This course examines the relationship between ethnicity, gender, and religion as categories of human meaning-making.We will take an interdisciplinary approach to considering a global set of case studies. And we will re-evaluate the terms that we take for granted when designating human difference and cultural significance. In so doing, we will work toward a deeper understanding of the human condition and the history of our responses to it.
Student Learning Outcomes
By successfully completing the requirements of this course, students will be able to:
(1) Define key socio-cultural signifiers such as “ethnicity,” “race,” “gender,”
“sex,” “culture,” and “religion.”
(2) Explain the difference between confessional and critical approaches to the
study of religion.
(3) Investigate the interaction between ethnicity, gender, and religion in socio-cultural formation.
(4) Explore different cultures and their multiple ways of making sense of the world.
(5) Apply sociological, anthropological, psychological and historical tools to the study of religion.
(6) Compare lifeworlds in light of the course’s key issues.
(7) Theorize about the role of ethnicity, gender, and religion in current events and in modern religious communities.
(8) Apply (a) critical reasoning, (b) reading, (c) writing, and (d) presentation skills to their studies.
(9) Construct an online and in-person learning community centered on consciousness- raising and critical thinking.
Sowing the Seed 