WORK TO BE DONE BY OCTOBER 2nd

1. Carefully read pages 123-143 in your Hopfe textbook.
   

2. After learning about Mohandas Gandhi, in what ways do you think he practiced Hinduism? What parts of Hinduism did he emphasize? What parts seemed less important to him? Would he consider himself a good Hindu? Would you agree with his self-assessment? Based on both the material in your textbook and the film we saw in class, reflect on these questions and then answer them in a well-developed essay for one of your blog posts this week.
   

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. You can access classmates’ blogs by clicking on the individual blogs listed on the right hand side of this classblog. N.B.: Many of you are not yet doing this part of the weekly assignment or are not following the criteria for adequate responses spelled out in the ‘blog response’ section of your course syllabus.
   

5. You should email me the religion that you will be doing your field research project on by October 2^nd. This should include not only the general religion but the place where you will attend worship and the name of the clergyperson you will be interviewing for the project.

WORK TO BE DONE BY SEPTEMBER 25th

1. Carefully read pages 96-103 in your Hopfe textbook.

2. In a number of places in his well-known book The World’s Religions, Huston Smith alludes to a 'cardinal tenet' of Hinduism, namely that people are different and that religion needs to be adapted to different people's needs. Based on both the material in your textbook and the material we discussed in class, what different ways does Hinduism conceive itself as adapting to different people's needs? How do the four types of yoga fit into this adaptation? Which path(s) might best fit you and your personality? Why? Reflect on these questions and then answer them for one of your blog posts this week.

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

If you enjoyed Second Life last week, you might want to go and visit some of its Hindu meetings and worship places (for example, the Shrine to Ganesha or the Temple of Shiva, either of which you can get to by typing its name into Second Life’s search option and then teleporting there) and then writing of your experience.

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. You can access classmates’ blogs by clicking on the individual blogs listed on the right hand side of this classblog.

WORK TO BE DONE BY SEPTEMBER 18th

1. Carefully read pages 70-96 and 107-108 in your Hopfe textbook.

2. For one of your week’s posts, do the following and post your answer on your own individual religion blog by September 18. Religions are not dead belief systems, but continue to live and adapt to new and changing situations. One place in which we’re seeing this is in virtual worlds such as Second Life.

1. Go to http://secondlife.com and create an avatar on Second Life. Do this by clicking on the ‘join now’ link on the top right (it’s free) and then following the instructions. You’ll enter some details about yourself and be invited to choose your Second Life (hereafter SL) name. (This is the name by which people in Second Life will know you.) (For those of you who would like to do this on the Dobbs Ferry campus computers, Second Life has been installed in the library computer lab. You may go there to create your avatar and then to enter Second Life. Be patient when Second Life is opening after you sign in. It may take as long as 4 or 5 minutes to load all the software needed on the computer.)
2. After you’ve arrived in SL, orient yourself. Learn how to walk, how to fly, how to interact with others, and how to change the appearance of your avatar) within the world.
3. Then interview 3 other people/avatars that you meet in Second Life about their religious beliefs. (Please make sure that you explain to these people that you are doing this for a class assignment, so they don’t think you’re trying to convert them to some specific religious beliefs.) Do they consider themselves religious or spiritual? Why or why not? If so, in what ways? If not, why not? What do they think about religions other than their own? Post what you learn from the interviews (perhaps with snapshots of you interviewing the other person—easy to do by pressing the snapshot button at the bottom of the SL screen and saving it to a floppy or your hard drive and then loading it into the blog) as your blog entry.

(If you absolutely can’t get onto SL, please email me and explain why and I’ll give you another assignment in its place. But please try to get used to Second Life, since we may use it in a few other assignments in the future.)

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. You can access classmates’ blogs by clicking on the individual blogs listed on the right hand side of this classblog.

And BTW, my Second Life avatar’s name is Ishah Tripsa. If you meet me “in world” (the term for in Second Life) be sure to say hi.

WORK TO BE DONE BY SEPTEMBER 11th

1. Read pages 29-63 in your Hopfe textbook for general content material.

2. Create your blog following the directions in the course syllabus (and then on blogger). Remember to email me your blog’s address so I can link it to this main blog page.

3. For one of your week’s posts, answer the following and post your answer on your own individual religion blog by September 11^th.
Go here (http://www.beliefnet.com/story/76/story_7665_1.html) and do the “Belief-O-Matic” survey. (Please make sure that you not only select an answer for each question but also fill out the priority rating on each.) What did you learn from doing this survey? Was the religious tradition with which you most closely associate yourself at or toward the top of the list of religious traditions that the Belief-O-Matic selected for you? Were there other religious traditions at or near the top of your list that surprised you? Why do you think they appeared? How similar are your beliefs and theirs?

4. 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. Or, if you’d like to answer the following as the second post:
George Bernard Shaw wrote: "There is only one religion, though there are a hundred versions of it”. Do you agree with Shaw? If so, what are the essential characteristics and functions of that ‘one religion’? If not, why not?