Posted: September 13th, 2017

Religious Experience Project

Religious Experience Project

Order Description

Use Judaism and Buddhism as the two religions for the topic. For the personnel paragraph, I am Christian. I will upload the instructions for the paper.

Writing the Religion Project
RELI 10023

RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE PROJECT

1.  You must choose two of the religions studied for this course (other than your own) and spend approximately one hour apiece in experiencing some aspect of each religion.  This can be something like attending a worship service, meditation session, wedding, funeral, or some other activity carried out by that religion.

2.  You must submit in writing by Mar. 03 and receive my approval of the two experiences prior to participating in them.  At this time, you also must print, fill out, and turn in the “Assumption of Risk” form.  It can be found in our eCollege course shell in DocSharing in the “Religion Project” folder.  Failure to turn in your project topic by the deadline will result in a 10 point deduction for the assignment.  You cannot do the project if you do not turn in the “Assumption of Risk” form and that means getting a zero for a grade.

3.  You will write a paper that describes each experience and the insights learned about the religions; this information should be analyzed and connected in some way with the information discussed in class and in the assigned readings.  Your paper, therefore, should do three things:  describe and explain the experiences, compare and contrast the experiences, and use concepts and ideas from the course not only to describe, explain, compare, and contrast the experiences, but also to draw significant conclusions.  To help you achieve this goal, pay attention to the following:

A.  Identify the name and location of the experiences, as well as the date on which you attended, and include some sort of printed material from the place (a bulletin, newsletter, etc.) or a photograph of you in front of the place with its name clearly displayed.  Failure to include this information will result in a five point deduction.

B.  Briefly describe and explain what occurred during the experiences; this should be no more than about half of your paper.  Avoid simply listing what happened; remember, describe and explain.  To help you accomplish this, consider the following elements:

1.  Purpose:  Identify what the overall purpose(s) of the experience was and describe how it was accomplished.  Was there a particular ritual or idea that was central to the experience?  If so, how and why was it central?

2.  Physical Environment:  Consider how the physical environment contributed to the experience.  What is the impact of the building’s architecture?

3.  Atmosphere:  Describe the atmosphere or tone created by the experience.  Look for how ideas, attitudes and emotions, actions, and the overall atmosphere interact with each other to create the experience.  How and what senses are engaged?

4.  Actions:  Identify, describe, and explain the various actions carried out during the experience.  Carefully observe what is said and done both verbally and non-verbally during each experience.  What are the different parts of the service/experience called, and what functions do they perform?  How are sacred texts used?  What rituals are performed; how do they function; what is their meaning?  What symbols (both visually and in action) are used; how do they function; what is their meaning?  What is the impact and/or significance of any non-English language used in the experience?  What is the sense of and relationship between community and individuality and how is it expressed; what role does it play in the experience?

5.  Ideas:  Explain the various ideas that were communicated or expressed during the experience and how this was accomplished.  Show how values or attitudes such as joy, reverence, faith, thanksgiving, grief, etc. are expressed.  What is said, and what does it communicate about beliefs, worldviews, actions, etc.?  What were songs, prayers, and other addresses about?  How is faith expressed? What ideas and senses of the Transcendent are expressed and how do they shape the experiences?

6.  Cultural Context:  Identify the cultural context of the experience and specifically show how the people’s culture was a part of the experience.  What aspects of their culture were evident in the experience and how did these cultural aspects influence the experience?  You may need to spend some time thinking about the dominant culture present in the experience and whether or not it interacted with American culture in ways that significantly affected the experience (assuming your experience occurred in the United States).

C.  Compare and contrast the two experiences and the significance of these comparisons and contrasts.  You should not compare and contrast the two religions in general, but the two experiences and what they tell you about the two religions.  You can develop your comparisons and contrasts by doing the following:

1.  Identify significant similarities and differences.  The key word here is “significant.”  Many similarities and differences may only be general or surface level and, thus, not that significant.  Avoid these and instead look for those that have some significance and that you can, therefore, use to better understand your experiences or to draw conclusions.  For example, the fact that scriptures or other sacred texts were used in both experiences is not by itself all that significant.  How they were used might be more telling and, in fact, you might discover that sacred texts were used differently—which then would be a difference, rather than a similarity.  Comparing specifically the main ritual acts can be especially telling or significant.

2.  After you’ve identified significant similarities and differences, explain exactly how they are similar or different.

3.  Once you’ve identified and explained a significant similarity or difference, try and draw some conclusion based on it.  What insight does that similarity or difference give you about the experiences or about religion in general?  So, for instance, if your two experiences incorporated different understandings of the Transcendent, you might be able to make some conclusion about how the particular understandings of the Transcendent shaped and influenced the actions and ideas that were present in the experiences.  Or, you might notice that one experience incorporated lots of symbols, while the other did not.  You might reflect on why that is or on which ideas were being symbolized and which were not, or on how ideas were being symbolized (verbally, visually, etc.), and so on.  (FYI, Ninian Smart’s book, Worldviews, discusses symbolism on pgs. 27-30).

D.  Incorporate the ideas and concepts discussed in class by using them to understand the experiences and draw conclusions.  Drawing significant and meaningful conclusions is one of the most important parts of your paper.

E.  Include one paragraph that briefly describes your own religious background.  Failure to do so will result in a five point deduction.

F.  If necessary, do some research on the religions’ backgrounds and the people’s cultures in order to help you understand and comment on the experiences.  You must demonstrate an understanding of the various actions and items contained in the experience.  The paper is not designed to critique any religion, but to experience them and understand the experiences.  Thus, any sort of evaluation that discusses the merits or lack thereof in any religion should be avoided.

4.  The paper should be 5-7 pages in length (preferably printed on front and back), typed, double-spaced, and if applicable, include a bibliography (not a part of the page count).  The papers are due at the beginning of class on Apr. 21, and you should be prepared to share briefly with the class your observations regarding the experiences and what you’ve learned.  NO LATE PAPERS WILL BE ACCEPTED.  Any student guilty of plagiarism or not doing independent work will receive at least a zero for a grade on the project (in compliance with university policies and procedures).