HUM 2093: Group Assignments and Presentations
Group Assignments and Presentation Schedule
YOUR PARTICIPATION AS PART OF YOUR ASSIGNED GROUP IS AN IMPORTANT PART OF YOUR FINAL GRADE!
See below for additional information on group presentations and discussions
- Group 1
Discussion of Kimball, When Religion Becomes Evil (due Feb 15, 22, Mar 1, 8, 29, Apr 5, 12)
Presentation #1: The problem of evil (due May 2)
Presentation #2: Myth and Cult (due May 9)
Final Group Discussions on Other Religious Traditions: Urban chaps. 2-3 (due May 16)
- Group 2
Discussion of Kimball, When Religion Becomes Evil (due Feb 15, 22, Mar 1, 8, 29, Apr 5, 12)
Presentation #1: Divine-human mediators (due May 2)
Presentation #2: Religion and Culture (due May 9)
Final Group Discussions on Other Religious Traditions: Urban chaps. 4-5 (due May 16)
- Group 3
Discussion of Kimball, When Religion Becomes Evil (due Feb 15, 22, Mar 1, 8, 29, Apr 5, 12)
Presentation #1: Eschatology (due May 2)
Presentation #2: War, peace, & violence (due May 9)
Final Group Discussions on Other Religious Traditions: Urban chaps. 6-7 (due May 16)
- Group 4
Discussion of Kimball, When Religion Becomes Evil (due Feb 15, 22, Mar 1, 8, 29, Apr 5, 12)
Presentation #1: Nature of god(s) and (semi-)divine beings (due May 2)
Presentation #2: God(s) and sexuality (due May 9)
Final Group Discussions on Other Religious Traditions: Urban chaps. 8-9 (due May 16)
- Group 5
Discussion of Kimball, When Religion Becomes Evil (due Feb 15, 22, Mar 1, 8, 29, Apr 5, 12)
Presentation #1: Religious expression in art & architecture (due May 2)
Presentation #2: Sacred texts (due May 9)
Final Group Discussions on Other Religious Traditions: Urban chaps. 10 & 12 (due May 16)
- Group 6
Discussion of Kimball, When Religion Becomes Evil (due Feb 15, 22, Mar 1, 8, 29, Apr 5, 12)
Presentation #1: Life, death, and afterlife (due May 2)
Presentation #2: Sacred places, objects, and times (due May 9)
Final Group Discussions on Other Religious Traditions: Urban chaps. 13-14 (due May 16)
Presentations on Kimball's When Religion Becomes Evil
Starting with Week 4 and continuing through Week 11 (but excluding Week 8), all students will read a
designated chapter in Kimball's book, meet with their group,
and record a discussion of between 10 and 15 minutes about the material covered. Each group will designate
one person in the group to submit the recording (or a link to the recording) on behalf of the group. The recording
should include both the name of the group and a list of everyone who participated in the discussion and/or
in the preparation of the recording (just list all the names at the beginning of the recording).
Presentations on Religious Topics
For Weeks 14 and 15, each group will be responsible for presenting material on the assigned
topic. Each presentation must include a bibliography containing a list of at least ten sources, relevant to
the topic of discussion, that meet the criteria found in the document entitled "Sources
for Academic Research." It must also include the names of all group members who participated in either the
research, the planning, the presentation, or the creation of a bibliography.
The presentation, which must be a minimum of 15 minutes long, must be submitted (one person should email the
video, PowerPoint with embedded audio, or URL to the instructor) by Thursday. Make
sure that people who are not members of the group can view the presentation! (For example, if you use Google Docs,
don't restrict access to members of your group or by using a password.)
The discussion of the specified presentation topics should encompass multiple religious traditions (a
minimum of four) and answer questions such as these: How do different religious traditions address the topic? Are
there variations within a religious tradition, or do most voices within a single tradition speak with the same voice
on the topic? Which religious traditions have views that are most similar on the topic? Most different? Have views
on the topic changed over time? Are ancient views on the topic similar to or different from views on the topic
today? What are the complexities in the analysis of the topic?
Here are some ideas to get you started on your discussion topics (groups don't need to address all these questions;
they're just prompts to start conversations and investigations):
- The problem of evil: How did evil arise? Are there evil divine beings? If a tradition is monotheistic, how is
evil explained? Is evil merely the absence of good? What about the problem of theodicy? What is sin (an affront to
the gods, to social or religious customs, to other people?)? How can sin be expiated? If the tradition is polytheistic,
is there consistency in the definition of evil?
- Divine-human mediators: What are the various classes of mediators (e.g., priests, prophets, clergy, shamans,
mediums, witches, curanderos, saints, tricksters)? What are the similarities and differences in the roles they
play within the faith community? Within the larger community? How are mediators chosen/recognized by the
community? Are certain types of roles passed down in families or limited to certain types of people (e.g., men or
women, people with certain characteristics or with certain educational achievements)?
- Eschatology (the end of the world, not the end of individual people—issues of a personal
afterlife are a different topic): Does
the world/universe ever come to an end? If so, what happens? Is time linear or cyclical? What are the signs that
the end is coming? Is a messianic or savior figure expected? Which religious traditions put more emphasis on
eschatology, and which de-emphasize discussion of it? What varieties of views exist within single religious
traditions? (E.g., in Christianity, there are historicist, futurist, millennial, amillennial, and other views of
the end times.)
- Nature of god(s) and (semi-)divine beings: How many gods/goddesses are there? What about angels, demons,
spirits, jinn, deceased ancestors, ghosts? Are (semi-)divine beings of a certain type totally good, totally evil,
neither, or a mixture of both good and evil? Are there hierarchies of divine beings (e.g., Second Temple Period
Judaism included beliefs in numerous named angels, with different ranks)? Do different classes of divine beings
cooperate with or oppose one another? What are their origins? How do (semi-)divine beings interact with humans or
other non-divine beings?
- Religious expression in art & architecture: How are (semi-)divine beings and religious figures (humans)
expressed in art? Are there limitations, either doctrinal or traditional, to these expressions? Does art regularly
appear inside centers of worship? If so, what types of art are most common? Are there limitations? Has iconoclasm
played a role in the history of the tradition? Are certain artistic subjects taboo? Are certain artistic styles
preferred? In what ways does the architecture of a place of worship reflect the beliefs/practices/priorities of
the religious tradition? Do the geographic orientation of the building or other architectural features say
anything about the notion of sacred space? What are common, acceptible, or forbidden subjects for religious art?
For those traditions that reject or discourage representation of human figures, what artistic modes of expression
are used? What are some typical artistic expressions of different religious traditions? What is the purpose of
religious art in different traditions, and how does it function within the religion?
- Life, death, and afterlife: When does life begin and end—or does it begin and end? Is there an
afterlife? If so, what is it like? If not, what happens to people after they die? Do people have souls, spirits,
or other characteristics that transcend death? If there is an afterlife, is it eternal? Do people assigned to a
particular place in the afterlife stay there forever? If there is a final judgment, what happens to people between
the time that they die and the judgment? What is the final judgment like, and what is the basis for judging a
person's destiny? Who makes the decision? For religions that believe in samsara, what determines one's
status in the next life? What are the chances of achieving moksha after the present life? If moksha
is achieved, what happens then (both in the present life and beyond)?
- War, peace, & violence: What are attitudes toward war, according to various religious traditions? Toward
peace? Is killing in war a sin? What are the legitimate justifications for war and violence, if any (e.g.,
self-defense, defense of others, propagation of the correct religious tradition, preventing future atrocities)? Is
violence against certain types of people acceptible (e.g., criminals, heretics, children [corporal punishment],
collaborators with evildoers, family members or friends or neighbors [i.e., collateral damage] of evildoers)? Does
the end justify the means? Are divine beings perceived as being warriors or as having warlike characteristics?
- God(s) and sexuality: Are divine beings one sex or the other? Or both/neither? If they are associated with a
particular human sex, what does that mean? Do gods engage in sexual activity among themselves or with humans? What
do different religious traditions teach about human sexuality (e.g., marriage/celibacy, sexual relations outside
marriage, same-sex relationships, polygamy/polyandry, nonbinary/trans identities)? Does one's sex limit access to
certain roles in the religion or society? Does the existence/nonexistence of female deities or mediators (e.g., women
priests, Jain nuns, the Virgin Mary, God the Mother in the World Mission Society Church of God) affect the role women
can play in a religion, or how women view themselves? In what ways are the structure of the family affected by gender
roles?
- Sacred texts: Which religions have a specific set of sacred texts? A large group of sacred texts with different
levels of authority? No sacred texts at all? How are the texts viewed in relation to God/the gods? Are they viewed as the
works of human beings, the divine, or some combination? In what language(s) are a tradition's sacred texts written? Are
they more authoritative in one language as compared with others?
- Sacred places, objects, and times: Are specific places on earth considered more sacred than others? Are some
buildings or objects (e.g., icons or statues) made by people considered sacred? How are sacred sites, buildings, or objects
sanctified (transformed into something holy)? Are certain times of the week, month, or year considered sacred? What sorts
of activities are prescribed/proscribed or encouraged/discouraged on holy days? Are there days of misfortune?
- Myth and cult: What stories are most meaningful in different religious traditions? Do these stories involve
sacred history or religio-cultural heroes (myth)? Which stories are re-enacted in ritual fashion (cult)? Aside from religious
stories that are re-enacted in worship, what other stories are considered especially meaningful or powerful?
- Religion and culture: How do people from different religious traditions interact with the larger culture? Do they
try to transform culture, isolate themselves from the outside world, live in tension with culture? How do religious groups
deal with increasing secularization? How do they deal with people from other religious traditions? With people from a different
branch of their own religious traditions (e.g., Catholics and Protestants, Sunni and Shiites, Theravada and Mahayana)?
Final Group Discussions on Other Religious Traditions
Each group should discuss their assigned chapters
in Hugh B. Urban, New Age, Neopagan, & New Religious Movements, record their discussion, and email the
audio file to the instructor before midnight on May 16. The discussion of each chapter should be between 20 and 30 minutes
long, and all members of the group should participate. The recording may be submitted as a combined recording, or each chapter
discussion may be submitted separately (by two different group members). A list of everyone who participated in the discussion
should be included.