TRS 280 – THE RELIGIOUS QUEST
THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA
WASHINGTON, DC
3 CREDITS – SPRING 2009 (NO PRE-REQUISITES)
Instructor: Christopher Born, M.A.
Email: 29born@CUA.edu
Phone: 513.508.4816 (Cell/Office)
Office: Caldwell
Teaching Assistants and Discussion Sections:
Mr. Patrick Birge (29birge@cua.edu)
FRI Hannon 103 11:10 – noon
FRI Caldwell 154 12:10 – 1:00 PM
Office Hours: Before and after class or by
appointment
Class Location and Times:
MW McMahon 201
12:10 – 1:00 PM
Ms. Beverly Goines (36goines@cua.edu)
FRI Caldwell 154
11:10 – noon
FRI Caldwell 117
12:10 – 1:00 PM
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This course is an introduction to the study of religion. As with any introductory course this course will, by its
nature, be incomplete. While we will not be able to exhaustively cover the academic study of religion and its
history, we will investigate the major topics within the study of religion and search for meaning as a human
phenomenon.
The course will treat “religion” as an academic subject and does not propose to evaluate the veracity or falsity of
the truth claims of the various major religions. Instead, we will examine the religious phenomenon primarily
from the human perspective. First, any discussion of religion needs to define the term. Once we come to a
“working definition” and classification of what is and is not religion, we can address the following essential
questions:
Is religion a universal human phenomenon? Why and how should religion be studied? How does the
field of religious studies relate to theology and other academic disciplines? How does religion relate to
other aspects of life – such as ethics, salvation, ritual practice, and hermeneutics? What are the most
distinctive features and common dimensions of religion? How can we best understand religious
diversity? How do religion and (contemporary) society interact with one another?
Our approach to these topics will be historical, analytical, and descriptive. We will approach the religious
phenomenon through a variety of mediums, including literature, film, and music. It is essential that the
student come to class with an appreciation of a critical analysis of religion in general and specific religious
beliefs and practices.
OBJECTIVES/LEARNING OUTCOMES/METHODS AND REQUIREMENTS:
Objectives:
1. To introduce the student to the challenges of defining “religion” as a concept.
2. To expand students’ understanding of the breadth and depth of “the religious quest,” including the forms
religion has taken throughout human history.
3. To initiate students into the field of religious studies by acquainting them with its major figures and
significant methods and approaches of investigation.
4. To demonstrate the central role religion (in all its manifestations) plays in all aspects of human society.
5. To encourage students in the further study of religion, whether through addition courses within the
School of Theology and Religious Studies or through informal, personal exploration.
TRS 280 – The Religious Quest
Spring 2009
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Student Learning Outcomes:
Through lectures, discussion, and writing, at the completion of the course the student will be able to:
 Demonstrate comprehension of the essential differences between theology and religious studies
including the challenges in defining “religion” as a concept.
 Outline the universal forms of religious experience and expression as found in the world’s major
religious traditions.
 Recall the universal components of a religious worldview and show how the components are manifested
differently within the religious traditions.
 Read and assess the different theories presented in the sociology of religion.
 Explain the central importance religion plays in the lives of human beings and the resulting impact
religion has on social institutions.
 Reflect on the history of the “secularization debate” and new theories involving the sustained levels of
religiosity of the United States.
 Analyze the basics of rational choice theory and explain the foundational principles of the economics of
religion.
Methods and Requirements:
 This course will utilize a variety of instructional methods. Interactive lectures, PowerPoint
presentations, videos, discussion groups, and at least one filed trip will all be employed throughout the
semester. The lectures will draw on questions turned in by the students at the beginning of class.
 The student is required to attend all Friday discussion sections as outlined in the course calendar.
REQUIRED TEXTS
Livingston, James C. Anatomy of the Sacred: An Introduction to Religion, Sixth Edition. Upper Saddle
River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2009. (ISBN-13: 978-0-13-600380-9)
Pals, Daniel L. Introducing Religion: Readings from the Classic Theorists. New York: Oxford University
Press, 2009. (ISBN-13: 978-0-19-518149-4)
In addition to the two books above – which can be purchased in the CUA Bookstore – the student will be
responsible for a number of articles and excerpts according to the schedule below. These additional readings are
available through the Blackboard system. The Blackboard electronic readings can be found online at
http://bb.cua.edu/ under the username __quest _____ and the password __spring2009_______.
ASSIGNMENTS:
(1) Attendance and Participation: You are expected to attend every class session. If you cannot make it to a
session, please let the instructor or teaching assistants know ahead of time.
a. Students are expected to come to every class having read the assigned texts in advance and will
have prepared a TYPED question addressing some salient aspect of the readings (for lectures)
or posted a comment on the class Blackboard site responding to a question listed on the
syllabus (for Friday discussion sections).
b. Questions will be collected by the teaching assistants upon arrival to each class and will serve as
a record of attendance on that day.
c. The purpose of student questions is to identify and identify for discussion aspects of the texts
that are relevant to the aims of our class as an inquiry into the character and significance of the
study of religion.
d. The Attendance/Participation score (20% of the final grade) will be based upon the quality and
timeliness of these submissions. Four or five well-crafted comments/questions per class period
will be selected by the Teaching Assistants and presented for discussion at the end of the lecture
period. Extra points will be assigned to those comment/questions that are extremely insightful
or thoughtful.
TRS 280 – The Religious Quest
Spring 2009
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e. Students are allotted three missed classes without penalty. Thereafter, each unexcused absence
will reduce the attendance and participation mark by one third of a letter grade. Absences may
be excused only according to University guidelines and with full documentation.
(2) Mid-term exam: A midterm exam will be given on Monday, February 23. A study guide will be
distributed before the exam which will cover the content and the format of the exam.
(3) Two short papers (6-8) pages: These papers will give the student the opportunity to show that they can
incorporate the ideas presented in the readings and lectures into a well-crafted paper. The first paper
will be due on Friday, February 27 and will compare two thinkers addressed in the course. The
second paper will be due on Friday, April 24 and utilize themes discussed in class and see how they
apply in contemporary American society. More specifics will be distributed well before the due-dates.
(4) Final exam: The final exam will be on Friday, May 8, 10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. as determined by the
university’s registrar’s office. The final will not be comprehensive. A study guide will be distributed
during the semester.
GRADING:
Grading will be done on a floating curve that will be determined at the end of the semester. In the past, the
following parameters have yielded the following grades:
100-88: A, 87-77: B, 76-66: C, 66-60: D, 60 and below: F.
 Attendance and Participation
20%
 Midterm Exam
20%
 Two papers (6-8 pages)
30%
 Final Exam
30%
LATE WORK:
Late work may be accepted but deductions are up to the discretion of the instructor. If there are pressing needs
for an extension, please inform the instructor some time before the due date.
ACADEMIC HONESTY:
Cheating and plagiarism will not be tolerated. Please see the university’s policy on academic honesty at the
following website: http://studentlife.cua.edu/students/stuhbook/pol/academichonesty.htm
SPECIAL REQUESTS:
Students with special needs, please let me know as soon as the semester begins so we can accommodate
alternative due dates and possibly testing methods.
-------------------- CLASS SCHEDULE -------------------Date
MON 1/12
WED 1/14
FRI 1/16
Topic
* Class introduction and
* Syllabus overview
* Why study religion in the first place?
* Are we a “Christian nation”?
Assigned reading for the day
None
Questions to answer on BlackBoard:
* In your own words, how would you define
“religion”?
* Is there a particular definition in Chapter 1 that
you most identify with?
* Can Macintosh devotion seriously be considered
a religion?
* U.S. Religious Landscape Survey: Summary of
Key Findings, Pew Forum on Religion and Public
Life [Blackboard]
* Anatomy of the Sacred, “Chapter 1: What is
religion?”
* Pui-Yan Lam, “May the Force of the Operating
System be With You: Macintosh Devotion as
Implicit Religion,” Sociology of Religion 62, no. 2
(2001): 243-262. [BlackBoard]
TRS 280 – The Religious Quest
Spring 2009
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MON 1/19
WED 1/21
FRI 1/23
MON 1/26
WED 1/28
FRI 1/30
MON 2/2
WED 2/4
FRI 2/6
MON 2/9
WED 2/11
FRI 2/13
HOLIDAY – Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
* Ways to study religion
* Benefits and drawbacks of approaching religion
through other disciplines
Questions to answer on BlackBoard:
* What is your opinion: does one need to be
religious to study religion(s)?
* What are the advantages/disadvantages to
standing “outside” your subject of inquiry?
* Entering the study of religion – a historical
perspective
* Animism and Magic in early theorists (Tylor and
Frazer)
* The religious impulse
Questions to answer on BlackBoard:
* TBD
* Psychological approach to the study of religion,
Part I (Freud)
* Psychological approach, Part II (James)
* Economic/materialist approach (Marx)
Questions to answer on BlackBoard:
* In your opinion, is religion used to hold down the
masses and have them accept their fate or used by
the masses to pacify the true trail-blazers of
civilization?
* Are Marx and/or Nietzsche correct in their
assertions about religion?
* Sociological approach, Part I (Durkheim)
* Sociological approach, Part II (Berger)
Questions to answer on BlackBoard:
* How important is it to make events in our lives
“meaningful”?
* How would Berger respond to the phrase “things
happen for a reason”?
* Sociological approach, Part III (Weber)
MON 2/16
* Phenomenological approach (Otto/Eliade)
WED 2/18
* Anthropological approach (Geertz)
FRI 2/20
MON 2/23
WED 2/25
Midterm Exam Review
MIDTERM EXAM
* Universal forms of religious expression and
experience (Sacred/Holy and Symbol, Myth and
Doctrine) [Patrick Birge]
PAPER 1 DUE
FRI 2/27
MON 3/2
* Anatomy of the Sacred, “Chapter 2: Ways of
Studying Religion”
* Rodney Stark, “Atheism, Faith, and the Social
Scientific Study of Religion,” Journal of
Contemporary Religion 14, no. 1 (1999): 41-63.
[BlackBoard]
* Introducing Religion, “Introduction”
* Begin reading Introducing Religion, “Chapter 1
– E.B. Tylor”
* Finish reading Introducing Religion, “Chapter 1
– E.B. Tylor”
* Flannery O’Connor, “A Good Man is Hard to
Find” [BlackBoard]
* Introducing Religion, “Chapter 3 – Sigmund
Freud: Religion as Neurosis”
* Introducing Religion, “Chapter 6 – William
James: The Testimony of Religious Experience,”
p. 171 – 191.
* Karl Marx, On Religion [Blackboard]
* Friedrich Nietzsche, TBD [Blackboard]
* Introducing Religion, “Chapter 4 – Emile
Durkheim: The Social as Sacred,” p. TBD
* Peter Berger, The Sacred Canopy, “Chapter 1:
Religion and World Construction” [Blackboard]
* Introducing Religion, “Chapter 8 – Max Weber:
Religion and Culture Interwoven,” p. 237 – 255.
* Anatomy of the Sacred, “Chapter 3: The Sacred
and the Holy”
* Introducing Religion, “Chapter 11 – Clifford
Geertz: Religion as World-view,” p. 237 – 255.
* Anatomy of the Sacred, “Chapter 4: Sacred
Symbol, Myth, and Doctrine”
* In class viewing: Portions of Joseph Campbell
and The Power of Myth with Bill Moyers (1988)
Spring Break
TRS 280 – The Religious Quest
Spring 2009
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WED 3/4
FRI 3/6
MON 3/9
WED 3/11
FRI 3/13
MON 3/16
WED 3/18
FRI 3/20
MON 3/23
WED 3/25
FRI 3/27
MON 3/30
WED 4/1
FRI 4/3
MON 4/6
WED 4/8
FRI 4/10
MON 4/13
WED 4/15
FRI 4/17
Spring Break
Spring Break
* Universal forms of religious expression and
experience (Sacred Ritual)
* Universal forms of religious expression and
experience (Sacred Scripture)
* Introduction to hermeneutics
Questions to answer on BlackBoard:
* How does liberation theology employ
hermeneutics?
* Are there other possible “theologies”?
* Universal forms of religious expression and
experience (Society and the Sacred)
* Major League Baseball and the transmission of
American civil religion
Questions to answer on BlackBoard:
* Do you agree or disagree with Michael Novak
that “sports is, somehow, a religion”?
* In your mind, is it blasphemous to link sports and
religion?
* Can sports exist without religion?
* Universal components of a religious worldview I
(Deity)
* Universal components II (Cosmogony)
Questions to answer on BlackBoard:
* Does the letter have a valid claim?
* Does this have any impact on your views of
religious cosmogonies?
* Anatomy of the Sacred, “Chapter 5: Sacred
Ritual”
* Anatomy of the Sacred, “Chapter 6: Sacred
Scripture”
* Selections from Genesis I and Genesis II
[Blackboard]
* Gustavo Gutiérrez, A Theology of Liberation
(1988), “Introduction to the Revised Edition:
Expanding the View” [Blackboard]
* Anatomy of the Sacred, “Chapter 7: Society and
the Sacred”
* Robert Bellah, “Civil Religion in America”
[Blackboard]
* Michael Novak, The Joy of Sports, “Chapter 2:
The Natural Religion” [Blackboard]
* Richard Pengelley, “Sport and Spirituality; An
Ancient Connection for our Modern Times,”
Dialogue Australasia (2009) [Blackboard]
* Ruphine S. Obare, “Can Sports Exist without
Religion?” [Blackboard]
* Anatomy of the Sacred, “Chapter 8: Deity”
* Anatomy of the Sacred, “Chapter 9: Cosmogony”
* From the Church of the Flying Spaghetti
Monster, “An Open Letter to the Kansas School
Board” [Blackboard]
* Excerpts from The Gospel of the Flying
Spaghetti Monster [Blackboard]
* Universal components III (Human Problem)
* Anatomy of the Sacred, “Chapter 10: Views of
the Human Problem”
* Universal components VI (Soteriology)
* Anatomy of the Sacred, “Chapter 13:
Soteriology”
Questions to answer on BlackBoard:
* Charles B. Jones, The View From Mars Hill,
* How should one approach religious claims that do “Chapter 5: Current Theological Models”
not fit with ones own?
[Blackboard]
* Which theological model (outlined by Jones) best
fits your own understanding of the many religions
in the world?
* Universal components IV (Theodicy)
* Anatomy of the Sacred, “Chapter 11: Theodicy”
* Universal components V (Ethics)
* Anatomy of the Sacred, “Chapter 12: Ethics”
Easter Break
Easter Break
* Secularization and Fundamentalism
* Anatomy of the Sacred, “Chapter 14: Seculariz.”
Questions to answer on BlackBoard:
* Anatomy of the Sacred, “Chapter 15:
* What should be the relationship between the
Contemporary Challenges to Traditional Religion”
religion and the state?
* Do you perceive a “culture war” in the United
States? How so?
TRS 280 – The Religious Quest
Spring 2009
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MON 4/20
* Christianity as new religious movement – Part I
WED 4/22
* Christianity as new religious movement – Part II
FRI 4/24
MON 4/27
PAPER 2 DUE
* Rational Choice Theory and the Economic Study
of Religion – Part I
WED 4/29
* Rational Choice Theory and the Economic Study
of Religion – Part II
FRI 5/1
FRI 5/8
* Rodney Stark, The Rise of Early Christianity,
“Chapter 1: Conversion and Christian Growth”
[Blackboard]
* Rodney Stark, The Rise of Early Christianity,
“Chapter 2: Class Basis of Early Christianity”
[Blackboard]
* Movie/Video TBD
* Rodney Stark, “Economics of Religion,”
Blackwell Companion to the Study of Religion
[Blackboard]
* Laurence R. Iannaccone, “Why Strict Churches
are Strong,” American Journal of
Sociology [Blackboard]
Final Exam Review
Final Exam: 10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m
TRS 280 – The Religious Quest
Spring 2009
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