Introduction to World Religions

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30

Lessons

30

Videos

10

QUIZZES

6 Weeks

Duration

English

Language

COURSE DESCRIPTION

The course, “Introduction to World Religions” deals with a general understanding of the faith and practices of the major religions of the world.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of the course, students will be able to gain:

Knowledge

    1. That the student may apprehend the significance and meanings of religion in various fields of life. 
    2. That the scholar may perceive the history behind the origin of the religions, the life of the founder, if any, of the religions.
    3. That the pupil may comprehend the diversity of the concept of God, salvation, etc of the people of different religions in the world.

Skills

    1. That he or she be able to compare and contrast the beliefs of his faith with those of another religion.
    2. That the seeker be able to share gospel to adherent of a new religion, in a better way, and disciple him.
    3. That the student be able to interact more and work closer with converts from other faiths.

Attitude

    1. That the student may be able to appreciate the good things and abhor the negative aspects in his neighbor’s religion.
    2. That the student may develop a passion for the proponents of diverse religions in the world
    3. After the study of other religions, the student may get a desire to go deep into his own religion and be able to make more friends with people of other religions.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

Bibliography
(The books mentioned below are made available to the students as e resources)

Compulsory Reading
Smith, Houston. The World’s Religions. California: Perfectbound, 1991. Glimpses of World Religions.  Bombay: Jaico Publishing House, 1993.

Essential readings
Ridgeon, Lloyd(ed.). Major World Religions. London: RoutledgeCurzon, 2003.

Suggested Readings
Coward, Harold. Sin and Salvation in the World Religions – A Short Introduction. Oxford: One World Publications, 2003.

Paine, Thomas. Essays on Religion.

Neusner, Jacob and Alan J. Avery – Peck(eds.). The Blackwell Companion to Judaism. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2003.

Mcleod, W. H. The A to Z of Sikhism. Lanham: The Scarecrow Press, 2009. 

Kalsi, Seva Singh. Religions of the World – Sikhism. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishers, 2005

Subramanian, Narendra. Nation and Family. California: Stanford University Press, 2014 

GUIDELINES FOR INTERACTIONS

Assessments

Assessment has two parts – Formative or Internal(60%) and Summative or External(40%). Internal Assessment includes five(5X8) weekly assignments, apart from active participation in the weekly live classes(10) and discussion forums(10). The External Assessment includes submission of research paper(10) and a teachable PPT/video on the  research paper(10) as well as a test(20) on the final day(Friday) of the Course. The Research paper is to be submitted by Tuesday of the 6th week and the PPT by Thursday of the 6th week.

The Lecture Videos and notes cover the first 10 units of the syllabus, and the 11th unit is included in the research paper.

Students needs to get a pass mark in both Internal as well as External. 

To clear the Internal Assessment, 90% attendance is mandatory in Live Class participation, Responding to the Discussion Forum and Submission of Weekly Quiz/Assignment.

Student is expected to spend the 6th week in watching videos of the 6th week, self-study of the 11th Unit and preparation of Research paper. Students are expected to refer to minimum five e books/articles in Perlego, EBSCO, N List etc while answering the Summative Assessment Question.

Additional Notes

  1. Weekly Tasks are essay type questions. For each question, the Word limit is 200 words. Each question carries 4 marks each.
  2. Submit the answers as handwritten scripts, after scanning and converting into pdf file. Student needs to write his Roll Number, Week Number, question number and page number clearly on each page of the answer script.
  3. Weekly Assignment is to be submitted by 11.30 p.m. on Saturday of the week.
  4. Plagiarism is strictly prohibited. 
  5. Every aspect of Internal- each weekly assignment, participation in weekly live class, participation in weekly discussion forum – assessment as well as External – Submission of research paper, its video presentation and final test are important.
  6. Research papers are part of the syllabus; since the tutor is not discussing that portion in the live sessions, students would be learning the same in his/her paper and video presentation. 
  7. PPT can be used for video presentations. 
  8. Video Presentation is to be of 10 minutes duration.  
  9. Each student has a different set of learning tasks for weekly quiz, final research paper as well as final test. 
  10. Student needs to find out his/her set of learning tasks from the set of questions and attempt that particular set of questions only.
  11. Student can go through other sets of learning tasks too, as a part of learning; however, it is not intended from students to attempt all sets of questions. 

Gradings 
     A+ = 78% and above,
     A =73 – 77.5%,
     A- = 68 – 72.5%,
     B+ = 63 – 67.5%,
     B = 58 – 62.5%,
     B- = 53 – 57.5%,
     C+ = 48 – 52.5%,
     C = 43 – 47.5%,
     C- = 40 – 42.5%,
     F =less than 40%

Course Content

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WEEK 01 - INTRODUCTION & CONFUCIANISM
Lesson Content
0% Complete 0/1 Steps
WEEK 02 - TAOISM & JAPANESE RELIGION : SHINTOISM
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WEEK 03 - BAHAI FAITH, AFRICAN RELIGIONS & ZOROASTRIANISM
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WEEK 04 - BHUDHISM & JAINISM
WEEK 05 - ISLAM & SIKHISM

About the Instructor

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