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Inner exploration
You are to develop your own personal faith
perspective/philosophy of religion through the process of ongoing reflection on
issues raised and discussed in this class.
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Begin this project early in the semester
(see class schedule for due date) with Your Spiritual Autobiography:
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In a 500-1000 word essay,
you will reflect on where you are coming from, where you currently
stand, how and where you desire to go regarding religion and
spirituality in your life. What place does religion have in your life?
What are your religious beliefs and practices? Was religion part of your
upbringing? In what way? Have you questioned or gone a different path
from that of your childhood? Why or why not? Even if you have no
religious background you can still find something to say about why this
is the case, how you feel about it and where you perceive yourself going
in the future as regards religion (are you searching for some spiritual
direction in your life? Would you, for instance, expect to raise your
own children the same way you were raised? Why or why not?). You might
include in this any specific questions or issues you hope to explore
through this course.
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You might want to visit www.Beliefnet.com
and complete a couple of the "soul surveys" found in the
"welcome" box located in the upper left-hand corner of their
homepage: "What's Your Spiritual Type?" and "Belief-o-matic."
You might want to print out your results (you can also e-mail your
"Belief-o-matic" results to yourself). You might care to share
and comment on your results along with your autobiography essay. Were you
surprised by the results? If so, why do you think it may have come out the
way it did (did you, perhaps, not understand some of the questions and
thus answer inaccurately)?
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Some time between the 4th and
12th week of the course you should visit with the instructor
to discuss how things are going for you in this class and the kinds of
questions you are exploring as regards religion.
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Your final presentation, at the end of the
semester (see class schedule for due date) should be a 1500 word personal
"dissertation" reflecting upon your personal philosophy of
life, addressing the following questions:
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What gives your life meaning and
purpose?
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Do you believe there is an ultimate
reality, a god? Why or why not? Describe it.
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Do you think there is life after this
one? What form might it take?
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Have you found truth in more than one
religious tradition?
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How have your views or your
understanding of religion changed over the course of this semester?
Feel free to be creative, not only on an
intellectual level but also on an aesthetic level: you will have various
opportunities to develop artistic expressions of your sense of the sacred
which may be included with your paper: a personal
mandala, or other artistic
rendition, a home altar, personal sacred ritual, poems, music, etc, are some
ways to develop and express the spiritual dimension of your life. You are
encouraged to share your photos and art work with me as a part of your
presentation. You may even care to share these things with the class.
Grading Rubrics:
Spiritual Autobiography:
"A" papers will…
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have gone into enough detail to make
clear to the reader just what kind of religious background (if any) the
student has
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be specific regarding any particular
faith community the student may attend and how often
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be specific regarding any particular
spiritual practices and/or beliefs the student may pursue or maintain
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reflect how students feels about
religion in general and about religions other than their own as well as
about their own religion (including any doubt or questions the student may
have)
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It is fairly easy to get a good grade on
this essay if you are honest and open about yourself
Personal "Dissertation":
"A" papers will…
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be personal, reflecting the student’s
own thoughts, feelings and ideas (this is not a research paper)
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be well organized: including an
introductory and concluding paragraph and good flow of ideas from
paragraph to paragraph
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be well composed regarding grammar,
spelling, syntax and word usage
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meet the 1500 word requirement
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