Ways of Being Religious RELI 1301.002 Fall Semester 2011 Southern Methodist University Instructor: Christopher J.

Dowdy (214) 768-4074 cdowdy@smu.edu Outline of Syllabus: I. II. III. IV. V. VI. VII. Description Student Learning Objectives Procedures Texts Assignments Course Calendar Course Policies Office Hours: W, 11:30-12:30 Caf 100 (or in Dallas Hall 317A by appointment)

I. Description of Course This class introduces the academic study of religion to students with little or no background in the discipline. It uses graphic novels as a primary source of encountering diverse religious lives, reading critically and historically to develop student comprehension of concept and theory. Each of the main texts assigned for the coursein its narrative choices, in its relation of form and content, and perhaps most of all in its memorable juxtaposition of imageshighlights the complicated relationship of authoritative representation to religion, modernity, and globalization. Studying the deliberate sequential art of graphic novels is thus a way to make complex interpretive claims about religion concrete and intelligible. II. Student Learning Objectives The goal of this class is to introduce students to the academic study of religion by cultivating three kinds of understanding: conceptual, tradition-specific, and theoretical. Each of these three kinds of understanding is to be developed in connection with the other. Upon successful completion of this course, you will have demonstrated through exams, papers, discussions, and oral presentations a basic facility with methods of inquiry about religious beliefs and practices. In this way, RELI 1301 fulfills a GEC category known as Perspective. In this course, you will be expected to explain and analyze four distinct concepts important to religious studies: religion, authority, modernity, and globalization. Grappling with these concepts helps us to talk intelligently about issues like how religion has become an object of study, and how religious authority has transformed with both modernity and globalization. Upon successful completion of this course, you will have demonstrated through the various assignments an understanding of religion, authority, modernity, and globalization as significant concepts in the study of religion. In addition, this course aims to introduce you to diverse religious lives. Through readings and student presentations, you will encounter tradition-specific knowledge, gaining an appreciation for the historical complexity and internal heterogeneity of religious traditions, practices, and material culture. These encounters will involve many aspects of religious lives, including the use of scriptures, ritual practices (e.g., special foods, rites of passage, revivals), beliefs (e.g.,

2 morality, gods, magic), and first-person narratives. Upon completion of the course, you will have demonstrated through the various assignments familiarity with key practices and beliefs of particular religious traditions. Finally, this course endeavors to introduce you to several theories of religion. You will engage texts that use sociological, historical, literary, and anthropological tools to analyze and explain features of lived religions. This course is designed to equip you to articulate and defend your own explanations of the materials you encounter. Throughout the course we will work to develop your skills in speaking, writing, and analysis. In increasing your facility with methodologies employed in the field of religious studies, you will demonstrate through the various assignments strong writing and analytical skills. III. Procedures The course meets Tuesdays and Thursdays from 2:00 until 3:20 in Hyer Hall 106. Our meetings will combine discussion, instructor lecture, and student presentations. In addition, I will be available for conference and consultations outside of class. I will hold office/free discussion hours in Caf 100 on Wednesdays from 11:30-12:30. The best way to contact me is through email, at cdowdy@smu.edu. The Instructor of Record for this course is Dr. Mark Chancey. You may contact him at mchancey@smu.edu or by phone at 214-788-1460. IV. Texts There are seven (7) required texts for this class, all of which are available for purchase in the SMU bookstore. Pay careful attention to exactly which edition of the book you are required to have. 1. Miriam Katin, We Are on Our Own. Drawn and Quarterly, 2006. ISBN: 9781896597201 2. Tezuka Osamu, Buddha, vol. 4: The Forest of Uruvela. Vertical, 2006. ISBN: 9781932234596 3. Sanjay Patel, Ramayana: Divine Loophole. Chronicle Books, 2010. ISBN: 9780811871075 4. Marjane Satrapi, The Complete Persepolis. Pantheon, 2007. ISBN: 978-0375714832 5. Joann Sfar, The Rabbi's Cat. Pantheon, 2007. ISBN: 0375714642 6. James Sturm, America: God, Gold, and Golems. Drawn and Quarterly, 2007. ISBN: 9781897299050 7. Craig Thompson, Blankets. Top Shelf Productions, 2003. ISBN: 9781891830433 If you would like a resource that will help you better understanding the reading of graphic narratives, I highly recommend Scott McCloud, Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art (Harper

3 Paperbacks, 1994) ISBN: 9780060976255. It is also available for purchase at the SMU bookstore. If you would like a book that gives you a good overview of the kinds of materials we are reading, you might benefit from John Esposito, Darrell Fasching, and Todd Lewis, World Religions Today (Oxford University Press, 2006). There are no assignments out of this text, so any edition you might choose is fine. Additional required readings will be on SMU Blackboard (courses.smu.edu). Your user ID is your SMU ID number and your password is your usual SMU password. If you have any difficulty at all accessing Blackboard, let me know immediately. V. Assignments Unit Quizzes Exams Weekly Response and Class Discussion Student Reports 15% 30% 30% 25%

Quizzes. At the end of five of the courses units, you will have short quizzes to reward(!) your focused reading and participation for that aspect of the course. Nobody truly likes doing these, but they are a sort of necessary evil. The quizzes will be short answer. Mid-semester Exam and Final Exam. Both the exams will be take-home essay format, and will draw on the materials we have read and discussed together. The final will be comprehensive. You will receive a more detailed description of these in the weeks to come. Weekly Response and Class Discussion. The success of this class depends on your willingness to engage the topics at hand. Every week you will be expected to post a new reflection in the Discussion area of Blackboard. Each post will be graded, and I will drop your two lowest scores (you will receive a separate handout with guidelines for this assignment). In addition to these written responses, you will also be expected to participate in an informed and respectful way in discussions and group work. Student Reports. Each student will be required to report on independent research on an issue, group, figure or other topic relevant to the course. These reports are an important part of this course. It is an area where you will put your skills to work, and in which you will give your classmates valuable perspectives. You will receive a separate handout with guidelines for this assignment. Grading Scale A 93-100 A90-92 B+ 88-89 B 83-87 B80-82 C+ 78-79 C 73-77 C70-72 D+ 68-69 D 63-67 D60-62 F <60

VI. Course Calendar The course will consist of seven units, roughly taking two weeks each. Under each unit title, I have listed guiding questions to be explored in that unit. Under each date you will find the assignments to be completed for that day's meeting. Keep in mind that changes in the course calendar may be made at the instructors discretion. Unit 1Authority and Authenticity: Theorizing Religion, Globalization, and Modernity

4 What is religion, and how should it be regarded as an object of study? What is modernity, and how has it transformed ideas about religion? What is globalization, and how has it transformed religious authority? Why are we reading comic books? Aug. 23 Why religion? Why graphic novels? Introductions: No readings Aug. 25 What is religion? What is true religion? What is distinctively modern about posing these questions? Read: Jonathan Z. Smith, "Introduction," in Imagining Religion (On Blackboard). Read: William Paden, "Religion as a Subject Matter" from Religious Worlds (On Blackboard). Read: Immanuel Wallerstein, "The End of What Modernity?" (On Blackboard). Aug. 30 How have modernity and globalization affected religious lives? How have they affected religious studies? Read: Jrgen Osterhammel and Niels Petersson, "Globalization: Circumnavigating a Term," in Globalization: A Short History (On Blackboard). Read: Vsquez and Marquardt, "Introduction," in Globalizing the Sacred, (On Blackboard). Sept. 1 What should we look for when we try and analyze authority and religion? How do we read comics? How are comics relevant to our thematic concerns? Read: Paul Gifford, "Religious Authority: Scripture, Tradition, Charisma," in The Routledge Companion to the Study of Religion (On Blackboard). Read: McCloud, Chapters 2 + 3, in Understanding Comics (On Blackboard). Watch: "Scott McCloud on Comics," <http://www.ted.com/talks/scott_mccloud_on_comics.html>. Quiz: Unit 1 Unit 2: Colonial Legacies and Globalization: Connecting "Scriptures" and Identities How can studying religious stories to help us understand religious lives? How did colonialism shape the imagining of religion for those who studied it? What about the way people experienced religion? How do people negotiate their religious identity when they experience immigration or other forms of upheaval? Sept. 6 Introduction to Hinduism and Colonial Contexts Read: Lipner, "The Rise of Hinduism; Or, How to Invent a World Religion with Only Moderate Success" (On Blackboard). Read: Patel, Ramayana, 1-84. Sept. 8 Myth Enacted and Defended Reflections on Authority and Scripture; Diasporic Contexts Read: Patel, Ramayana, 85-125. Read: "The Diversity of Ramayana Traditions," in Many Ramayanas (On Blackboard). Student Report: International Society for Krishna Consciousness Student Report: Celebrating Diwali in the United States

5 Sept. 13 True and False Hinduism; Authenticity at Home and Abroad Read: McLain, "Introduction," in India's Immortal Comic Books (On Blackboard). Student Report: Perceptions of Ghandi in India and abroad Student Report: Hindu Nationalism and Hindu-Muslim violence in India Sept. 15 Does authenticity stop where marketability begins? Listen: Sandip Roy, "Yoga: A Positively Un-Indian Experience," <www.npr.org/2010/12/29/132207910/yoga-a-positively-un-indianexperience> Listen: Tell Me More, "Has Yoga Strayed Too Far from Its Hindu Roots?" <www.npr.org/2011/03/24/134822766/Has-Yoga-Strayed-Too-Far-From-ItsHindu-Roots> View: DFW Hindu Temple Society website; <http://www.dfwhindutemple.org/index.php> Quiz: Unit 2 Unit 3: Modernity and Tradition: Practices, Beliefs, and Secularization How do ritual practices relate to religious beliefs? How do ritual practices relate to religious communities? What does the tension between tradition and modernity imply for ritual practices? What does it imply for traditional beliefs? How have modernity and globalization transformed or propagated belief and practice? How have they disrupted them? What is the secularization thesis, and why does it matter? Sept. 20 Introduction to Judaism Read: Joann Sfar, The Rabbi's Cat, Parts 1 + 2. Read: Eisenstein, "Imperfect Masters," in The Jewish Graphic Novel (On Blackboard). Sept. 22 How is eating related to being a good Jew? Read: Joann Sfar, The Rabbi's Cat, Part 3. Read: Harris, "Borderlands," in The Jewish Graphic Novel (On Blackboard). Read: "The Pittsburg Platform" (1885) and "The Columbus Platform," (1937) both at website of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, <http://ccarnet.org/documentsandpositions/platforms> Student Report: Kabbalah Sept. 27 How did being Jewish entail grappling with atrocity and displacement in the 20th century? Is there a connection between those transformations and the predictions of the secularization thesis? Read: Katin, We Are on Our Own. Read: "Interview with Miriam Katin," The Jewish Graphic Novel (On Blackboard). Student Report: Feminist Critiques of Judaism Sept. 29 Crossing Boundaries of Jewishness Read: Excerpt from Jocelyn Joselitt, The Wonders of America (On Blackboard) View: Dallas Temple Emanu-El website: <http://www.tedallas.org/aboutus/index.html> Find the section that discusses

6 conversion to Judaism, e.g., Ruth Klein <http://www.tedallas.org/education/conversion/ruth.htm> Student Report: Messianic Jews Student Report: Black Hebrews Quiz: Unit 3 Unit 4: Charismatic Leaders and Distinctive Beliefs What role do charismatic figures play in people's religious understandings? How important are central beliefs to a religious system? Is religion best understood by identifying ethical commitments? How has modernity shaped the presentation of religious figures to outsiders? How has globalization? Oct. 4 Introduction to Buddhism/Thoroughly Modern Siddharta Read: Tezuka Osamu, Buddha, vol. 4: The Forest of Uruvela, chapters 6, 8, 9, and pp. 217-30, 348-370. Read: Damien Keown, "The Buddha," in Buddhism: A Very Short Introduction (On Blackboard). Student Report: Popular Images of Buddha Oct. 6 Varieties of Buddhism and The Timeless Sage; Does the Dalai Lama matter? To whom? What kind of Buddhism does he represent? Read: Dalai Lama's 1989 Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech <www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1989/lamaacceptance.html> View: Buddhist Center of Dallas <www.watdallas.com/> View: KTC Dallas <http://wordpress.ktcdallas.org/> Student Report: Zen Buddhism Student Report: Buddhist Missionaries to the United States Oct. 11 Fall Break, Class Will Not Meet Oct. 13 Boundary Disputes: Can just anyone be an exemplary Buddhist? Are there deep differences in the experiences of Buddhist men and Buddhist women? View: Preview of Mushim Ikeda-Nashs story among the clips for Harvard Pluralism Projects Religion in Action <www.fas.harvard.edu/~pluralsm/video/Acting-on-Faith_Mushim.mpg> Read: Gutchow, excerpt from Being a Buddhist Nun (On Blackboard) MIDTERM DISTRIBUTED Unit 5: Beyond the Sacred Page Rather than focusing on institutions or even rituals, can we better understand religion by thinking primarily about the relationships people have with religious charactersor even religious objects? Do the intellectual tools of modernity help us to understand more about religious lives? Can we learn from reading religiously inflected autobiography? What can personal accounts of conversion or disenchantment disclose? What aspects of religious devotion have transformed in modernity? How is globalization implicated in networks of religious relationships?

Oct. 18 Why Jesus? An Introduction to Christianity Read: "Acts of Devotion" from Harvard Divinity School Bulletin <www.hds.harvard.edu/news-events/harvard-divinity-bulletin/articles/acts-ofdevotion> Read: Excerpt from Stephen Prothero, American Jesus (On Blackboard) Read: Craig Thompson, Blankets, chapters 1-3. Student Report: Icons in Eastern Orthodox Christianity Student Report: Contemporary Paganism in the United States Oct. 20 Picturing Jesus, Realizing Faith View: Chick Publications Website, especially the tract This Was Your Life <www.chick.com/reading/tracts/0001/0001_01.asp> View: Warner Sallman Collection at Anderson University <www.warnersallman.com/>; read around the site a little to get a sense of the images Sallman created Read: Thompson, Blankets, chapters 4-6. MIDTERM DUE AT BEGINNING OF CLASS Oct. 25 What materials are involved in Christian devotion? What persons figure into religious lives? Read: Orsi, "Jesus Held Him So Close in His Love for Him That He Left the Marks of His Passion on His Body," from Between Heaven and Earth (On Blackboard). Read: Thompson, Blankets, chapters 7-9. Student Report: The Charismatic Movement in the Global South Oct. 28 When is scripture more than a book? When is a building more than a space? Read: Callahan, "Prologue," from The Talking Book (On Blackboard) View: Website of Potter's House church in Dallas <http://thepottershouse.org/> View: <http://ascendio.com/fbd/> Read about First Baptist Church in Dallas plans for expansion View: <http://www.cathedralguadalupe.org/> Read about The Cathedral Shrine of Guadalupe in downtown Dallas Student Report: Dispensationalism and the Scofield Bible Student Report: Christian Science Quiz: Unit 5 Unit 6: Mediating Identity and Community Across Cultures What constitutes an authoritative scholarly source for the study of religion? Does a memoir count? What can we see more clearly if we look at religion through the lens of childrens lives? Of adolescents lives? What demands for self-understanding has globalization placed on religious scholars and adherents? How does religious identity relate to communityto social and political belonging? What is it like to be religious minority? What is it like to be religiously different? Nov. 1 The Straight Path: Introduction to Islam

8 Read: Douglas and Mati-Douglas, Sacred Images, in Arab Comic Strips (On Blackboard) Student Report: The Hajj and Ramadan Nov. 3 How has conflict and political unrest confronted Muslims in the late twentieth century? On what terms are conflicts within religious groups carried out? Read: Marjane Satrapi, The Complete Persepolis. Part I: A Childhood Student Report: Sufism Student Report: Sharia

Nov. 8 How do religious symbols and actions become implicated in political conflicts? Read: Marjane Satrapi, The Complete Persepolis. Part II: A Return Student Report: Outlawing the veil in France Student Report: Nation of Islam Nov. 10 Should religion scholars explain Islam? If so, how? Read: Reza Aslan, Prologue, in How to Win a Cosmic War (On Blackboard) Read: Robert Orsi, Is the Study of Lived Religion Irrelevant to the World We Live in? (On Blackboard) View: Website of the Islamic Association of North Texas <www.iant.com/> Quiz: Unit 6 Unit 7 Religion and Fun (?) Is authentic religion enjoyable? Should it be? Is an experience like a pilgrimage more authentic if it is an ordeal? Why? How should the scholars of religion regard their subjectwith suspended judgment, with critiques in mind, or what? Should scholars of religion tell us what makes religion authentic or fake, good or bad? Nov. 15 Selling Religion: Is marketing religiosity dangerous? Is it normal? What should scholars of religion make of it? Read: The Golems Mighty Swing, in James Sturm, America: God, Guns, and Golems Student Report: Yiddish Theater Student Report: Prosperity Gospel Nov. 17 If its fun, is it religious? Read: Sturm, "The Revival," in America: God, Gold, and Golems In class: Watch part of American Experience: Sister Aimee; see the movie website here: <www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/sister/> Student Report: Rise of Pentecostalism Student Report: Christ of the Ozarks Nov. 22 How do religious gatherings challenge distinctions among race, ethnicity, and religion? How are suffering and delight implicated at religious gatherings? View: American Festivals on National Geographic, especially Pow-Wow at Pine Ridge, at <http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/americanfestivals/pine-ridge-pow-wow-photos/> View: NPR photo essay on the The Tepeyac/Feast of Guadalupe Pilgrimage, 100 WordsOn Pilgrimage at <www.npr.org/blogs/pictureshow/2011/02/28/134129879/100-wordsphotographer-alinka-echeverria-on-pilgrimage> and other photos of pilgrims at <www.alinkaecheverria.com/index.php?/work/the-road-to-tepeyac/>

9 Student Report: Fancy Dancing and the Red Power Movement Nov. 24: Thanksgiving Holiday, Class Will Not Meet Nov. 29 Disciplined Attention, or a Bit of Judgment? Read: Prothero, Belief Unbracketed, at <www3.hds.harvard.edu/news/bulletin/articles/prothero.html>. Note Prothero's disagreement with Orsi, whom we read earlier. FINAL DISTRIBUTED Dec. 1 Optional Final Workshop FINAL EXAM DUE: Tuesday, December 13, 11:00 AM, Hyer 106 VII. Course Policies

Academic Honesty: All students are expected to uphold the Honor Code. Note that plagiarism consists of not only quoting another's words without attribution but also using another person's idea, even if paraphrased in your words, without attribution; it also includes borrowing another's organizational and logical structure without attribution. Plagiarism also includes misuse of Internet sources. Penalties for Honor Code violations include suspension of all non-need-related financial aid, suspension or expulsion from the university, notation on student's transcript, removal from athletic teams, prohibition from representing university in any way, and prohibition from holding any office in any campus organization. See <www2.smu.edu/studentlife/honor_code.html> for additional details. If I suspect that you have plagiarized or received unauthorized assistance on a paper or project I must give you the choice of appearing before SMU's Judicial Board or accepting a Faculty Disposition, usually failure in the class. Please talk to me if you have any questions about citations or the limits of acceptable assistance. I would much rather talk to you than enter into a judicial process.

Disability Accommodations: Students needing academic accommodations for a disability must first be registered with Disability Accommodations & Success Strategies (DASS) to verify the disability and to establish eligibility for accommodations. Students may call 214768-1470 or visit <http://www.smu.edu/alec/dass> to begin the process. Once registered, students should then schedule an appointment with the professor to make appropriate arrangements. Please, do not hesitate to talk to me if disability of any kind is an issue for you. We have abundant resources to address your needs, but I cannot help if I do not know.

Religious Observance: Religiously observant students wishing to be absent on holidays that require missing class should notify their professors in writing at the beginning of the semester, and should discuss with them, in advance, acceptable ways of making up any work missed because of the absence. (See University Policy No. 1.9.) Excused Absences for University Extracurricular Activities: Students participating in an officially sanctioned, scheduled University extracurricular activity will be given the opportunity to make up class assignments or other graded assignments missed as a result

10 of their participation. It is the responsibility of the student to make arrangements with the instructor prior to any missed scheduled examination or other missed assignment for making up the work. (University Undergraduate Catalogue)

Attendance: More than four unexcused absences will be considered grounds for administrative dismissal from class. I will document absences at roll call each day and respond accordingly. You will be considered tardy if you are not present when roll is called and if you leave before class concludes; four tardies will be considered the same as one absence. Absence because of serious illness or family emergency may be considered excused if you communicate with me ahead of time. Late Work: At the discretion of the instructor, late work may be graded for up to one week after the due date. Each day up to then in which you do not turn in the work, you will be penalized at least the points equivalent to half of a letter grade. After one week, you will have to take a zero on the assignment.