Humn 215 Introduction to Religion Spring 13: Garrett Kenney, Ph.D.

Office: Reid 153 B; 509 359 6032; gkenney@ewu.edu; Hours: T/R 8-8:50am.
Description: “An introduction to the basic range of conceptual, historical, and methodological
issues in the study of religion” (EWU undergraduate catalog).
Textbooks: The Sacred Quest: An Invitation to the Study of Religion, Sixth Edition, 2013;
includes MySearchLab (a web resource with Pearson; “join a course”-Humn215kenney Course
ID: cm500791); SQ=Sacred Quest; Instructor posted essays or handouts.
Schedule: M=Monday; W=Wednesday; Note: students are to access the documents posted on
canvas and listed here for each of the scheduled classes below. Students are expected to look
over or read these documents in preparation for class discussions. The instructor will announce
when it will be essential to be in possession of a given document for class participation.
Additional documents may be added and some listed below even deleted.
WEEK 1: M: 4/1: Course Introduction; metanarrative exercise; religion definitions; theories of
religion; U3 types of religion; Rambo conversion; religious experience; studying religion; SQ
Chapter Resources; W: 4/3: SQ Introduction; SQ Introduction Key Points; critical thinking;
Group Discussion & Report Guidelines (GDRG);
WEEK 2: M: 4/8: SQ 1: Toward a Definition; Cunningham PPT and IM (=outline of chapter); W:
4/10: SQ 2 Nature of the Sacred; Cunningham PPT and IM
WEEK 3: W: 4/15: SQ 3: Appearance of Sacred; Cunningham PPT and IM; W: 4/17: SQ 3
continued;
WEEK 4: M: 4/22: SQ 4: Languages of the Sacred; Cunningham PPT and IM: History and Myth;
Lesson 9; Lesson 10; SQ4 notes; W 4/24; SQ 4 continued; workshop on midterm essay;
WEEK 5: W: 4/29: SQ 5: Ritual; Cunningham PPT and IM; Lectures 6-7-8; W 5/1: SQ 5
continued and midterm essay and oral report due;
WEEK 6: M: 5/6: SQ 6 Sacred Communities; Cunningham PPT and IM; Models of Church;
Outline of Religious Community; W: 5/8: SQ 6: continued;
WEEK 7: M: 5/13: SQ 7: Problem of Evil; Cunningham PPT and IM: Miracles and Evil; W: 5/15:
SQ 7 continued;
WEEK 8: M: 5/20: SQ 8: Morality; Cunningham PPT and IM; Nine Theories of Morality; W: 5/22;
SQ 8 continued;
Week 9: M: 5/27 Memorial Day; no class; W: 5/29: SQ 9: Salvation; Cunningham PPT and IM:
Life After Death; PIE: Science;
WEEK 10: M: 6/3: SQ 9 continued; workshop on final essay; W: 6/5: SQ 9: continued; final
essay oral report due;
WEEK 11: M: 6/10: Final essay due by 8am;
Grades:Participation in group discussions and class reports: 27%; Quizzes: 36% Midterm
essay: 17%; Final essay: 20%; a 4.0 starts at 95%.
Midterm and Final Essay Prompt: In a 7-10page dbl spaced typed essay demonstrate critical
thinking in terms of course concepts and your processing of these concepts. Your essay should
provide both analysis and synthesis, weighing competing opinions with those of your own.
Midterm covers weeks 1-5; Final covers weeks 6-10 and may incorporate material from weeks
1-5.
Quiz Explanations: Quizzes over assigned SQ Chapters will occur on the second day of the
coverage of a given Chapter excepting SQ 1 and 2 which have no second days. There will be 9
SQ Quizzes worth 4% each. Quizzes will contain questions from both the SQ text and lecture.
There are sample quizzes for the SQ text on mysearchlab. Make up quizzes will occur at
midterm and final and also receive a .05% reduction in value (e.g., from 4% to 3.5%).
Group Discussion & Report Guidelines (GDRG). Students are write a paragraph to a page or
more on at least two of the five items mentioned in the short version of the GDRG form below.
Students are to submit a written version of their report to the instructor via the Canvas website
by 9am of the day assigned. There will be 9 reports, each having a written and oral component
(written submitted on canvas; oral given in class). Each report is worth 3% of your grade. Late
reports and/or absence from class will result in a .05% reduction (e.g., from a 3% to a 2.5%
value). During class students will first be put into their own groups (see Group Organization
below) for an in-group discussion of the material, then they will report to other student groups,
and then interact with the entire class and the instructor. Students are to read the assigned SQ
Chapter and any other related material and then find a focus for comment or discussion. Among
possible foci are: 1) any of the stated learning objectives for the SQ Chapter; these are
identified on each of the Cunningham IMs; 2) any of the PPT slides content; these are available
in the Cunningham PPT pdfs (note: these could be managed reasonably by printing the ppt off
in pages with 3 to 4 slides per page; also, for convenient reference, if you use this resource,
refer to each ppt slide numerically. For example, if it is SQ Chapter 1, call the slide 1:1, or 1:2, or
1:3, etc; 3) Essay Questions presented from the mysearchlab for any given Chapter; 4) Chapter
Resources found on mysearchlab (note: the SQ Chapter Resources pdf provides an entire list of
available resources; students might want to divvy these resources up ahead of time in order to
avoid repetition in the sense that every student looked at the same Chapter Resource); and, 5)
any of the posted essays or documents or ongoing lecture comments provided by Dr. Kenney,
your instructor. Critical Thinking is the key ongoing learning objective of the course.
GDRG Form: (short version; long versions will be provided in class)
Name of Group:___________________
Students in the Group:_________________________________________________ (use
numerical references for instructors convenience; these will be provided);
Foci for comment or discussion. Use the categories provided and be specific but brief:
1: Learning objectives:
2: PPT slides or SQ outlines:
3: mysearchlab essay question(s):
4: mysearchlab Chapter Resources:
5: Dr. Kenney essay, handout, lecture, video, critical thinking principle(s):
Approval of discussion by other group: ____________________(only an initial needed)
Approval by instructor: ________________________________ (grade will appear on canvas)

Group Organization: note: each group consists of approx 8 students; students are free to form
subgroups of 2-3-or 4 in order to process through a range of material. After students have
discussed items among themselves, they will join other groups in a rotating fashion, and
eventually this will lead to a discussion with the instructor and all other groups.

Group A: A to DeWitte
Group B: Downing to Gerber;
Group C: Gilmore to Jurkavoc
Group D: Kamos to Melkinov
Group E: Miller to Redd;
Group F: Sewart to Z.