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Ms. Whitten Office: Garrott Hall across from Parker/ Classroom: Buckman 241 swhitten@stmarysmemphis.

net / 901-537-1429
Faith Foundations is designed to give students a basis for understanding five of the major world religions: Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The course presents the historical development of these faiths, explores their theological and philosophical beliefs, and helps students have an appreciation for the uniqueness of each religion. Scholars, clergy members, and practitioners of each faith are invited to have classroom conversations with students in light of their religious traditions. There will also be a yearly field trip organized to select houses of worship. So, thats the fancy language in the course catalog. We will be doing all of those things, but first I want to be clear about my philosophy as regards this course. What I hope to do, above all else, is to instill a wonder in you about the mysteries of faith traditions. I have always been fascinated by how people explain the world around them, their role in it, and whether they include a higher power as part of their belief system. I want to share that passion and inquisitiveness with you, in the hopes that you will continue exploring on your own, way after this semester. At the very least, I would like to help you stretch your thinking about other faith traditions. In this ever-shrinking world, the chances of your going to school with, befriending, and working with people with religious beliefs different from yours is very high. I believe the more we know about these diverse traditions, the better we can connect with others and reduce things such as stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination, which are making this world a very insular and violent place. Today, you can access information about world religions (or anything else for that matter) at the touch of a computer screen button. I am not interested in your memorizing information that will not make it to long-term memory and can be so easily retrieved via technology. Thus, as opposed to your memorizing terminology, dates, and names of scriptures and holy people, I propose to make this an application course. What does that mean? The good news is that you will not be required to memorize and regurgitate information. The bad news (for some, but I think you will come around) is that you are really going to have to think and be engaged. Most of your grade will be based on participation and process, not product. The way to be successful is to prepare via reading and answering reading guide questions at night, so that we can spend class time discussing concepts, accessing external sources, doing small group work, etc.

Faith Foundations

I will assess you based on the following: ***reading guides ***current event presentations/write-ups ***reflection papers / end-of-unit essays ***research project presentations Last year, I think some of the best classes we had were when we invited guest scholars/clergy to speak. Actually, we submitted questions to them after our unit study, and they prepared answers and hosted a discussion. Because there are two sections of Faith Foundations per semester, these sessions will be scheduled during O or ALAPP periods so that both sections can attend, along with any other interested students. Because of this extra requirement, I would give you one class period during that week as a study hall, so that you are not having to do double duty, if that makes sense. Speaking of taking our classroom outside, we will take a field trip towards the end of the semester to visit houses of religious worship. Last year, we went to the Memphis Islamic Center, the Indian Cultural Center, and Beth Sholom synagogue. I am open to other ideas for this year, especially if you would like for us to visit your faith home, and hope you will give me your input . Supplies for this class are minimal: ***Brodd, Jeffery. World Religions: A Voyage of Discovery. St. Marys Press. 2003. I think you will like this text as it is easily understandable and portable. ***You may either keep your notes and handouts in a portion of a binder dedicated to this purpose, or just keep a simple paper folder (with brads and pockets). ***Anything that you are going to turn in hard copy should either be typed or written in blue or black ink. Corrections made during class should be made in a different ink color so I can tell the difference between original work and what you added on. ***Although you will need to be able to access our Haiku page at home, I am going to ask that you not bring laptops/devices to class unless otherwise instructed. Just too much of a distraction and moves us away from the kind of class discussion I want to encourage. I am so looking forward to this semester! Please come see/e-mail me with questions or concerns you have at any point.

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