hey i was wondering if anyone could tell me if this course is easy/hard and what kind of work do you have to for eg. are there alot of essays etc.

would you recommend this course?? thanks in advance.

if i am not mistaken, this course is a general overview of the more popular world religions.

for course work...it will be your standard first year course more or less, but i have heard it was on the easy side several years back. you can expect a few essays, two midterms, and two exams (one of both for each term).

thanks. does anyone else have any more info about this course??

Originally Posted by mos9

thanks. does anyone else have any more info about this course??

Content and Objectives of the Course:
Religious traditions continue to play a vital role in the lives of the majority of the world’s people today. This course is intended to provide a broad introduction to the major world religions. Its objectives are: To familiarize students with the central figures, and basic history, beliefs, and practices of Hinduism, Buddhism, Chinese religions (Confucianism and Daoism), Judaism, Christianity, and Islam; and to acquaint students with some of the responses of these religions to such issues as the nature of the universe and the divine, the human condition, religious ideals, and appropriate behaviour of human beings in the course of their lives. The course will also touch on the issue of religion and the challenges of modernity, and on the roles and status of women in the world’s religions.

Requirements and Evaluation:
1. Attendance at lectures (there are no tutorials for the summer course).
2. All reading assignments.
3. Six in-class tests (6 at 10%, best five): 50%
4. Research essay/report, due June 11 (for details see separate handout): 30%
5. Final exam (June 14, 9:30-11:30), broad comparative essay-style questions: 20%


COURSE OUTLINE (first part)

Introduction to the Course
• Introduction to the study of religion: what is religion? What are its key
characteristics and patterns? What do we study when we study religion? What
approaches do we take?

Introduction to Hinduism; Historical Roots of the Tradition; Early Hinduism
• Characteristics of Hinduism
• Historical Roots: Indus Valley Civilization and the Aryans
• Vedas and Upanishads: Central Themes and Concepts (sacrifice and the Vedic
gods; nature of ‘Self’ and ultimate reality)

Classical Hinduism: Central Themes and Concepts
• Karma and rebirth
• The goal of Liberation (moksha) and the practice of asceticism
• Codification of the tradition (dharma and the Dharmashastras)
• Caste/class; 4 stages in life; 4 aims in life; life-cycle rites

Development of Hinduism: Theology and Practice
• The Bhagavad Gita, the three ‘yogas’, and the rise of theism
• Major Hindu gods and sects; gurus

The Practice of Hinduism
• Worship (puja), festivals, temples, pilgrimage
• Domestic religion and Hindu women’s religious observances
• Review

Test on Hinduism (9:30 - 10:00)

Introduction to Buddhism
• The life of the Buddha
• The Buddha’s first sermon: the Middle Path

Early Buddhism: Central Themes and Concepts
• The Four Noble Truths; Concepts of nirvana, anatta (“no-self”), dukkha
(“suffering”) and anicca (“impermanence”)
• Theravada School

Later Buddhism
• The Sangha and the ordination of women
• Rise of the Mahayana School; the spread of Buddhism
• Buddhist Ethics

Buddhist Practices and Challenges of Modernity
• Worship, meditation, festivals
• Socially engaged Buddhism
• review

Test on Buddhism (9:30 - 10:00)

Introduction to Religious Landscape of East Asia and to Chinese history

Confucianism
• Life of Confucius and his central teachings; texts
• Historical developments; Mencius; Neo-Confucianism

Daoism
• Central figures: Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu (Zhuang Zi)
• Early history, texts and basic concepts and practices of philosophical and religious
Guest speaker

Buddhism in China and Japan
• Entry of Buddhism into China and other parts of East Asia
• Buddhist schools in China and Japan: focus on Ch’an [Zen] and Pure Land
• review

Test on Chinese (East Asian) Religions

Part II of course begins

i like how this course sounds. exactly like grade 11 world religions. so interesting.
anyone know about the teachers?

Right now I'm registered in this course, but I'm considering dropping it for something else...does anyone have any opinions on it?

It sure appears to be an interesting course. Having it broken down into a bunch of mini-tests is also great because it means you can study in sections and there's less to study per test, making it less stressful

mini tests vs one large test...take the mini tests, always.

great thanks

I took this course last year, I loved it. There are 2 profs for the course, 1 for the eastern religions (hinduism, buddhism, daosim) and 1 for the western (christianity, judaism and islam). I had Dr. Carter and Dr. Pearson, both were great. The course load was on the easy side. There are six essays and six quizzes (1 for each religion) and a final exam after each term with broad essay kind of questions. Hope this helps.

i have this right now on mondays at night...

do i have to attend tutorial? including tutorial, it is a 3 hour class all year long... i dont know if i can take it.. im considering switching to sociology...

All courses are three hours long in humanities and soc sci. For first year classes it's two hours of lecture and one hour of tutorial every week.

Most likely, yes, tutorial is mandatory. That being said, if you don't want to go, don't. But you lose out on easy marks. Class is mandatory too, but if you don't go no one will do anything about it.