June 14, 2015

Dear Foothill Students:

If you are receiving this email you are either registered or waitlisted for my
online Summer 2015 Anth 5, Magic, Science & Religion class (CRN 10168),
which is going to be delivered entirely via the Internet (called an online
course). As the start of this course is coming up soon - Monday, June 29th
- Im sending this letter with some important info so were ready to get going
from Day 1!

THIS LETTER IS KIND OF LONG AND DETAILED BUT PLEASE READ

ALL OF IT AND READ IT CAREFULLY IN ORDER TO GET A GREAT START
TO THE CLASS. In this letter you will find information about:
1. What you will learn about in this course
2. What text you will need to purchase to do the required reading
3. When the course begins and ends, and how to make sure you stay
enrolled in the course
4. Expectations about workload for this fast-faced summer session
5. How to get ready to take a course online
6. HOW TO START THE COURSE ON JUNE 29TH
7. How to get other questions answered
First, I want to welcome you to this course that I hope you will find
interesting, thought-provoking and of long-term value for your academic,
professional and personal life! I know many of you (most of you) have likely
signed up for this course to fulfill a general education requirement for your
major, some of you are Anthropology majors (hi!!!), and others are joining us
because the course sounds really interesting and covers material you have
long had a personal interest in. Maybe youre in it for all of those reasons??
I also know that some of you have taken many online classes, while for
others this is your first online class (and you are likely feeling a little
intimidated and lost). Some of you are just starting your college careers.
Others may already have your B.As, or even graduate degrees! Many of you
are working full time, some are stay at home parents. All of you likely have
very busy lives outside of school.

Anth 5 Welcome Letter Summer 2015

I have tried to build this class around the great diversity of students who
come together in the summer to explore this topic of Magic, Science &
Religion, also known as the Anthropology of Religion. Regardless of why you
are taking this course, or what your background is, it is my sincere hope that
there is something for everyone.
If you have never taken an online course before, and/or you have never
taken a summer session course before please read this important
announcement:
This online course is designed to be engaging and demanding, and will
cover material that is comparable to a 12-week UC and CSUtransferrable course. Given that we will accomplish this in a very
short 6-week summer session without any face-to-face meetings, it is
essential for you to understand that in order to be successful in this
class, you will need to:
o Log into our course website in Etudes multiple times during each
week, preferably daily, starting on DAY 1 JUNE 29TH
o Stay actively engaged in the course (logging in daily or nearly
daily) up through the last day of the course (the day of the
final exam) on AUGUST 7th. (Please know up front that I will be
unable to make any exceptions to the dates.)
o Plan your summer schedule to be able to dedicate an average of
24 hours a week to this class. (These are the California Stateapproved standards for a fully online, 6-week, 4-unit class.)
First-time online students (or first-time Etudes users):
If this is your first online course, or your first time using Foothill Colleges
online course management system, Etudes, then I strongly urge you to do at
least one of the following:
1. Attend the on-campus Orientation to Etudes sessions held during
the first week of each quarter. FOR SUMMER 2015:
Tuesday, June 30th from 1:00 - 2:30 pm in Room 4008
Visit http://www.foothill.edu/fga/etudes_oncampus_orientation.php for
more details and schedule/location.
2. Watch the video version of Orientation to Etudes at

http://www.foothill.edu/fga/etudes_orientation.php.

Anth 5 Welcome Letter Summer 2015

3. Complete the Self-Assessment Questionnaire and visit the Online

Learning Tour webpages at
http://www.foothill.edu/fga/getstarted.php#new

Important note: if you are not feeling confident in the online learning
environment after taking the orientation and/or self assessment, I highly
encourage you to consider signing up for the face-to-face section of Anth 5,
also being offered face-to-face this summer.
Course start date & time:
This online course will start at 8:00 a.m. on Monday, June 29th and run
through Friday, August 7th. All course material, including assignments,
announcements, modules, etc., will be housed in Foothill Colleges Course
Management System called Etudes. You should plan on logging into Etudes
and our course site on Monday, June 29th! Regular and frequent
attendance (demonstrated by logging into the course site AND completing
assignments every week) is required for this course. In an accelerated
summer session, it is very easy to fall behind so please join the class early
and frequently.

IMPORTANT: Please note that any student who has not read and accepted
the syllabus, and completed Module 1 assignments by the end of the first
week of class will be dropped from the course. After that date, students
may be dropped for a lack of active engagement in the course EACH WEEK
(see syllabus for details).
Logging into the course:
To access or login to your course, follow these steps:
1. Find out your Etudes User ID and Password by following the
instructions at http://www.foothill.edu/fga/logininstructions.php
2. Go to the login Gateway Portal for Etudes at https://myetudes.org
3. Bookmark this webpage (I like putting it right in my Bookmark

toolbar).

4. Be sure to check System Requirements (left side of screen) prior to

getting started with Etudes. IT IS ESSENTIAL THAT YOU HAVE
ACCESS TO A COMPUTER THAT MEETS THESE SYSTEM
REQUIREMENTS IN ORDER TO BE SUCCESSFUL IN THIS CLASS.

Anth 5 Welcome Letter Summer 2015

IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO COMPLETE THIS COURSE IF YOU

ONLY HAVE ACCESS TO A TABLET OR SMARTPHONE.
5. Type in your Etudes User ID and Password
If you have problems accessing or logging into the course, go to the
Student Help Desk at https://foothill.helpdeskconnect.com/ or call the
Foothill Online Learning office at (650) 949-7446.
If you log onto our course management system, Etudes, before Monday June
29th at 8:00 a.m. you should be able to see the course on your Dashboard,
even if it is not yet published:

After the official start date and time of the class, you can click on the
tab/button from your Dashboard and it should take you to our Course site.

Starting the course:

Once you have entered the Course site, be sure you read carefully the
Welcome Aboard Announcement (look under Recent Announcements on the
Home page, or click on the Announcements menu on the left). This will give
you further instructions about what to do first in the course, which will
include a careful review of the course syllabus.
Waitlisted students:
You have to be registered for the course to be able to log into the course
website. If you are still on the waitlist after Sunday, 6/28, you will need an
add code from me, your instructor, before being able to register for
the course, and log on to the course website. To request an add code
follow the instructions on this page:
http://www.foothill.edu/fga/request_add_code.php

Anth 5 Welcome Letter Summer 2015

Getting ready for the course:

Im looking forward to a great quarter exploring this wonderful topic of
Magic, Science & Religion, a.k.a the Anthropology of Religion with you. Here
is a little pre-information from the syllabus so you have a better sense of
what well be studying, and the text youll need to have by day 3 or 4 of the
course:
Course Description and Learning Objectives
This course is a cross-cultural exploration into the ways humans around the
world and through time have conceptualized their relationship between their
natural and social world and the supernatural. This area of study is known as
the anthropology of religion.
Students will be introduced to diverse belief systems from around the world
from small-scale to complex societies. Well take a thematic approach to this
cross-cultural exploration by looking at diverse expressions of religious
belief systems such as the characterization of gods, spirits and other
supernatural beings; practices of magic, divination and witchcraft; concepts
of the body, soul, health, healing, death and the afterlife, etc. Well also
spend time learning about myth, ritual and religious symbolism as well as
religious specialists and shamanism. The primary focus will be on developing
an understanding of belief systems in a cultural context. Well also touch
upon questions of religious fundamentalism, the politics of religion in todays
world, and religious revitalization movements.

Required Texts
There is one required text for this course this quarter, and you must have
access to this edition of this text from the first few days of the
summer session to be successful in this class.
Moro, Pamela. 2013.
Magic, Witchcraft, and Religion: A Reader in the

Anthropology of Religion. 9th edition.

New York: McGraw-Hill.

ISBN: 9780078034947.

Available at the Foothill Bookstore

(http://books.foothill.edu). If you find a copy from

Anth 5 Welcome Letter Summer 2015

another source (friend, other online site, etc.), be sure you are buying the
ninth edition of this text.
I will be posting a schedule of readings (we will only be reading selections
from this text although all articles I think are really interesting if you
have the time to read them all!) with the syllabus, which you will have access
to on the first day of class.
One Last VERY IMPORTANT Note
This summer I will have the unique privilege and challenge of teaching this
course while I am also co-directing our Foothill field school in Ireland! (For
more information about where Ill be and what well be doing, you can visit
our webpage: http://www.foothill.edu/anthropology/ireland.php). I actually
leave for Ireland on the start date of the course (June 29th) and will be in
Ireland till August 1st, and then Spain until August 12th. I will be with you
online for that entire time, although please know that there may be some
days that I will not be able to respond immediately to questions and
messages (usually I am VERY good about this with responses within 24
hours). I hope the excitement I might be able to bring from far-away places
will make up for any delay you might experience!
Additional Questions?
I hope that helps answer a few questions you might be having before the
start of class. Anything else well be able to cover during those first days,
but youre also welcome to send me an email and Ill do my best to respond
(although Im busy wrapping up Spring quarter and getting ready for the
summer, too!). You can email me at: maurerkathryn@foothill.edu.
Im looking forward to meeting you all online, and having a great summer
session!
Kathryn Maurer
Foothill Anthropology Department

Anth 5 Welcome Letter Summer 2015