Prof. Peter Lowentrout
My Campus Phone: 562-985-4906
My Email: plowentr@csulb.edu
My Web Site: http://www.csulb.edu/~plowentr
My Office: MHB 619
The RST Department Office: MHB 619
The RST Department Office Phone: 562-985-5341
My Office Hours: MW 10-11:30, and by appointment
Required Texts:
Ellwood, Robert, Introducing Religion: From Inside
and Outside
Cooper, Susan, The Dark is Rising
Herrigel, Eugen, Zen in the Art of Archery
Miller and Selzer, Research and Fieldwork in Religious
Studies (at Bookstore Copy Center)
Glynn, Patrick, God, the Evidence:
The Reconciliation of Faith and Reason in a Postsecular World
Course Requirements:
Midterm (part essay/part objective; the midterm date
will be announced in class)
Final Exam (all essay)
Field Study Paper: 8-10 pages (due the last day of
instruction)
You must attend every class, do the reading and take notes during lectures! Again: TAKE NOTES! This is not a movie theater where you come to be passively entertained!
Try your best to be on time, but I’d rather have you come to class late than not come at all. CLASS IS IMPORTANT! Don’t be shy about coming in late, just be quiet if you do.
Be nice. That is, DO NOT disrupt the class and distract other students with unnecessary noise, commotion and talking.
If you are not working 6 hours/week on this class, not counting attendance at lectures, you have cause for concern.
If you need accomodation of a disability, just let me know -- and also let me know if you'll be missing class for university sanctioned events or activities.
Try to stay healthy, especially as we approach finals. If you're ill and miss class, let me know.
Structure of Course (and reading assignments):
1) Introductory Lectures (read Ellwood Chapter 1)
2) The Phenomenology of Religion: The Golden Thread (read Ellwood Chapters 2 and 4, all of Cooper)
3) The "Morphology" (the "Form") of Religion (read Ellwood Chapters 3 and 6)
4) Methodological Interlude: How to write the Field Study (read Miller and Selzer)
A concise guide to completing the project will be handed out in class, and a more extensive guide to the project will be available online at www.csulb.edu/~plowentr.
5) The Panorama of Religion: Its Myriad Forms in the World's Many Religious Traditions (read Ellwood chapters 5 and 7, Herrigal)
6) The Future of Religion: Is there hope for religion in an age of science? (read Ellwood’s Epilogue and Glynn)