Discipline: Humanities Degree Credit  [ ]
Non Credit  [ ]
Nondegree Credit  [ ]
Comm Service  [ ]
 

Riverside Community College District
Integrated Course Outline of Record

Humanities 11


COURSE DESCRIPTION
11 Religion in America Units: 3.00
 
Prerequisite(s): None.

Advisory: Qualification for English 1A; Humanities 10.
Thought and practice of American religious traditions, including Native American practices, Protestantism, American religious sects (Mormons, Seventh-Day Adventists), Catholicism, Judaism, and Asian religions. Attention is also directed to the relationship between religion and politics, and religion and the different ethnic and racial groups of American culture. Course requires participant observation in different religious settings. 54 hours lecture.
 
SHORT DESCRIPTION FOR CLASS SCHEDULE
Religious thought and practice in American culture.
 
ADVISORY ENTRY SKILLS
Before entering the course, students will be able to:
  1. Critically discuss and analyze primary and secondary texts, recognizing key ideas and responding in both oral and written form;

  2. Analyze, synthesize, and evaluate concepts studied in primary and secondary texts using intermediate to advanced critical thinking skills;

  3. Compose developed, unified, stylistically competent writing assignments and adjust writing to the target audience with intermediate to advanced skill.

  4. Interpret religious texts within the context of the traditional beliefs of various religious traditions;

  5. Appreciate the varieties of religious belief and experience and the cultures in which they are found.
STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES
 Upon successful completion of the course, students should be able to:
Describe the varieties of religious belief and practice in the United States; Interpret religious traditions in the context of American history; Analyze the varied issues, problems, and concerns of religions in response to the historic freedoms and prejudices of American culture; Appreciate the varieties of American religious belief and experience and the subcultures in which they are found; Analyze various rituals practiced in American religious traditions; Appraise the various religious traditions of the United States in terms of the students’ personal philosophical and religious values.
 
COURSE CONTENT
  TOPICS
 
  1.   Belief and ritual in American religious practice
  2.  Native American religious practice
  3.  Protestant religious practices in American culture
  4.  Catholicism & Judaism in the United States
  5.  American religious traditions (Mormons, Seventh Day Adventists, Jehovah’s Witnesses)
  6.  The practice of the religions of Asia in the United States
  7.  Political and social aspects of American religious practice

Students are also assigned reading, writing, and other assignments equivalent to two hours per one hour lecture.

 
 
METHODS OF INSTRUCTION
 Methods of instruction used to achieve student learning outcomes may include, but are not limited to:

1. Class lectures/discussions on the beliefs and history of differing religious groups within the United States.
2. Videos/films/slides/audio tapes on belief and ritual practice in American religious communities.
3. Pair and small group activities/discussion on the connection between religious belief and behavior.
4. Reports and papers on the history and current practice of differing American religious communities.
5. Guest lecturers describing and analyzing aspects of American religious communities.
6. Field trips and individual visits to religious sites (churches, synagogues, mosques, temples) in order to observe and analyze American religious thought and practice.
7. On-line instruction using the internet as a source of information about varied religious beliefs and practices in the United States.


 
METHODS OF EVALUATION
 Students will be evaluated for progress in and/or mastery of learning outcomes by methods of evaluation which may include, but are not limited to:

1. The writing of a minimum of 3000 words of formal interpretive prose.
2. Oral reports/presentations on the varieties of American religious belief & practice.
3. Quizzes/examinations on the role and contribution of religious communities in American history.
4. Written assignments evaluating historical texts in light of contemporary practice.
5. Class and individual projects comparing textual analysis of religion and observation of different religious communities.
6. Final essay/examination assessing the role of religious traditions in American history and contemporary American culture.

Grades are based on at least four different assignments, which must include written work involving critical analysis.

ASSIGNMENTS

Required Reading Assignments


Required Writing Assignments


Other Outside-of-Class Assignments
 
COURSE MATERIALS
 All materials used in this course will be periodically reviewed to ensure that they are appropriate for college level instruction. Possible texts include:

  • Ahlstrom, Sydney. A Religious History of the American People. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1972.
  • Albanese, Catherine L. . America: Religions and Religion. Belmont: Wadsworth, 2006.
  • Butler, Jon and Harry S. Stout. Religion in American History: A Reader. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997.
  • Bloom, Harold. The American Religion: The Emergence of the Post-Christian Nation. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1992.
  • Gausted, Edwin. A Religious History of America. New York: Harper & Row, 1990.
  • Marty, Martin. Pilgrims in Their Own Land: 500 Years of Religion in America. New York: Penguin Books, 1984.
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