Viewing: RELS 005 O: Gender,Sexualty,Religion

Last approved: Wed, 22 Aug 2018 20:54:12 GMT

Last edit: Wed, 15 Aug 2018 19:51:22 GMT

Rationale for Inactivation

Last Effective Term

Requested By

First Name	Last Name	Userid	Title	Home School	Org Short Name
Megan	Robb	robbme	ASST PROFESSOR A	School of Arts and Sciences	Religious Studies

Course Subject

RELIGIOUS STUDIES

Course Number

005

Start Term

Fall 2018

Committee Term

Fall 2018

Course Title

Gender,Sexualty,Religion

Course Description

What does it mean to be a gendered individual in a Muslim, Hindu, Jewish, Christian, Buddhist, or Sikh religious tradition? How important are gender differences in deciding social roles, ritual activities, and spiritual vocations? This course tackles these questions, showing how gender – how it is taught, performed, and regulated – is central to understanding religion. In this course we will learn about gendered rituals, social roles, and mythologies in a range of religious traditions. We will also look at the central significance of gender to the field of religious studies generally. The first part of the course will be focused on building a foundation of knowledge about a range of religious traditions and the role of gender in those traditions. This course emphasizes religious traditions outside the West. Although it is beyond the scope of this class to offer comprehensive discussions of any one religious tradition, the aim is to provide entry-points into the study of religious traditions through the lens of gender. This course will emphasize both historical perspectives and contemporary contexts. We will also read religion through feminist and queer lenses – we will explore the key characteristics of diverse feminist and queer studies approaches to religion, as well as limits of those approaches.

Also Offered As

FOLK 029 - Gender, Sexuality, & Religion
GSWS 109 - Gender, Sexuality, & Religion

Syllabus

RELS005_Curriculum_Manager.pdf

Course Frequency

Every Other Term

Sector Requirements

Your department or program fields a variety of courses to meet distinct educational needs. Please explain how this course fits into your department's plan for participating in the general education curriculum of the College. The sector panel will want to know what is distinctive about this course along with the other courses your department lists in the sector that makes them suitable for the sector requirement.

Endorser Justification

Term Offered

Course usually offered in Fall term

Sector Requirements

Humanities & Social Science Sector

Format

LEC

Instructor Name

Instructor Type

Standing Faculty

Instructor Status

Standing Faculty

Place in Curriculum

This course is appropriate for general education as well as introductory course to the major.

Instructor's Objectives

Foundations:
1) Recognize and understand religious studies terms.
2) Know concepts key to Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism, Judaism, Buddhism, Christianity, & Sikhism.
3) Distinguish between facts and matters of debate and ambiguity.
Applying Knowledge:
1) Compare and contrast different approaches to gender across religious traditions.
2) Choose a research question and design a program of research.
3) Write a convincing academic research essay.
4) Apply religious studies principles to real case studies.
Learning to Learn:
1) Research to explore interesting issues on your own as a scholar.
2) Think like a religious studies scholar.

Methods of Assessment

Number and size of paper(s) assigned

Essay 1 (20%)
The essay will be 2,000 words (use the word-count feature – about 8 pages double-spaced). Essay guidance is laid out in the syllabus.

Essay 2 (20%)
The essay will be 3,000 words (about 12 pages double-spaced). There will be a choice of question and you may apply the essay to any one or more of the religious traditions covered in the course.

Number and type of exams

Exams (30%)
There will be two exams. The exams will involve definition of terms and short essay responses.
The mid-term exam is Thursday 18 October. (15%) The final exam date in December will be determined by the registrar. (15%)

Other Requirements

You will write short journal entries responding to a question relevant to the reading. The entries should be submitted on Canvas, and each should be around 250 words. (5 journal entries x 4% = 20%)

Journal 1 Due: Thursday, 6 September by 8 AM
Journal 2 Due: Thursday, 27 September by 8 AM
Journal 3 Due: Thursday, 11 October by 8 AM
Journal 4 Due: Thursday, 15 November by 8 AM
Journal 5 Due: Thursday, 29 November by 8 AM

Sector I - Society

How does this course allow students to formulate and test social science hypotheses?

How does the course provide students with an understanding of social theories?

How will students understand the basis of empirical social science?

How will students gather and interpret data about social phenomena?

How does the course encourage students’ understanding of culture, religion, class, gender, race, or other fundamental social constructs?

How does the course enable students to understand the role of institutions in society, the relationship between individuals and those institutions, or the relationship among ideologies, values, and individual behavior?

Sector II - History and Tradition

How does this course allow students to read and interpret primary sources?

How will students be able to contextualize the primary materials they examine?

How will students closely read materials and discuss their core ideas?

How will students learn to interpret visual or material objects?

How do students have the opportunity to write significant interpretive essays about the sources they study?

How does the course provide students with an interpretive framework for analyzing change over time?

How does the course contribute to understanding of how knowledge is constructed and how interpretive frameworks change over time?

Sector III - Arts & Letters

How does the course allow students to develop interpretive strategies for analyzing visual, aural or literary texts?

How does the course offer students ample opportunity to write significant interpretive essays?

How does the course allow students to develop an appreciation of the creative process within a medium or in a variety of artistic media?

If a course is narrowly focused, how does it provide for breadth through understanding the social context or continuing significance of the work(s) being analyzed?

Sector IV - Humanities and Social Science

How does the course integrate theory with practical applications?

As part of the course students will apply religious studies principles to real case studies. After doing theoretical and foundational readings, students will evaluate real-world case studies that require them to make decisions based on the theoretical concerns we have read about. We will also have a guest speaker from the State Department's Office of International Religious Freedom and a visit to Penn Museum to get a sense of how the course's material applies to two real world contexts - policy and the world of museums.

How are students allowed the opportunity to reflect on practice?

Students will write short journal entries responding to a question relevant to the reading, that also offers an opportunity reflect on practical applications of those readings to understand world events.

How does the course allow students to integrate approaches from two or more humanities or social science disciplines?

Religious Studies is a very interdisciplinary field. This course requires engagement and integration of approaches in the disciplines of anthropology, literature/textual analysis, and history. These three fields in particular will be engaged with in the course.

How does the course place creative practice in writing, music or the fine arts in an interpretive context?

As part of the course we will listen to recordings of devotional music, read poetry inspired by religious commitment, and look at specimens of fine art created for devotional purposes. Interpretation and understanding of these creative works forms an important part of foundational knowledge building in the course.

Sector V - Living World

How does the course allow students to examine data, critically assess their origins, and consider the conclusions that can be drawn from them?

How does the course teach students how experimental and observational methods, as well as quantitative reasoning, are applied to the study of living systems?

How do students learn the methods used by contemporary natural science to study how organisms influence and are influenced by the environment?

How do students learn how to characterize and analyze basic population dynamics?

How do students learn about ecological diversity and how to measure it?

Sector VI - Physical World

Does the course allow students to examine data, critically assess their origins, and consider the conclusions that can be drawn from them?

How does the course teach students how experimental and observational methods, as well as quantitative reasoning, are applied to the study of physical systems?

How do students learn the methods used by contemporary natural science to study interactions among physical systems?

How does the course have students use mathematical methods to test observational data and formulate and test hypotheses?

How do students learn about the relevance of theory to the world of ordinary observation?

Sector VII - Natural Sciences and Mathematics

How does this course integrate knowledge across two or more disciplines in the natural sciences/mathematics?

How does the course integrate theory with practice?

Administrative Field

College reason for proposal

Committee

Committee reader

Administrative Status

Reviewer Comments