WORK TO BE DONE BY DECEMBER 18th

1. Father John Martin, the spiritual director of Shantivanam, a Christian ashram (learning community) in southeastern India that focuses on the relationship between Christianity and the religions of India (particularly Hinduism and Buddhism) asserts that all the major religions of the world can be compared to a group of hikers climbing up different sides of a high mountain. Each hiker (and religion) takes a unique route to the top. While they are climbing the mountain, they cannot necessarily see one another. They may not even be aware that those in the other climbing parties are also ascending the mountain. They think they are alone as they make the ascent. Yet when they reach the peak, the climbers are surprised to find one another. Think back over the religions studied this semester. Then answer the following:

• What do you think Father Martin is saying about the different world religions?
• Do you agree with him?
• Why or why not?

Be specific in your answer illustrating your position from both eastern and western religions. Post your answer on your blog.

2. Read your classmates’ interviews with religious leaders and write a response to at least three of them. Post your responses under the comment sections of the posts you’re responding to.

N.B.: All blog work (your postings on your own blog and responses on classmates’ blogs) that you want graded must be put on your blog by noon on Tuesday, December 18^th. Any work done after that will not be graded.

WORK TO BE DONE BY DECEMBER 11th

1. If Jesus and Martin Luther were time-warped to the present, how do you think they would each respond to each of the major forms of contemporary Christianity (Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodox, and Protestantism)? Why? Post your answer on your blog.

2. Read your classmates’ interviews with religious leaders and write a response to at least three of them. Post your responses under the comment sections of the posts you’re responding to.

WORK TO BE DONE BY DECEMBER 4th

1. Carefully read 320-347 in your Hopfe textbook.

2. Post the part of your field project that is the interview with a religious leader in the tradition you’re investigating.

3. Prepare for your project presentation on December 5^th or 12^th. Remember that the material you’re presenting should not repeat information we’ve already covered in class but should be new and that, as part of the presentation, you should actively engage the class in learning some important ritual or tradition from the religion you’re studying.

4. If you have not already done so, you should read your classmates’ blog entries for this past week and write responses to at least three of the entries, posting them as comments directly below the entry upon which you’re commenting.

Work TO BE DONE BY NOVEMBER 27th

(N.B.: This work is due in two weeks because of Thanksgiving vacation next week.)

1. Carefully read 298-308 in your Hopfe textbook.

2. Create a 30 second animoto video (http://animoto.com) on your view of contemporary Christianity and post it on your blog. (To do that, once you’ve finished making the video, click on the post it button at the bottom and then click the blogger option and follow directions.) When you make the video, please make sure that you consider all of contemporary Christianity, not just one denomination or group.

3. During the week, write at least one more post on a religion topic of your choosing. This could be comments on the assigned reading or from the introductory class material; a link to an interesting and relevant webpage, video, book review, or article (along with an explanation of why you’ve chosen it); questions that you might have for me or other students in the class; a description of a conversation or experience you have that’s connected with the course content; suggestions for further reading or thinking; etc

Some suggestions for post topics would be:

• Listen to “The Jewish Roots of the Christian Story”, the radio show from Speaking of Faith found at http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/jewishroots/index.shtml
• Explore and comment on the website “From Jesus to Christ” found at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/jesus.

4. If you have not already done so, you should read your classmates’ blog entries for this past week and write responses to at least three of the entries, posting them as comments directly below the entry upon which you’re commenting.

PROJECT PRESENTATION SCHEDULE

December 5^th

• Abel and Jason- Hinduism
• Staci and Chonte- Hinduism
• Santhamma and Sandra- Hinduism
• Rich- American Buddhism
• Wendy- Santeria
• Christy-Islam
• Ureena- Islam
• Robert
• Sarah

December 12th

• Sandra and Keren- Orthodox Judaism
• Christian – Orthodox Judaism
• Marcos- Conservative Judaism
• Krissy and Stephanie- Conservative Judaism
• Erica- Roman Catholicism
• Voni- Roman Catholicism
• Christopher- Presbyterianism
• Loren- Christian
• Jenny

WORK TO BE DONE BY NOVEMBER 13th

1. Carefully read 270-298 in your Hopfe textbook.
   

2. Write a post answering the following: First, how would you summarize the key points of Judaism? (This can be short enough to do while standing on one foot, like Hillel, or it can be a paragraph or two long, but it must be in your own words.) Next, given your summary, in what way are these points embodied in each of the modern forms of Judaism? Make sure that in your posting you discuss at least Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform Judaism. You may, as an option, also explore subgroups like Hasidism. Be specific in your answer.

3. During the week, write at least one more post on a religion topic of your choosing. This could be comments on the assigned reading or from the introductory class material; a link to an interesting and relevant webpage, video, book review, or article (along with an explanation of why you’ve chosen it); questions that you might have for me or other students in the class; a description of a conversation or experience you have that’s connected with the course content; suggestions for further reading or thinking; etc
   

4. If you have not already done so, you should read your classmates’ blog entries for this past week and write responses to at least three of the entries, posting them as comments directly below the entry upon which you’re commenting.

WORK TO BE DONE BY NOVEMBER 6th

1. Carefully read 250-263 in your Hopfe textbook.

2. Post the write up of your observation of a religious rltual in the tradition you are studying. Make sure that you describe the setting (e.g. what did you see, hear, smell, feel) and your responses (feelings, thoughts, questions, etc.)

3. During the week, write at least one more post on a religion topic of your choosing. This could be comments on the assigned reading or from the introductory class material; a link to an interesting and relevant webpage, video, book review, or article (along with an explanation of why you’ve chosen it); questions that you might have for me or other students in the class; a description of a conversation or experience you have that’s connected with the course content; suggestions for further reading or thinking; etc

Some suggestions:

a. Read the profile and interview with Elie Wiesel found at http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/wie0pro-1 and then write up your reflections.

b. Listen to “Hannukah and a Rediscovery of Jewish Traditions”, the radio show from Speaking of Faith found at http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/hanukkah/index.shtml

4. If you have not already done so, you should read your classmates’ blog entries for this past week and write responses to at least three of the entries, posting them as comments directly below the entry upon which you’re commenting. Please note what a proper response is by rereading the section “blog responses” in your course outline. It is not just saying “I like your post” or “I agree with you.”