Jenna Jones
Trident Technical College
Charleston, SC
RELIGION 101: UPDATED AND INFUSED
BACKROUND AND CHALLENGES
For those of you who have never had the
opportunity to visit Charleston, SC, it is
truly a place abundant with a specific
yet, somewhat entrenched understanding
of holiness. Nicknamed, “The Holy City, “
there are virtually no skyline views of the
city that offer a view deficient of a
myriad of steeples and towers reaching
towards the heavenly realm.
One of the major challenges that I have
encountered in my very first year of teaching has
been the comfort and confidence my students
demonstrate from day one that Christianity is not
one religion among the multiplicity of traditions
practiced around the world, it is the ONLY
RELIGION. With that understanding it becomes
abundantly clear, within moments, that this
confidence also extends in the idea that all other
faith practices, if even recognized as such, are the
work of the dark forces, mainly, the devil himself.
PREVIOUS IDEAS
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To get students oriented with the content of the
academic study of religion versus that of a
theological study, I have in the past, geared all
essay assignments in almost a building block
fashion. Beginning with Chapter 1 of the text,
Living Religions , edited by Mary Pat Fisher, the
first essay is based on a theorist that was pivotal in
the construction of religion as an academic
discipline rather than a theological enterprise. I
do, at times, feel quite terrible telling students that
Sigmund Freud likened religious dependency to
mental illness! The second essay has for the
entirety of this year been largely based on Tibetan
Buddhism and the film Kundun, which depicts the
selection and plight of His Holiness the 14th Dalai
Lama. The final paper is called the Reflection
paper and challenges students to step out of their
comfort zone and visit a place of worship other
than their own. I had the opportunity to celebrate
Puja at the Hindu Temple with students and to feel
the conflation of wonder/awe and fear/dread that
they were all feeling.
ASDP HOPES AND GOALS
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Ultimately, I wanted to come to the ASDP to
garner new information on how to
authentically teach the religious traditions
of China and Japan. Having never been to
either place, I have often felt that I was both
deficient in my historical knowledge of
these remarkably rich areas, but also that I
was trying to give very “Western” examples
of very “Eastern” conceptualizations.
With the 9th edition of the textbook staring
me in the face and the challenge of remapping the content of the whole class, I
am in the process of adding content from
the seminar to 5 different chapters that we
will cover fairly extensively this year. I am
also trying to raise the bar of expectations
for my students, as in the past I have felt a
bit more like a counselor than a professor!
CHAPTER ADJUSTMENTS/NEW MATERIAL
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Chapter 2: Sacred and Indigenous
Ways
While this chapter does a really good job
trying to convey the secrecy and naturerooted practices of many of the indigenous
practitioners found around the world, it
reads very much like a list of “fun facts” if
you will. It is aimed at offering each unique
tradition a voice in a world focused on
progress and excess, but in doing so, it
limits the fleshing out of any one tradition
in any real and tangible way. I am going to
keep focusing on the importance of the oral
tradition and the key players of these
communities that root these traditions an
all-encompassing understanding of the
sacred, but I am adding a whole section on
the indigenous religious practices I have
found here in Hawai’i!
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Materials to be used:
“Hawai’i A Sense of Place” lecture by Aaron Sala
Interviews with mainland transplant friends, UH
faculty member Charlye Ramsey and Joshua Aman,
who have both experienced a new sense of spiritual
awareness and sensitivity since encountering the
indigenous practices of the somewhat secretive
religious community here on Oahu.,
Extensive picture displays of my adventures to both
healing and sacrificial heiaus and their relation to
indigenous spirituality practiced in the past and the
present.
Additional information from upcoming interviews
with scholars and historians from the Bishop
Museum to double check accuracy and use
additional lenses to give a more comprehensive look
at one specific set of indigenous practices.
VISUAL AIDS FOR CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER ADJUSTMENTS/NEW MATERIAL
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Chapter 5: Buddhism
“He will deliver by the boat of knowledge the
distressed world”
I loved this chapter in the 8th edition of the
text, but like I mentioned before, I am teaching
a survey 101 class, so the numerous types of
Buddhist practice present a challenge to an
already pretty labor intensive class.
I am still planning on using my Buddhism
Brain-buster crossword puzzle to familiarize
my students with the Indian
conceptualizations and terminology of the
tradition but I plan on adding a more
thorough section on the tradition’s move from
India into China and Japan with an additional
and more detailed section on Chan/Zen
Buddhism.
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Materials to be used:
I have made Peter’s book, Chan Buddhism, required
reading for my new class at Queen’s University in
Charlotte, NC and have already received a lot of support
in the addition of the text from the Chair of Philosophy
and Religion, Norris Frederick..
Although I do not plan on using the whole text as I think
that will be far to ambitious in a class of this nature, I do
plan on highlighting the understandings of
“accommodation” and “advocacy,” as these two
understandings will bridge the gap from the Western
understandings of competitive ideologies to the more
Eastern understanding of the cooperation between the
“Three teachings.”
In addition to that section of the text, I really think that
the first chapter in particular gives so much more depth
and tangibility to the often difficult doctrines of “no-self”
and impermanence. When it comes to these two things
in particular, an additional voice and text is required to
give the full breathe of these understandings to Western
students.
Visual aids from the seminar will also be incorporated
although I am still sifting through the plethora of
options!
CHAPTER ADJUSTMENTS/NEW MATERIAL
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Chapter 6: Daoism and Confucianism
“The unity of opposites”
I must admit that I really do love the layout
of this text overall although, after coming to
this seminar, I realize even more the
importance of analyzing the specifics of
these two traditions in ADDITION to
focusing on their complementary
relationship.
To say it another way, it is really important
for students to know the political sphere of
Confucianism in addition to the often
assumed and singularly focused religious
understandings of this tradition.
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Materials to be used:
Despite the fact that I feel like a textual
analysis of any primary text is a bit ambitious
in a 101 survey class, I am going to
incorporate a number of elements from
Pauline Lee’s lecture. Focusing primarily on
RU XUE (pronounced roo shae) “The learning
of the scholars” I plan on unpacking multiple
sections of the Analects in the same style that
Dr. Lee presented. I think that a line by line
analysis in a group setting will both
encourage classroom community and
confidence in reading these intimidating
texts.
I also plan on giving a much more in depth
look at Mengzi (pronounced Moon-Zuh)
and Xunzi pronounced (Shing-Zuh) and the
metaphors that they used to develop and
reform the tradition.
CHAPTER ADJUSTMENTS/NEW MATERIAL
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Chapter 7: Shinto
“The way of the Kami”
This chapter is also really great to teach and I
am always so excited to teach that which
seems super foreign to students. With that
being said, when asked about the actual
“essence” or “identity” of kami and organized
Shinto practice, I often feel a bit lacking as I
too feel like I am forcing these somewhat
abstract and flexible ideas into stark categories
and forced boundaries.
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Materials to be used:
I am starting the chapter using the circle
diagram used in Michael Mohr’s lecture,
“Zeroing in on Japanese Religiosities,” in hopes of
adding another piece to the group dynamic of
the class. ( I plan on using his textual criticism
lessons if I get the opportunity to teach an upper
level Religions of Japan class).
Addition of visual aids that I have collected
while being here.
During Stanley’s visual temple walk-through
lecture, I found myself being transported into
the inner sanctuary of the enshrined Kami at Ise
Shrine. I would love to use that tour as I teach
the construction and sacred myth around the
shrine in class already!
Finally, I will be using at least two of Helen
Baroni’s slides to give another voice to the
identity and understandings of the location of
the Kami and the rituals celebrating their
existence and influence on the lives of the
Japanese.
VISUAL AIDS FOR SHINTO FOUND AT ASDP
LOOKING AHEAD
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I loved in Aaron Sala’s lecture how he
emphasized the Hawaiian understanding of
time by stating, “In Hawaiian
understanding we need to look to the past
to negotiate the future.”
I know that at some point, probably sooner
than later, I will have taught countless
sections of Religion 101 and that it will be
time to embark on a new journey, with
new themes, complexities, depth and focus
on more concentrated areas of study. With
that being said, I would love to teach a
course specifically on the Religions of China
and Japan, and while Trident may be a few
years away from including any upper level
religion classes, that which seems ambitious
for a 101 class is that which is perfect for
an opportunity that may be right around
the corner.
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By looking back on this seminar, the
conversations with participants, the lectures,
the films and the teaching styles of my
colleagues, I feel more than confident that my
future as an instructor of Religious Studies
will be negotiated rather nicely.
I plan on incorporating many aspects of
your individual presentations and keeping
you posted on how your amazing ideas have
had a ripple effect on the students that have
crossed the thresholds of my classes.
In addition to that, I am very excited to
create classes that stimulate the critical
thinking, textual analysis and focused
historical accounts of the people, places and
traditions found throughout the world that I
have further developed since being at the
ASDP!