Syllabi Scrapbook...

Ok, here are some of the ones I thought worthy of sharing:

http://www.aar-site.org/syllabus/syllabi/d/desjardins/re476/syllabus.html

Mission Statement:
In a world where religion plays so central a role in social, political, and economic events, as well as in the lives of communities and individuals, there is a critical need for ongoing reflection upon and understanding of religious traditions, issues, questions, and values. The American Academy of Religion's mission is to promote such reflection through excellence in scholarship and teaching in the field of religion.

As a learned society and professional association of teachers and research scholars, the American Academy of Religion has over 10,000 members who teach in some 1,500 colleges, universities, seminaries, and schools in North America and abroad. The Academy is dedicated to furthering knowledge of religion and religious institutions in all their forms and manifestations. This is accomplished through Academy-wide and regional conferences and meetings, publications, programs, and membership services.

Within a context of free inquiry and critical examination, the Academy welcomes all disciplined reflection on religion–both from within and outside of communities of belief and practice–and seeks to enhance its broad public understanding


http://web.grinnell.edu/courses/rel/f03/rel390-01/
Course Description
The department offers this course to give majors in Religious Studies the opportunity for intensive study of some of the theoretical and methodological debates that help constitute the field. This semester, we will focus on questions of theory: what do we mean by "theories" of religion and why are they important? We will consider the crucial role theories of religion play in constituting the academic study of religion, how these theories are related to definitions of religion, and how theory shapes our perception of religious phenomena-and the very concept of "religion" itself. A major goal of the course will be to develop the ability to identify and understand the significance of the theoretical perspectives present in any academic study of religious phenomena.


http://jzwelling.web.wesleyan.edu/wescourses/2002f/reli101/01/syllabus.htm

- I particularly like the units entitled “Representation and Contestation” and “Religion and the Construction of Cosmic Realities”


http://classes.colgate.edu/osafi/Theory.htm
Aim of the course:
The course will aim to accomplish two goals:

1) render the history of the field of religious studies explicit, by studying its "origins" and "evolution" from the 18th to the middle of the 20th century [and indeed problematize the very notions of "origins" and "evolution" along the way...]

2) Discussing the major theoretical breakthroughs since the time of Mircea Eliade. As such, we will explore some of the feminist, post-structuralist, etc., critiques that have been made of the "History of Religions" approach that dominated the field in the 1960's.


http://academics.smcvt.edu/jbyrne/Religion%20Theory%20and%20Method.htm

- Check out the “religions and violence” and “religions from within” sections. Actually, there’s a whole course at Uof T on Religions and Violence, so perhaps it would be too much to squeeze into the method and theory course.


I’m biased, but I like the way our course was set up. Ahh, the sweet limitations of familiarity! There are far too many “terms” to consider in one class, but the following might be of interest:

- Violence
- Promise
- Myth
- Virtue
- Conduct
- Sacrifice
- Narrative
- God
- Spirit
- Rebellion
- Immortality
- Worship