Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Introduction
- 1 For such a time as this: the Council of Societies for the Study of Religion, 1969–2009
- Part I Inventing and reinventing the field of religious studies
- Part II Method and theory in religious studies
- Part III Teaching religion
- 14 Confessions of a former establishment fundamentalist
- 15 Confessing away the soul with the sins, or the risks of Uncle Tomism among the humanists: a reply to Robert Bellah
- 16 Criteria for organizing the introductory course in religion
- 17 Teaching about religion at the state university: taking the issue seriously and strictly
- 18 Teaching about religion at the state university: a reply
- 19 Teaching about religion at the religiously affiliated university: taking the issue seriously and strictly—a reply to Robert Baird and Robert Minor
- Part IV Women and the bible in religious studies
- Part V Religion and religious studies in civic life
- Part VI Religious studies and identity politics
- Part VII Islam and 9/11
- Bibliography
- Acknowledgments
- Index
16 - Criteria for organizing the introductory course in religion
from Part III - Teaching religion
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Introduction
- 1 For such a time as this: the Council of Societies for the Study of Religion, 1969–2009
- Part I Inventing and reinventing the field of religious studies
- Part II Method and theory in religious studies
- Part III Teaching religion
- 14 Confessions of a former establishment fundamentalist
- 15 Confessing away the soul with the sins, or the risks of Uncle Tomism among the humanists: a reply to Robert Bellah
- 16 Criteria for organizing the introductory course in religion
- 17 Teaching about religion at the state university: taking the issue seriously and strictly
- 18 Teaching about religion at the state university: a reply
- 19 Teaching about religion at the religiously affiliated university: taking the issue seriously and strictly—a reply to Robert Baird and Robert Minor
- Part IV Women and the bible in religious studies
- Part V Religion and religious studies in civic life
- Part VI Religious studies and identity politics
- Part VII Islam and 9/11
- Bibliography
- Acknowledgments
- Index
Summary
A part of the recent ferment in religious studies is the new attention being given to the nature and place of the introductory course. It appears that there is now a rather wide and growing conviction that the traditional introductory courses do not accomplish what should be done in a course designed to give students a basic understanding of the field of religion and the role of religion in human experience and culture. The three dominant models now under heavy criticism are the Old and New Testament sequence and the semester survey courses in the Judeo-Christian tradition and world religions.
There also appears to be increasing sentiment that no single course can be expected to do the job of the introductory course; therefore, many (especially the larger) departments, both old and new, are now offering several options to their students — including courses in the various traditions, East and West, as well as courses dealing with approaches to the study of religion and contemporary religious problems.
The idea of offering various options to students taking their initial course in religion is doubtless based on a genuine concern to free departments from the older patterns dominated by sectarian seminary models. (In Protestant colleges this was primarily Old and New Testament; in Catholic colleges, theology and apologetics.) Yet another factor appears to be at work—viz., the not unimportant fact that it is difficult for a diverse group of scholars in the expanding departments, including historians, philosophical theologians, biblical critics, and those pursuing the methods of the social sciences, to agree upon and to teach a common course.
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- Chapter
- Information
- Reinventing Religious StudiesKey Writings in the History of a Discipline, pp. 99 - 102Publisher: Acumen PublishingPrint publication year: 2013