Texas A&M
University
Central Texas
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Class Hours:
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RSK 500
Introduction to Religious Studies
Fall 2014
FH 316
W 6:00 - 9:00
Floyd Berry, PhD
FH 217G
MWR 1:00 – 5:00
254.519.5705 (prefer Bb message)
fberry@tamuct.edu (prefer Bb message)
1.0
Course Description
Examines religion as an aspect of culture in a postmodern, diversified, global
community. Introduction to the concepts used in the academic study of religion. Surveys
the major religious traditions and the history of the discipline. Religious Studies is the
study of religions and religious phenomena from an academic perspective, drawing on a
number of disciplines, such as anthropology, sociology, psychology, philosophy, political
science, and history.
2.0
Accessing Blackboard (Bb)
This is a lecture course with online components in Blackboard (Bb). The student
accesses Bb on the TAMUCT website (“Quick Links”). The student may get assistance
24/7 by phone or live chat.
3.0
Course Objectives
1. Students will identify and analyze the problem of defining religion from an academic
perspective.
2. Students will demonstrate knowledge of key concepts and issues related to the
academic study of religion.
3. Students will define the major theoretical approaches to the study of religion.
4. Students will distinguish between varying degrees of reliable data in the study of
religions.
5. Students will demonstrate an understanding of the key differences between the
major religious traditions.
4.0
Required Textbook
Livingston, J. C. (2009). Anatomy of the sacred: An introduction to religion (6th ed.).
Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson. ISBN: 9780136003809
Syllabus for RSK 500: Introduction to Religious Studies
5.0
2
Course Requirements
5.1
Exams (400 pts)
The student will take two exams, a mid-term and a final. Each exam is valued at
200 points. The student has a maximum of 90 minutes to take the exam, given
immediately after roll call. The exam window closes, however, when 90 minutes
has elapsed. The mid-term exam is reviewed during the subsequent class period.
The exams are essay in nature, and the student must use a blue book. The
student is advised to review his work before submission.
5.2
Class Participation (100 pts)
The student is expected to participate in class discussions. The student earns a
point for full attendance on a specific day (appears on time and does not leave
early). He earns another point for participating in class discussion. (No points
are awarded on exam days, however.) Thus, the student earns 0-2 points on
each class day (total of 11 days), which translates into the following grade for
class participation in the course:
Points
22
20-21
18-19
16-17
14-15
12-13
5.3
Grade
100
90
80
70
60
50
Points
10-11
8-9
6-7
4-5
0-3
Grade
40
30
20
10
0
Reaction Comments (100 pts)
At the conclusion of each class (except the Final Exam), the student will submit a
Reaction Comment (RC), due before midnight. In Bb, the student will send an
email to the instructor, reacting to material discussed or experienced in class. A
few sentences are sufficient. The student expresses his reaction to something
discussed or experienced (such as the mid-term exam) in class. The reaction may
be emotional, cognitive, insightful, positive, negative, or neutral. A mere
summary of material discussed in class, however, is insufficient for credit. The
student shall identify his email with the heading of RC1, RC2, etc., as indicated in
the Course Calendar. Please use only RC1, RC2, etc. for credit. An inaccurate
heading may result in no credit.
# of RC’s
12
11
10
9
8
7
Grade # of RC’s
100
6
90
5
80
4
70
3
60
0-2
50
Grade
40
30
20
10
5
Syllabus for RSK 500: Introduction to Religious Studies
3
5.4
Academic Honesty
During the first week of class, the student is to read the section in the syllabus on
Academic Honesty and the material at the Purdue University OWL website
regarding plagiarism. The student must sign the document on Academic
Honesty and return it to the instructor. NOTE: The student will not be allowed to
continue in the course without notifying the instructor of his comprehension of
this material (by signing the document and submitting it to the instructor).
5.5
Monitoring Bb for Announcements
It is the student’s responsibility to monitor Bb daily for Announcements and
revised Course Calendars. Failure to do so may result in poor scores.
5.6
Term Paper Topic (50 pts)
On 10/15/14, the student shall present to the class (orally) the topic of his term
paper. This should take about 2-5 minutes.
5.7
Term Paper Presentation (150 pts)
On 12/3/14, the student shall give an oral presentation of his term paper to the
class and field questions. This should take about 15 minutes.
5.8
Term Paper (200 pts)
On 12/3/14, the student shall submit a term paper, using APA guidelines. The
paper shall address a disciplinary approach to the study of religion (e.g.,
anthropology, sociology, psychology, economics, political science, philosophy).
The student may cite portions of the textbook as a source or sources of
information. In addition, however, the student must cite at least five articles
from peer-reviewed academic journals from the TAMUCT library website. The
student must cite at least six sources, five of which must be peer-reviewed. It is
strongly advised that Livingston’s book be used as a source as well.
The paper shall conform to the APA (American Psychological Association) Manual
(6th ed.), having a cover page, an abstract page, and a references page. The body
of the paper shall have section headings and be at least 10 pages in length,
double-spaced. Thus the complete term paper shall consist of at least 13 pages
of a Microsoft Word document, including a cover page, abstract page, body of
paper, and references page. The typeface shall be either Calibri or Times New
Roman, size 12. The paper shall have a header with page number. (Choose
Insert, Page Number, Top of Page, Plain Number 3.) Use normal margins (1”).
Avoid the use of second-person pronouns and “etc.” Under no circumstances
shall the student quote any portion of a source. Instead, the student shall use
his own words in conveying the meaning of cited source material. Points will be
deducted for using these forbidden items or for the use of sentence fragments
Syllabus for RSK 500: Introduction to Religious Studies
4
(incomplete sentences). At least a sixth-grade level of grammar must be used in
your paper. Be sure to review your paper before submission.
The Cover Page shall include the following information, centered on the page:
Anthropology (your choice of discipline) of Religion
John Smith (your name)
RSK 500-Introduction to Religious Studies
Texas A&M University-Central Texas
The student shall use the “running head” feature of APA.
Sections in your paper should include (1) the general subject matter and perspective or
your discipline, (2) the specific way of examining religion from that discipline, (3) the
research tools or methods used to gather data, (4) the leading researchers in the field of
religious studies and the work they’re doing, and (5) the main research problems being
studied in that discipline in regard to religious studies.
Once per month, three dates have been set aside for the student to work on his paper.
These three dates of “No Class” in the course calendar are 9/17, 10/22, and 11/26.
NOTE: Do not submit your term paper to turnitin.com.
Qualities & Criteria
Poor
Good
Excellent
Format/Layout
 Presentation of the text
 Structuring of text
 Requirements of
length, font, and style
 APA style
Follows poorly the
requirements related
to format and layout.
Mostly follows the
requirements related
to format and layout.
Closely follows all the
requirements related
to format and layout.
(Weight: 20%)
Content
 Elements of topics to
be addressed
 Information is correct
 Coherency
(0-30 pts)
Essay is not objective
and poorly addresses
the issues. The
information provided
is unnecessary or
insufficient to discuss
the issues.
(36-40 pts)
Essay is objective and
addresses all the
issues. Provided
information is
necessary and
sufficient to discuss
the issues.
(Weight: 40%)
continued
(0-63 pts)
(31-35 pts)
Essay is mostly
objective and
addresses most of the
issues. Provided
information is mostly
necessary and
sufficient to discuss
the issues.
(64-71 pts)
(72-80 pts)
Syllabus for RSK 500: Introduction to Religious Studies
Quality of Writing
 Clarity
 Grammar and English
usage
 Organization and
coherence
(Weight: 20%)
Citations, References, & Style
 APA style
 Sources correctly cited
regarding content of
sources
(Weight: 20%)
6.0
Essay is poorly
written and contains
flagrant spelling and
grammatical errors.
Essay is poorly
organized, lacks
clarity, and
incoherent.
(0-30 pts)
Essay fails to follow
APA guidelines and
sources are
incorrectly cited for
content expressed in
sources.
(0-30 pts)
5
Essay is mostly wellwritten, without
spelling or
grammatical errors.
Essay is well
organized, is clear,
and ideas presented in
coherent ways.
(31-35 pts)
Essay mostly follows
APA guidelines and
sources are (mostly)
cited correctly for
content.
Essay is well-written,
without spelling or
grammatical errors.
Essay is well
organized, clear, and
ideas are presented in
coherent ways.
(31-35 pts)
(36-40 pts)
(36-40 pts)
Essay follows APA
guidelines and sources
are correctly cited for
content.
Grading Rubric and Conversion
6.1
Rubric
Points
Exams (2 @ 200)
400
Class Participation (11 days)
100
Reaction Comments (12)
100
Paper Topic (10/15)
50
Presentation (12/3)
150
Term Paper (12/3)
200
Academic Honesty Document
----Total:
1000
6.2
Conversion to Course Letter Grade
Points
%
Grade
900 – 1000 90 – 100
A
800 – 899
80 – 89
B
700 – 799
70 – 79
C
600 – 699
60 – 69
D
0 – 599
0 – 59
F
7.0
Course Calendar1
Date
8/27
Topics/Activities
Academic honesty
Readings2
Academic honesty/plagiarism
readings (see document)
Course requirements
Syllabus
Religious Studies
Assignments Due3
RC1 due by 11:59 p.m.
Syllabus for RSK 500: Introduction to Religious Studies
9/3
Defining religion
9/10
9/17
9/24
10/1
10/8
10/15
Approaches to the study of
religion
The Sacred
No Class – Paper Work***
Symbol, Myth, and Belief
Ritual
Scripture
Paper Topic
10/22
10/29
11/5
The Social Nature of Religion
No Class – Paper Work***
Mid-term Exam (L, chs 1-7)
Review of Mid-term Exam
11/12
11/19
11/26
12/3
Ultimate Reality
Cosmogonies
Soteriology
No Class – Paper Work***
Presentations
L, chs 1-2
L, ch 3
6
Academic Honesty document is
due
RC2 due by 11:59 p.m.
RC3 due by 11:59 p.m.
L, ch 4
L, ch 5
L, ch 6
RC4 due by 11:59 p.m.
RC5 due by 11:59 p.m.
RC6 due by 11:59 p.m.
Term Paper Topic Due
L, ch 7
RC7 due by 11:59 p.m.
L, ch 8
RC8 due by 11:59 p.m.
RC 9 due by 11:59 p.m.
L, ch 9
L, ch 13
RC10 due by 11:59 p.m.
RC11 due by 11:59 p.m.
Term Paper Due
RC12 due by 11:59 p.m.
12/10 Final Exam (L, chs 8-9, 13)
1
Events are subject to minor revision
2
L = Livingston, Anatomy of the sacred (6th ed.)
ch = chapter
chs = chapters
3
All assignments are due at 6:00 a.m., unless otherwise noted
8.0
Academic Honesty
TAMUCT expects all students to maintain high standards of personal and scholarly
conduct. Students guilty of academic dishonesty are subject to disciplinary action.
Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to, cheating on an examination or other
academic work, plagiarism, self-plagiarism (“recycling”), or collusion. The instructor shall
initiate action for each case of academic dishonesty and report it to the Associate
Director of Student Conduct. See
http://www.tamuct.edu/departments/studentconduct/facultyresources.php.
9.0
Disability Support
If you believe that this course may present barriers to learning due to a disability, please
contact Disability Support and Access at (254) 501-5831 in Warrior Hall, Ste. 212. For
more information, please visit their website at www.tamuct/disabilitysupport. Any
information you provide is private and confidential and will be treated as such. The
instructor cannot accommodate your disability unless you communicate with Disability
Support.
Syllabus for RSK 500: Introduction to Religious Studies
7
10.0
Tutoring
Tutoring is available to all TAMUCT students, both on campus and online. Subjects
tutored include Writing (APA). Tutors are available at the Tutoring Center in Warrior Hall
111. Visit www.ct.tamus.edu/academicsupport and click “Tutoring Support” for tutor
schedules and contact information. If you have questions or need to schedule a tutoring
session, contact Academic Support at 254-501-5830 or email
cecilia.morales@tamuct.edu.
11.0
Late Work
As a rule, make-up work for term paper topic, term paper, presentation, and exams will
not be accepted. In rare instances, however, the mid-term exam may be offered, but
with a 20-point deduction (evidence pertaining to a serious emergency will be
considered for such a makeup). In no instance will a make-up be offered for the final
exam, and in no instance will a make-up for an exam be given after two weeks from the
original exam date. To be considered as a prospect for making up an exam, the student
must contact the instructor within 24 hours of having missed an exam for purposes of
making it up. A request for make-up, of course, may or may not be granted. The final
course grade will be posted within a few days of the final exam; therefore, no
incompletes will be awarded for this course. If the student foresees that he will be
unable to complete the course, then he should either drop the course or accept the
posted grade.
12.0
Modification of the Syllabus
This syllabus may be revised in minor ways at the discretion of the instructor. The
student is responsible for noting any changes in the syllabus. More than likely, a change
in the syllabus will pertain to events in the Course Calendar (sect. 7.0). A revised course
calendar will be posted on Bb.
13.0
Contact with the Instructor
The student should contact the instructor via the message feature of Bb about any topic
or issue that pertains to the course.
14.0
Announcements
The student is responsible for checking Bb for ongoing announcements pertaining to the
course.