ATS1041: World religions

20% Pre-lecture quizes based on readings, 10% expository essay (my year was dialogue between Buddha and a fictional character; i chose Dr.House), 30% essay (selection from a list), 10% tutorial presentation, 30% exam.

Standard religious studies 101 class really.

It includes a basic description of the beliefs and doctrines of what Scott terms/decides to be "world religions". The use of this term, like most of the field of religious studies, is up for significant debate. To simplify though, he definitely does included all the biggest faiths in the world. A few exceptions are Judaism (which is actually relatively small now) and Chinese religions like Daoism/Confucianism which have a debatable number of actual followers. New religious movement (think Scientology, hare krishna) are covered in one lecture, approaches to religious diversity are covered in another. As a nod to the country we're in, Indigenous religion is covered as well.

I feel it was a bit hit and miss sometimes. Religious studies is a relatively new field compared to its older academic brethren, it's still finding its feet. Compounding this is the fact that it's an interdisciplinary field and theres no one right way to go about it either. Some lectures seemed to be regurgitations of the textbook, especially when Scott was lecturing on ones he wasn't familiar with. Often, he did a good job of adding value beyond the textbook. He was rather entertaining and bought a genuine enthusiasm to the class.

It seemed a bit over the place sometimes. Sometimes religion and modernity was included, other times its really wasn't (Daoism/Confucianism, except maybe the link to fortune cookies). This is half the textbook chapter for each religion. It describes the basic beliefs then how the religions have responded to the modern world (women, democracy, violence, etc).

The guest lecturers themselves were judiciously selected, all were very interesting. Our indigenous religion lecturer for example spent decades in the NT and could sing to us in various aboriginal languages (on which he wrote a book). Considering he wasn't indigenous, it was very impressive having access to an academic who has poured his heart and soul into it so much. The Judaism guest lecturer was very through but also very skilled at actually weaving a coherent lecture narrative together which i felt was sometimes missed in Scott's lectures.

That said, Scott did a pretty good job for the 2 hours we had each week to learn about a major belief system. As almost every lecturer admitted, it was "mission impossible" to lecture about an entire religion in 2 hours, you could spend 2 hours talking about a single word or concept from any religion, let alone the religion as a whole. Given this constraint and expecting superficiality, i think they did OK.
A better textbook could be selected, for one that talks about modernity, it was published in 2002, just after 9/11 and before many major religious controversies of the past decade. I've read ones by oxford and routledge which i think are much better. The assessment was great and even fun. The Buddha dialogue is explained above. You're still doing work but its an engaging and interesting way to do it. The essay topics went beyond the lecture material which is great. I'm sick of essays which simply require you to mostly regurgitate lectures. Most of these topics were not at all touched on, requiring 100% original research. The topics themselves were very interesting,

No. 20% of the exam marks are defining terms, you are given a large list of definitions, a subset of these are on the exam.

4 out of 5

Yes, with screen caputre. Approximately 20% of the recordings failed though, be careful. The subject is simulatenous run at Caufield, thankfully both caufield and clayton did not mess up in the same week.

No, available online via library website. Honestly not a very good textbook though.

1 x 2 hr lecture, 1 x 1 hour tutorial

Unknown, did fairly well overall though.

10 x Pre-tutorial quizzes: Worth 20% (2% each). Relatively simple, short answer online quizzes for which you have the questions in advance in the unit reader. Based on the weekly readings.

Expository Exercise: Worth 10%. Summary of an article.

Essay: Worth 30%. 1500 words. On a topic of your choice from a set list of questions. There are around 10 questions per religion studied so there is heaps of choice and you should be able to find something of interest.

Tutorial Presentation: Worth 10%. A short 5-10 minute presentation during one of the tutorial weeks on that week's studied religion.

Exam: Worth 30%. 2 hour examination. The lecturer gives really good preparation in the last week, but other than that there are no practice exams or other help.

The assessment was pretty easy (just tutorial participation/attendance, a couple of article summaries/synthesis exercises, an essay and an exam if i remember correctly.)
The lectures and tutorials were easy to follow and easy lecture was given by a different lecturer with expertise in that particular religion. Each week looked at a different religion (Aboriginal spirituality, Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Christianity, new religious movements like Scientology etc) and the essay was a topic chosen from a list based on one of these religions. You are given roughly 10 essay topics to choose from per religion so there is heaps of choice.

The exam was relatively simple and the lecturer/tutor (Constant Mews) prepared for it well.

Overall, the subject was good, though it could get a bit boring sometimes but that's the same with any subject - some topics will interest you more than others. Workload wasn't too bad either. Only 1 x 2hr lecture + 1 x 1 hr tutorial per week and the weekly readings/essay readings and research

Constant Mews (Course Co-Ordinator) + various other lecturers

No and no sample exam.

3 Out of 5

Yes, with screen capture.

There is no textbook and instead you are required to buy the course reader. You must buy this as all readings and course info is found in this book.

2 x hour lecture + 1 x 1 hour tutorial per week

Semester 1, 2013

71 D