open laptops in the classroom), and ready to discuss and listen with vigor! The giveand-take of class discussion is the fundamental component of learning in this course. If
you need to miss a class, it is YOUR responsibility to get updated about the goings-on,
changes in the reading schedule, assignments, etc. Poor attendance (absences, habitual
lateness to class, early departure, not having the readings in class, etc.) will affect your
discussion/participation grade. More than 3 (TTh) or 4 (MWF) absences will result in a
reduction of your final grade by a full letter grade. Failure to show up for an exam,
without prior permission, will result in an F on the exam.
Writing Assignments:
A central goal of this course is to gain experience writing critically and synthetically
about the ideas, questions, and themes that circulate throughout the assigned readings.
Making the move from talking about texts in class to writing clearly, originally, and
persuasively about them can be difficult. You only improve with practice. Writing
experiences will take several forms during the term. Informally, it all starts with you
reading with a pen/pencil in hand—get used to scribbling notes in the margins of your
texts or in a notebook. Take note of questions, realizations, thematic recurrences, etc., as
you notice them—this will get your revved up for class discussion and help your formal
written work. More formally, I will periodically (approximately weekly) distribute
topics/questions for short (approx. 1 page; minimum 250 words) critical response papers
on the week’s readings. You don’t have to complete every one of these! Rather, you will
be responsible for turning in 4 of these short essays by the end of the term (with at least 2
of the 4 submitted BEFORE the Oct. 24th last-day-to-withdraw date). There may also be
unannounced quizzes and in-class writing assignments. There will be a 5-6 page synthetic
paper due at the end of Week 7 and a comprehensive in-class final exam. Both will
require you to think across multiple readings and write argumentatively—i.e. to make a
persuasive case for relationships between readings rather than simply report on their
content. You are expected to do college-level written work—while I’m most interested in
the quality of your analysis, use of textual evidence, and creativity of thought, I also
expect coherent writing free of spelling and grammatical problems. All written work
(except, of course, for in-class work) should be double-spaced with 1’ margins all around,
in 12 pt. Times or Times New Roman font. (NO padding w/ huge margins, huge fonts,
multiple spaces between paragraphs, etc.).
Learning Outcomes/Course Objectives:
 Develop an understanding of the historical origins and intellectual foundations of
several major belief/religious traditions
 Develop and communicate informed comparisons between traditions, worldviews,
and cultural practices
 Read analytically and critically
 Write clearly and persuasively at the college level
 Communicate and listen effectively in class
Assignments/Evaluation
Class Discussion (25%)
4 Short Critical Response Papers (1 page each) and In-class writing (quizzes; paragraph
responses) (25%)
5-6 page Synthesis Paper (25%)
Final Exam (25%)
Plagiarism Policy:
DO NOT PLAGIARIZE. If you take this course, you are responsible for understanding
the school’s guidelines on academic honesty (available in school Bulletin, and posted on
course website). Therefore, any act of plagiarism in any course assignment will result in
an automatic “F” for the course. Plagiarism is “literary theft.” It is a betrayal of your own
personal integrity and the NCSA community. In any written assignment for the class, you
must cite the sources you use. If you borrow words (quoted or paraphrased) or ideas, you
must credit the original source. If you are in doubt about whether you should cite
something, play it safe and do so. As a rule of thumb, err on the side of unnecessary
citation, rather than failing to attribute credit where it is due. You are responsible for
reading and understanding these policies. A failure to have done so will not be an
acceptable excuse for any violation.
The library has a good link that connects you citation guidelines:
http://faculty.ncarts.edu/library/handouts/docs/CITING%20SOURCES.htm
Accommodations for Students with Disabilities:
In compliance with North Carolina School of the Arts policy and equal access laws, I am
available to discuss appropriate academic accommodations that may be required for
students with disabilities. Requests for academic accommodations are to be made during
the first three weeks of the trimester, except for unusual circumstances, so arrangements
can be made to assist the student. Individuals are encouraged to register with the Officer
for Student Disabilities (in the Student Commons) to verify their eligibility for
appropriate accommodations.
Communication:
If you are having difficulty in the class, a complaint about an assignment, grade, etc., or
an unavoidable scheduling problem that will interfere with your course performance,
come see me in office hours, call, or email. I can only address those concerns that are
brought to my attention.
SCHEDULE (subject to change)
Week 1: Sept 13-14
Introductions
Week 2: Sept 17-21 FOUNDINGS
Blackboard: “Enuma Elish” (website)
Norton: “The Invention of Writing and the Earliest Literatures” (3-6); “Epic of
Gilgamesh” (10-42); readings from the Old Testament, excerpts from Genesis, Job, &
Psalms (52-85)
*SEPT 19—LAST DAY OF DROP/ADD
Week 3: Sept 24-28 OLYMPIAN TRADITION
Blackboard: Hesiod, The Theogony;and, also, “The Heroic Outlook,” by C.M. Bowra.
Norton: “Ancient Greece and the Formation of the Western Mind” (87-92); Sophocles,
Oedipus the King (Norton, 388-433)
Week 4: Oct 1-5 PHILOSOPHY AND SATIRE
Blackboard: Aristophanes, The Clouds
Norton: Plato, The Apology of Socrates (499-520)
Week 5: Oct 8-12 SALVATION AND SIN
Norton: readings from the New Testament (708-722); excerpts from Augustine’s
Confessions (722-736).
Week 6: Oct 15-19 HINDUISM/BUDDHISM & ISLAM
Blackboard: “Buddha, The Word” (30 pp.)
Norton: “India’s Heroic Age” (567-57); excerpts of the Bhagavad-Gita (612-624);
excerpts from The Koran (868-888)
—SYNTHESIS PAPER ASSIGNMENT will be handed out this week
Week 7: Oct 22-26 RELIGION AND THE AGE OF REASON
(OCT 24—LAST DAY TO WITHDRAW FROM COURSE; to do so, see Dr. Dean
Wilcox in the Academic House on Sunnyside))
Blackboard: excerpts from Rene Descartes, Meditations; John Locke, “The
Reasonableness of Christianity”; Thomas Paine, “Of the Religion of Deism Compared
with the Christian Religion”
**By Oct. 24th, 5PM, you must have submitted at least 2 of your required 4 short critical
response papers.
5-6 page SYNTHESIS PAPER DUE by Friday afternoon, Oct 26, 5PM
Week 8: Oct 29-Nov 2 FREEDOM & BELIEF
Blackboard: Karl Marx, “Religion, the Opium of the People” (excerpt from Marx,
Contribution to the Critique of Hegel’s ‘Philosophy of Right’); William James, “The Will
to Believe” from The Will to Believe and Other Essays in Popular Philosophy (1911), pp.
1-31.
Week 9: Nov 5-9 GOD & PSYCHOLOGY
Blackboard: Sigmund Freud, The Future of an Illusion
Week 10: Nov 12-16 BELIEF & THE CRISES OF MODERNITY
Blackboard: Carl Jung, “Modern Man in Search of a Soul”; Martin Luther King, Jr.,
“Letter from Birmingham Jail”
FINAL EXAMS:
*****Final Exam Schedule***** (BRING BLUEBOOKS)
Monday, November 19 9AM-11AM: Section 3 Final Exam
Tuesday, November 20 9AM-11AM: Section 1 Final Exam
Wednesday, November 21 8AM-10AM: Section 6 Final Exam