Faculty of Arts and Education

ASR100 World Religions

Deakin University Unit Guide

Trimester 3, 2019
CONTENTS

WELCOME ........................................................................................................................................................................... 2
WHO IS THE UNIT TEAM? ................................................................................................................................................... 2
Unit chair: leads the teaching team and is responsible for overall delivery of this unit ............................................. 2
Unit chair details ......................................................................................................................................................... 2
Other members of the team and how to contact them .............................................................................................. 2
Administrative queries ................................................................................................................................................ 2
ABOUT THIS UNIT ............................................................................................................................................................... 2
Unit development in response to student feedback ................................................................................................... 3
Your course and Deakin's Graduate Learning Outcomes ............................................................................................ 3
Your Unit Learning Outcomes ..................................................................................................................................... 3
ASSESSING YOUR ACHIEVEMENT OF THE UNIT LEARNING OUTCOMES ........................................................................... 4
Overview ..................................................................................................................................................................... 4
Summative assessment ............................................................................................................................................... 4
- Summative assessment task 1 .................................................................................................................................. 4
- Summative assessment task 2 .................................................................................................................................. 5
- Summative assessment task 3 .................................................................................................................................. 5
Your learning experiences in this Unit - and your expected commitment .................................................................. 6
Scheduled learning activities - cloud ........................................................................................................................... 6
Note ............................................................................................................................................................................. 6
UNIT LEARNING RESOURCES .............................................................................................................................................. 7
Learning resources ...................................................................................................................................................... 7
Recommended learning resources ............................................................................................................................. 7
KEY DATES FOR THIS TRIMESTER ....................................................................................................................................... 8
UNIT WEEKLY ACTIVITIES ................................................................................................................................................... 8

18 October 2019
 Deakin University, Faculty of Arts and Education
ASR100 World Religions - Trimester 3, 2019

WELCOME

Welcome to ASR100 World Religions!

We hope you will enjoy this unit and not only learn something about the beliefs and practices of the five great world
religions, but also critically engage with some of the key ideas of religious thinkers, east and west.
This Unit Guide explains the aims of the unit and describes the assessment requirements. It’s a good idea to read the unit
guide thoroughly.
Please be sure to check your Deakin email and the ASR100 Cloudsite regularly. As this is an online unit we communicate with
you via email and the Cloudsite. If you are not checking these on a regular basis you could miss out on important information.
We hope that you find World Religions interesting, challenging, and rewarding.
Looking forward to working with you all!
Dr Leesa Davis

This Unit Guide provides you with the key information about this Unit. For the best chance of success, you should read it
very carefully and refer to it frequently throughout the trimester. Your Unit site (accessed in DeakinSync) also provides
information about your rights and responsibilities - we will assume you have read this before the Unit commences, and we
expect you to refer to it throughout the trimester.

WHO IS THE UNIT TEAM?

Unit chair: leads the teaching team and is responsible for overall delivery of this unit

Leesa Davis

Unit chair details

Campus: ic2.310 Geelong Waurn Ponds

Email: leesa.davis@deakin.edu.au

In trimester 3 the best way to contact me is via email.

Other members of the team and how to contact them

You will be introduced to your online tutor on CloudDeakin once teaching commences.

Administrative queries

● Contact your Unit Chair or Campus Leader

● Drop in or contact Student Central to speak with a Student Adviser

For additional support information, please see the Rights and Responsibilities section under 'Resources' in your unit site

ABOUT THIS UNIT

This unit introduces students to the major ‘world religions’: Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity and Islam. The unit

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 Deakin University, Faculty of Arts and Education
ASR100 World Religions - Trimester 3, 2019

explores these religions by looking at their historical development, basic ideas, practices and sacred texts. In addition,
students are introduced to a range of philosophical issues that arise within these religious traditions, such as: karma and
rebirth; the relation between self and world, and self and God; different conceptions of God; and different conceptions of
salvation or liberation.

Unit development in response to student feedback

Every trimester, we ask students to tell us, through eVALUate, what helped and hindered their learning in each unit. You are
strongly encouraged to provide constructive feedback for this unit when eVALUate opens (you will be emailed a link).

We are always willing to help students who are in difficulty but remember the earlier you contact us the more we can help.
Please contact the unit chair as soon as possible if you have any difficulties with your studies: leesa.davis@deakin.edu.au

Over time, we have made some changes to World Religions based on student feedback: we have changed the assessment to
two essays instead of the essay/exam format and we have linked some short answer assessment questions to the video
matrix. This gives you the opportunity to write on both the Dharmic and the Abrahamic traditions and to engage more fully
with the lived perspectives of our religions.
Students have reported that studying World Religions from historical, philosophical and lived viewpoints has enriched the
ways that they think about religion and religions and given them a more critical understanding of how religions shape events
in our own communities and in the world. Religious literacy is an important skill in navigating the modern world and studying
ASR100 World Religions gives you a very good foundation to build this valuable skill-set.

If you have any concerns about the unit during the trimester please contact the unit teaching team - preferably early in the
trimester - so we can discuss your concerns, and make adjustments, if appropriate.

Your course and Deakin's Graduate Learning Outcomes

GLO1 Discipline-specific appropriate to the level of study related to a discipline or profession

knowledge and
capabilities:
GLO2 Communication:
GLO3 Digital literacy:
GLO4 Critical thinking:
GLO5 Problem solving:
GLO6 Self-management:
GLO7 Teamwork:
GLO8 Global citizenship:
using oral, written and interpersonal communication to inform, motivate and effect change
using technologies to find, use and disseminate information
evaluating information using critical and analytical thinking and judgment
creating solutions to authentic (real world and ill-defined) problems
working and learning independently, and taking responsibility for personal actions
working and learning with others from different disciplines and backgrounds
engaging ethically and productively in the professional context and with diverse
communities and cultures in a global context

Each Deakin course has course learning outcomes which explain what the Deakin Learning Outcomes mean in your
discipline. Learning in each unit builds towards the course learning outcomes.

Your Unit Learning Outcomes

Each unit in your course is a building block towards these Graduate Learning Outcomes - not all units develop and assess
every Graduate Learning Outcome (GLO).

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 Deakin University, Faculty of Arts and Education
ASR100 World Religions - Trimester 3, 2019

These are the Learning Outcomes (ULO) for this Unit Deakin Graduate Learning
At the completion of this Unit, successful students can: Outcomes
ULO1 interpret, reconstruct and accurately explain passages and texts from different GLO 4 Critical Thinking
religious traditions;
ULO2 integrate the analysis of sacred and scriptural texts with contemporary GLO 1 Discipline specific
scholarly and critical material; knowledge
ULO3 discuss in a reflective and critical way the beliefs and arguments of competing GLO 2 Communication
religious and philosophical schools;
put forward ideas and arguments of your own using language that is concise, GLO 6 Self-management
ULO4 clear and conforms to the standards of academic scholarship (e.g., proper GLO 1 Discipline specific
referencing of sources). knowledge
ULO5 analyse different belief structures and isolate their scriptural and cultural GLO 5 Problem solving
underpinnings GLO 4 Critical thinking
ULO6 evaluate the transformation of traditional understandings in the light of GLO 8 Global Citizenship
modern interpretations and cross cultural religious literacy

ASSESSING YOUR ACHIEVEMENT OF THE UNIT LEARNING OUTCOMES

Overview

In brief, these are the assessment tasks for this unit (details below):

Assessment 1 (Individual) - Essay (1500 words) - 40%

Assessment 2 (Individual) - Essay (1500 words) - 40%
Assessment 3 (Individual) - Online Exercises - 20%

Summative assessment

(tasks that will be graded or marked)

NOTE: It is your responsibility to keep a backup copy of every assignment where it is possible (eg written/digital reports,
essays, videos, images). In the unusual event that one of your assignments is misplaced, you will need to submit the backup
copy. Any work you submit may be checked by electronic or other means for the purposes of detecting collusion and/or
plagiarism.

When you are required to submit an assignment through CloudDeakin (accessed in DeakinSync), you should receive an email
to your Deakin email address confirming that it has been submitted. You should check that you can see your assignment in
the Submissions view of the Assignment folder after upload, and check for, and keep, the email receipt for the submission.

- Summative assessment task 1

(Individual) - Essay 1
Brief description of assessment task Individual assessment task
Detail of student output 1,500 word Essay
Grading and weighting 40% of total mark
(% total mark for unit)

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This task assesses your achievement of these Unit ULO 1: accurately explain passages
Learning Outcome(s)
This task assesses your achievement of these
Graduate Learning Outcome(s)
How and when you will receive feedback on your
work
When and how to submit your work
- Summative assessment task 2
Brief description of assessment task
Detail of student output
Grading and weighting
(% total mark for unit)
This task assesses your achievement of these Unit ULO 1: accurately explain passages
Learning Outcome(s)
This task assesses your achievement of these
Graduate Learning Outcome(s)
How and when you will receive feedback on your
work
When and how to submit your work
- Summative assessment task 3
Brief description of assessment task
18 October 2019
Deakin University, Faculty of Arts and Education
ASR100 World Religions - Trimester 3, 2019
ULO 2: integrate analysis into a discussion
ULO 3:discuss in a reflective and critical way
ULO 4: put forward own ideas
ULO 6: cross cultural religious literacy
GLO 4 Critical thinking: critically engage with texts and rationally
analyse philosophical propositions
GLO 1 assesses philosophical understanding of key ideas
GLO 2 assesses communication skills
GLO 6 working and learning independently
GLO 8 assesses cross cultural understandings
Students can expect feedback on each summative task in time to help
them improve for the subsequent assessment.
Due Date: Monday 6 January 2020 11.59pm
Essay to be submitted via the dropbox on CloudDeakin No cover
sheets are required for on-line submission No hard copy submission
(Individual) - Essay 2
Individual assessment task
1,500 word Essay
40% of total mark
ULO 2: integrate analysis into a discussion
ULO 3:discuss in a reflective and critical way
ULO 4: put forward own ideas
ULO 6: cross cultural religious literacy
GLO 4 Critical thinking: critically engage with texts and rationally
analyse philosophical propositions
GLO 1 assesses philosophical understanding of key ideas
GLO 2 assesses communication skills
GLO 6 working and learning independently
GLO 8 assesses cross cultural understandings
Students can expect feedback on each summative task in time to help
them improve for the subsequent assessment.
Due date: Thursday 13 February 11.59pm
Essay to be submitted via the dropbox on CloudDeakin No cover
sheets are required for on-line submission No hard copy submission
(Individual) - Online exercises
Individual assessment task
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 Deakin University, Faculty of Arts and Education
ASR100 World Religions - Trimester 3, 2019

Detail of student output 5 x 200 word online responses

Grading and weighting 20% of total mark
(% total mark for unit)
This task assesses your achievement of these Unit ULO 3 discuss texts in a critical way
Learning Outcome(s) ULO 5 analyse different belief structures
This task assesses your achievement of these GLO 2 assesses communication skills
Graduate Learning Outcome(s) GLO 4 evaluating information using critical and analytical thinking
and judgment
GLO 5 creating solutions to authentic (real world and ill-defined)
problems
How and when you will receive feedback on your Students can expect feedback on each summative task in time to
work help them improve for the subsequent assessment.
When and how to submit your work All 200 word short answer responses are submitted via the relevant
dropbox on CloudDeakin
No hard copy submission

Due dates:
Hinduism: Monday 2 December 2019, 11.59pm
Buddhism: Monday 16 December, 11.59pm
Judaism: Monday 13 January 2020, 11.59pm
Christianity: Tuesday 28 January 2020, 11.59pm
Islam: Friday 7 February 2020, 11.59pm

Your learning experiences in this Unit - and your expected commitment

To be successful in this unit, you must:

● Read all materials in preparation for your classes or seminars, and follow up each with further study and research on the
topic;
● Start your assessment tasks well ahead of the due date;
● Read or listen to all feedback carefully, and use it in your future work;
● Attend and engage in all timetabled learning experiences, listed below.

Scheduled learning activities - cloud

Online independent and collaborative learning activities including 1 scheduled online seminar per week.

Students will on average spend 150 hrs over the trimester on learning and assessment activities in this unit. For Cloud
(online) students the time should be divided between online learning activities, discussion boards, designated activities,
assessment tasks, readings and study time.

Note

At Deakin,

● Lectures are referred to as classes (definition: a general meeting for all students, for which students do not need to
register and where students are engaged through presentations and learning activities)
● Tutorials, workshops and seminars are referred to as seminars (definition: more interactive meetings for smaller groups
of students).

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 Deakin University, Faculty of Arts and Education
ASR100 World Religions - Trimester 3, 2019

● For the complete list of agreed definitions for learning experiences, see the Course Design and Delivery Procedure
(https://policy.deakin.edu.au/view.current.php?id=00127)

UNIT LEARNING RESOURCES

Your unit learning resources are available in your unit site accessed in DeakinSync.

Learning resources

All study materials will be available on CloudDeakin.

There is no textbook for this unit and no hard-copy Study Guide.
You are strongly encouraged to participate on the discussion boards and to engage with the audio-visual material on
CloudDeakin.

Recommended learning resources

Lists of recommended resources are available on CloudDeakin and will be updated and augmented throughout the trimester.
Below are some excellent Journals and websites that you may like to check out.

Scholarly journals
(All these are available electronically through the Deakin library)

● Journal of the American Academy of Religion

● Journal of Religion
● International Journal for Philosophy of Religion
● Sophia: International journal for philosophy of religion, metaphysical theology and ethics
● Philosophy East & West
● Religious Studies
● Compass Religion

Internet resources
Do not cite Wikipedia in your written work. Though it can sometimes be useful for getting your bearings in a topic,
Wikipedia is not an appropriate scholarly source, nor is it sufficiently reliable.
When searching for information online, remember: not all information found online is trustworthy! Be aware that many
internet websites contain dubious, uncritical or un-scholarly information about the various religious traditions. And some will
try to proselytise you.
To ensure you only use resources of an academically acceptable nature, stick to materials that are published in peer-reviewed
academic journals or in books published by reputable academic presses. As always, the Study Guide/Reader and Library are
generally your best source for scholarly sources.
There is a library help thread on the discussion boards - we strongly encourage you to use this to find suitable resources.
Some helpful and reputable online sources include:

● ABC “Religion & Ethics” website: http://www.abc.net.au/religion/ – includes details on ABC radio and TV programs
relating to religion (see, in particular, previous episodes of the “Compass” program:
http://www.abc.net.au/compass/)
● BBC site on religion: http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/
● The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (http://plato.stanford.edu/) and
● The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy (http://iep.utm.edu/) contain many good articles on a wide variety of
philosophical issues and traditions

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 Deakin University, Faculty of Arts and Education
ASR100 World Religions - Trimester 3, 2019

KEY DATES FOR THIS TRIMESTER

Trimester begins (classes begin) Monday 11 November 2019

Intra-trimester break (a short break during trimester) Monday 23 December 2019 - Sunday 5 January 2020
Trimester ends (classes cease) Friday 7 February 2020
Study period (examination preparation period) Monday 10 February - Wednesday 12 February 2020
Examinations begin Thursday 13 February 2020
Examinations end Friday 21 February 2020
Inter-trimester break (the period between trimesters) Monday 24 February - Friday 6 March 2020
Unit results released Thursday 5 March 2020 (6pm)

UNIT WEEKLY ACTIVITIES

Week Commencing Topic Assessment activity

1 11 November 2019 What is Religion?
2 18 November 2019 Hinduism 1: History, Hindu practices,
the idea of brahman
3 25 November 2019 Hinduism 2: Karma, rebirth, yoga
4 2 December 2019 Buddhism 1: History, Buddhist 2 Dec Hinduism
traditions and practices online response due
5 9 December 2019 Buddhism 2: Non-self, karma in
Buddhism, dependent co-origination
6 16 December 2019 Judaism 1: History, practices, 16 December
conception of God Buddhism online
response due
Intra-trimester break: Monday 23 December 2019 - Sunday 5 January 2020 (inclusive)

7 6 January 2020 Judaism 2: Buber's I -Thou, Jewish faith 6 January Essay 1 due
after the Holocaust
8 13 January 2020 Christianity 1:History, the Creeds, Jesus 13 January Judaism
the Christ, the Trinity online response due
9 20 January 2020 Christianity 2: Miracles, Feminist
Theology
10* 27 January 2020 Islam 1: History, Islamic practices, 28 January
Muhammad, Allah Christianity online
response due
11 3 February 2020 Islam 2: The Sufi mystical tradition 7 Feburary Islam
World Religions Conclusion online response due
13 February Essay 2 due
*Monday 27 January 2020: Australia Day public holiday - University closed

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