HUMN 7: GLOBAL RELIGIONS: CONTEMPORARY PRACTICES & PERSPECTIVES
Foothill College Course Outline of Record
| Heading | Value |
|---|---|
| Effective Term: | Summer 2023 |
| Units: | 4 |
| Hours: | 4 lecture per week (48 total per quarter) |
| Advisory: | One of the following: ENGL 1A or 1AH or ESLL 26; not open to students with credit in HUMN 7H. |
| Degree & Credit Status: | Degree-Applicable Credit Course |
| Foothill GE: | Area I: Humanities |
| Transferable: | CSU/UC |
| Grade Type: | Letter Grade (Request for Pass/No Pass) |
| Repeatability: | Not Repeatable |
Student Learning Outcomes
- Synthesize critical thinking, imaginative, cooperative and empathetic abilities as whole persons in order to contextualize knowledge and make meaning.
- Contrast differing religious attitudes toward Western civilization and civil rights movements
- Compare diverse religious traditions by explaining how they influence contemporary life and thought in different social, political and cultural circumstances around the globe.
- Explain the relationship between religion, science, and the arts and how they intersect
Description
Course Objectives
The student will be able to:
A. engage in critical, creative, and independent thinking.
B. stimulate curiosity about the intersection of religion and culture.
C. broaden perspectives on how religious thought influences topics such as human rights, war, peace, globalization, etc.
D. apply critical approaches to the analysis of various modes of cultural production in relation to various religious practices and understanding.
E. explain the relationship between religion, art and social organization in both Western and non-Western contexts.
F. use diverse religious practices and cultural traditions as a framework for a more complex understanding of the contemporary world.
G. analyze cultural production as both instruments of social control and ideological change.
H. develop the habit of learning and responding to new ideas and challenges.
I. think through moral and ethical problems and to examine one's own assumptions.
J. improve both oral and written communication, especially through critical reading and analysis.
Course Content
A. Religion in the space of politics
1. Conflict and peace-building
2. Human rights
3. Women
4. Sexuality
5. Globalization
B. Religion in the space of ethics
1. Education
2. Death and dying
3. Nature
4. Science
5. Reproductive rights
C. Religion in the space of aesthetics
1. Contemporary visual art
2. Contemporary music
3. Film
4. Humor
5. Sport
6. Memorialization
Lab Content
Not applicable.
Special Facilities and/or Equipment
Method(s) of Evaluation
Three or four objective/subjective mid-term exams
Three or more one-page response papers
One term paper
Final examination
Method(s) of Instruction
Lecture
Discussion
Cooperative learning exercises
Oral presentations
Representative Text(s) and Other Materials
Sharma, Arvind. The World's Religions: A Contemporary Reader. 2011.
Hecht, Richard, and Vincent F. Biondo. Religion and Culture. 2012.
Caputo, John. On Religion (Thinking in Action). 2001.
Although these texts are older than the suggested "5 years or newer" standard, they remain seminal texts in this area of study.
Types and/or Examples of Required Reading, Writing, and Outside of Class Assignments
A. Reading textbook and other material, including web: 30 pages a week
B. Continuous essay questions relating to the SLOs: 25-30 pages of writing per quarter