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Outer Exploration
You are to explore the variety of religions
through field research and other forms of independent investigation including:
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a preliminary "Religious Scavenger
Hunt" assignment (see assignment sheet)
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"Encounters & Dialogue":
visit at least two (2) visits to local places of worship you are unfamiliar
with (one representative of Western religion and one representative of
Eastern religion).
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To receive full credit, these visits should include
observation or even participation in religious activity and discussion with
a follower(s) of the faith. In addition, the detail with which you describe
your field experience and any of your own thoughtful reflections on the
experience will be taken into consideration for grading purposes.
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In addition
to written submissions, I would like these reports submitted to me
via e-mail (or on disk) so that I can publish the best reports on my
website. You can see examples of past student work at: www.nvcc.edu/home/lshulman/project
(if you do not want your name posted, let me know)
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Listings of some places to visit in the DC/Northern Virginia area: Eastern
Religions, Western Religions
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Use the results from your "Religious Scavenger Hunt" or your local
"Yellow Pages" to help you identify some possible places to visit.
Do not visit a religion you are already familiar with.
Christians should try to expand their horizons beyond other Christian
churches. However, if you’ve never been to one, you may visit an Orthodox
Christian church. A Protestant who has never stepped foot in a
Catholic church or a Catholic who has never stepped foot in a
Protestant church may visit such a church. You might also visit a less
common Christian denomination that you are unfamiliar with. If you are
uncertain regarding the place you plan to visit, consult with the
instructor.
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use of any other sources of information by
which to learn about as many different religions as you can (beyond
the religions you visited for your encounters or researched for your game
project). These sources may include (but are not limited to) websites,
books, videos, documentaries on television, newspaper articles, etc.
Alternatively, you may choose to have additional encounters and/or
dialogue with people of different faiths, submitting reports on each of your
experiences. Quality, number and variety of experiences will be taken into
consideration for grading of reports (see #2, above).
No more than 50% of your research should be related to any one religion
(e.g., learning about various forms of Christianity).
Your final presentation should take the form
of a scrapbook/journal. You may include in this any pictures, brochures
and outlines of basic information. Although you may cut and paste information
for this part of your project, you should be sure to cite the sources of
your information and also be sure to offer your own commentary and thoughts
regarding the material and information you are including in your scrapbook. Feel
free to be as creative as you like in putting this scrapbook together. In this
project, effort will go a long way when it comes to presentation and
grading. Consider some kind of thematic organization to the contents of your
scrapbook. The number and variety of religions you learn about will be taken
into consideration for grading purposes.
Grading Rubrics:
Encounters & Dialogue reports:
"A" reports will…
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reflect an encounter with a religion the
student was previously unfamiliar with
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reflect an observation of (or
participation in) religious activity and discussion with a follower
of the faith
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be descriptive (so that the reader can
vividly imagine what it was like to be there)
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include some details regarding the
content of any discussions the student may have had with a follower of the
faith in question (but will avoid being a mere transcript of what was said
- simply summarize the more interesting comments)
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be more than just descriptive -
up to fifty percent of the report will reflect the student’s feelings
and thoughts (analysis, insights, observations) regarding what was
observed and discussed (these observations would best be
interspersed with the description)
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focus on the positive more than on the
negative
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reflect the encounter as a learning
experience for the student (will comment on how the experience has changed
the student’s understanding and/or appreciation of the religion in
question)
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between the two reports, involve both an
eastern as well as western religion (at least one of each)
Scrapbooks:
"A" work will…
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reflect at least four different
religions beyond the two done for the student’s "Encounter &
Dialogue" reports
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reflect some variety of religions
researched (i.e., no more than half the material included may be relate to
the same religion, such as different Christian denominations or different
sects of Buddhism)
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contain the student’s thoughtful
commentary along with the information collected - thus demonstrating
that the student has read and reflected upon the religions researched
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reflect a thoughtful and careful
approach to putting the material together
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cite sources
of all information including websites and brochures from which pictures
and information may have been printed, copied or cut and pasted
Sample scrapbook:
(PowerPoint presentation)
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