REL

200 C: Silk Road Religion (REL/GH)

Spring 2016 ~ February 4 to May 18
Tuesdays/Thursdays, 2:20 to 4:00 pm ~ Lentz Hall 230
Instructor:
Dr. Susan Ramsey - Office: Lentz Hall 224H - Office Phone: 262-551-6156
Office Hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays 10:00 am 12:00 pm
For other times, email the instructor to arrange an appointment.
Email: sramsey@carthage.edu

Course Description:
The Silk Road represents not one, but numerous ancient trading routes used from 500 BCE with the
Persian Royal Road through 1453 when the Ottoman Empire closed the routes. Trade involved
products such as silk, paper, and spices, but perhaps more importantly, these trade routes allowed the
interchange of culture including art, religion, language, and science. This course examines the
interaction of multiple religions on the Silk Road. We will study the religious interactions between
Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Islam, Christianity, and Manichaeism. Students will
investigate the ways that these religions shaped each other throughout their journey on the Silk Road.
They will also seek to discover useful strategies and approaches that might foster interfaith dialogue
in our pluralistic context. The course will utilize a variety of materials to examine this vast subject:
primary texts, art, architecture, and music.
Required Books:
Richard Foltz, Religions of the Silk Road, 2nd edition. Palgrave Macmillan, 2010.
Valerie Hansen, The Silk Road: A New History. Oxford University Press, 2012.
Optional Book:
Samuel H. Moffett, History of Christianity in Asia, Vol. 1. Orbis Press, 1998.

Major Student Learning Outcomes and Methods to Measure Success:

Student Learning Outcome: Students will employ various religious studies methodologies to
examine varied religious phenomenon across multiple geographic locations. [Complex and
Critical Thinking: Students will be able to view issues and problems from more than one point of
view or disciplinary perspective.]
Methods of Assessment: Blog examining one of the religions of the Silk Road with a focus on a
specific type of material artifact (e.g. sculpture or texts). Students will comment on three other
student blogs, choosing a different religion and/or a different form of material artifact.
[Demonstrate effective written and interpersonal communication.]
1.

2. Student Learning Outcome: Students will compare their initial perception of religion with the
more complex realities they encounter throughout the course. They will compare a fairly
monolithic view of the religion they have chosen to focus on, as found in an introduction to world
religions textbook or in the media, with the historically situated, contextualized expression of that
religion on the Silk Road. [Exploring and Evaluating Traditions: Engage and evaluate critically
key themes of the Western and non-Western traditions.]
Methods of Assessment: Write-to-learn and blog [Communicate clearly in writing.]

Student Learning Outcome: Students will discover ways in which the various religious traditions
have interacted, intermingled, and shaped their dialogue partners. They will examine
representations of various religions through the eyes of adherents and through the eyes of
outsiders. They will form new perspectives to guide contemporary pluralistic interaction through
appropriating what is useful from historical interaction of various religious traditions. [Civic
Engagement: form moral and ethical judgments of complex human phenomenon.]
Methods of Assessment: Students will work once a week in small groups formed by those who are
examining the same religion. Once a week they will participate in small group discussions formed by
those studying the same material artifact. Once every 3-4 weeks, students will make group
presentations about their findings. [Utilize oral communication effectively/demonstrate effective
interpersonal communication/work effectively in small groups.]
3.

Assignment Categories:
Reading journal (20%): Students should take notes as they read and research. The journal
can be handwritten, using a small notebook, or typed and sent electronically. There will be
three grades for the Reading journal due dates to bring in or email your Reading Journal in
its current state are listed in the Course Schedule. Your reading journal can focus on your
chosen material artifact and religion, but you can also write about other facets of Silk Road
Religion that fascinate you. When your chosen religion / oasis / material artifact is given
significant attention in one of the reading assignments, I would expect to see some notes on
the relevant section in your Reading Journal.
Class discussion/Participation/W rite to Learn Activities (10%)
Quizzes every two weeks covering reading and in class discussion (25%) quizzes will
also include a blank map of Asia. Each quiz will require the student to label three countries,
and by the end of the course, students will be able to identify 15 Asian countries.
Ongoing Blog (30%): Each student will maintain an ongoing blog about a specific religion
and the religious aspects of a specific type of material artifact, or locale, such as Buddhism,
Buddhist sculpture, in Turfan. Student blogs will be listed on the main course blog:
https://silkroadreligion.wordpress.com. Students will add at least one short entry (100-200
words) every week and a longer entry (500 to 1000 words) every third week. [here is a sample
entry with 160 words: https://silkroadreligion.wordpress.com/category/religion/buddhism/)
Short entries will account for 10% of the Blog grade; Long entries for 15% of the Blog grade;
comments account for 5%. Comments are due the Tuesday after the Thursday blog post.
Students should comment on 2-3 other blogs: aim to comment on at least one in your Religion
group; one connected to your material artifact (texts, sculpture, etc.); and one from a different
religion. The entries can focus on a variety of aspects that interest the student such as art,
architecture, primary texts, linguistics, and history, but each entry should connect with the
chosen religion and locale in a significant manner.
Small Group Presentations: (15%) Students will work every other week in small groups
formed by those who are examining the same religion. The alternating weeks they will
participate in small group discussions formed by those studying the same form of material
artifacts. Once every 4 weeks, students will make group presentations about their findings.

Documented Disabilities
If you have a documented disability and anticipate needing any accommodations for this
course, please arrange to meet with me in the first weeks of class. The documentation must
be on file with Carthage College learning specialist in the Advising Center (x5802.) This
information will be kept strictly confidential. If you believe you may suffer from a disability
but this has not been assessed or documented, the learning specialist can test and evaluate
your circumstance at no cost to you.

Academic Dishonesty/Plagiarism
Please be advised that institutional policy stipulates serious penalties for plagiarism and
academic dishonesty. Your participation in this course implies your declaration of intention
to abide by the Carthage College honor code. To learn more about the range of what is
considered plagiarism, as well as how to avoid it, see
http://en.writecheck.com/blog/2012/07/11/what-are-the-different-types-of-plagiarism and
www.plagiarism.org. One of the most common ways that students inadvertently plagiarize
is through a faulty grasp of paraphrasing. Please see this page for some directions on
avowing falling into the plagiarism via not-quite-paraphrasing trap:
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/619/1/ .
The instructors policy on plagiarism is as follows:
For the first instance of plagiarism, the student will receive an automatic zero on the
assignment.
If there is a second instance of plagiarism, the student will not pass the course.

Extra Credit
Extra credit opportunities will be announced from time to time. Extra credit will be
accepted from students that have demonstrated clear effort during the course with good
attendance. The maximum extra credit available over the course of the semester is 5%.

Late Work: Students can turn in late work with a progressive penalty. If it is under 24 hrs.
late, a one grade deduction will apply. If 24-48 hours late, two grade deduction. If 48-72
hours late, three grade deduction. If 4-5 days late, four grade deduction. If 6-7 days late, a
flat 50% credit allotted. Work will receive 25% credit if it is more than a week late. Work
will not be accepted if it is turned in more two weeks past the due date. Exceptions can
occur for excused absences as explained below.

Attendance Policy
All students can miss two classes without penalty: save these for illness, unexpected family
circumstances, etc. If students miss three classes, their grade will be reduced by one-half
letter grade. Four missed classes, one letter grade. Five classes, 1-1/2 letter grades. Six
classes, 2 letter grades. Seven classes, 3 letter grades. If students miss eight or more class
sessions, they will not be able to pass the course. Quizzes and other in-class work can be
made up if there is an official note from an instructor for a field trip, a coach for an away
game, a music director for a performance, or the Dean of Students office for extended
illnesses or complicated personal circumstances.

Course Schedule: Readings and Assignments

**The reading listed should be read before the class session. For example, before
our second class session on February 9th, students should read Foltz ch 1.
R 2/4

Introduction to Course, Textbooks, and Syllabus

Unit One: Overview of Silk Road Religions: Artifacts, History, Geography

T 2/9

Foltz ch 1

R 2/11

Hansen Introduction

T 2/16

Foltz ch 2

R 2/18

Whitfield Introduction (available as a .pdf on eLearning)

Unit Two: Diversity and Mutual Influence in Silk Road Religions

Part A: Buddhism
T 2/23

Foltz ch 3
Quiz One (on material from Unit One)

R 2/25

Liu ch 3 (.pdf on eLearning)

Long Blog One

Part B: Nestorianism and Manichaeism

T 3/1

Foltz ch 4
Student Presentations 1A (Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam)

R 3/3

Manichaeism ch 4 (.pdf on eLearning)

First Reading Journal Check

Part C: Islam and Shamanism

T 3/8

Foltz ch 5
Quiz Two (on material from 2/23 to 3/3)

R 3/10

Introduction, From Shamanism to Sufism: Women, Islam and Culture in Central Asia (.pdf on
eLearning entire book is available as an eBook via Carthage)
Student Presentations 1B (Shamanism, Zoroastrianism, Manichaeism)

Part D: Zoroastrianism and Judaism

T 3/15

Patterns of Jewish Settlement in Iran, Jews of Iran ch 1 (available as .pdf on eLearning)

R 3/17

Excerpt from Jenny Rose, Intro to Zoroastrianism (.pdf)

Long Blog Two

**No Classes on 3/22 or 3/24**

Unit Three: Visiting the Oases: Material Artifacts for the Study of Silk Road Religions
Investigating Signs of Religious Interchange
T 3/29

Hansen ch 1 (Kingdom of Kroraina)

R 3/31

Primary Text: Excerpts from Zoroastrian Hymns (eBook)

T 4/5

Hansen ch 2
(Caves of Kizil)
Quiz 3 (material from 3/8 to 3/31)

R 4/7

Primary Text: Excerpts from Manichaean texts (eBook)

Second Reading Journal Check
Student Presentations 2A (Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam)

T 4/12

Hansen ch 3 (Turfan)
Student Presentations 2B (Shamanism, Zoroastrianism, Manichaeism)

R 4/14

Primary Text: https://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/texts/xuanzang.html

Long Blog Three

T 4/19

Hansen ch 4 (Samarkand)
Quiz 4 (material from 4/5 to 4/14)

R 4/21

Primary Text: http://legacy.fordham.edu/halsall/eastasia/781nestorian.asp

T 4/26

Hansen ch 5 (Xian)

R 4/28

Primary Text: https://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/texts/faxian.html

Long Blog Four

T 5/3

Hansen ch 6 (Dunhuang Caves)

Quiz 5 (material from 4/19 to 4/28)

R 5/5

Student Presentations 3A (Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam)

T 5/10

Hansen ch 7 (Khotan)

R 5/12

Student Presentations 3B (Shamanism, Zoroastrianism, Manichaeism)