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send feedback to Dr. NielsenPSYCHOLOGY AND RELIGION (REL 260.01)[1]
FALL 2000
Thursday evenings 6-9PM,
Hall of Letters, Room 103
Don McCormick, Ph.D.
Office: 206 Williams
Conference Center
Phone: (909) 748-6249
Fax: (209) 396-9135
Office Hours: To be
announced
Syllabus last revised 3/31/00 8:06 PM
Introduction
The study of human
behavior and experience is, for many, the most fascinating topic in the world,
and what aspect of human experience could be more challenging and interesting
than religion? Since the beginnings of human thought human beings have
wondered:
• "Why am I here."
• "Where did I come from?"
• "How did the world around me come into
existence?"
• "Is there a purpose we should be
striving for?"
• "What happens after death?"
These questions are among
those that religions attempt to answer. Different cultures have asked and
answered such questions in different ways. Psychologists studying religion
attempt to make progress in answering such questions as:
• How do
religious beliefs and values develop throughout life?
• What
psychological variables are involved in the function of such features of
religion as ritual, mystical experiences, prayer, conversion, worship,
meditation?
• How do
individual differences in motivation and personality relate to differences in
religion?
Goals for the Course
What are your goals for
this course? You have to decide for yourself, but here are some that I would
like to achieve:
1. Learn
how psychology can help us understand religion and help you decide what you
believe.
2. Understand
psychological approaches to studying eastern and western religion.
3. Develop
an understanding of psychological concepts and theories as they relate to
religion.
4. Increase
curiosity about human experience and behavior, including religious experience
and behavior.
5. Provide
a conceptual framework for further learning.
6. Increase
understanding of (and respect for) other people's religious beliefs and
practices.
8. Deepen
our understanding and integration of our own values and religious beliefs,
through greater awareness of factors that have shaped them. One of the
assumptions of this course is that each of us has some set of values (in our
terms, a religion). We struggle throughout life to achieve a deeper and more
meaningful understanding that will help us both in making decisions in everyday
life and in making sense of our lives as we approach death. I hope that this
course will help you in that endeavor, and ultimately lead to a better life.
Write
some of your goals in the space below:
•
•
•
•
•
How Can
You Achieve These Goals?
The
course will provide a variety of activities and resources designed to help you
learn:
• Textbooks
• Papers
• Lectures
• Team project
• Discussions
• Journal
• Tests
• Experiential exercises
• Supplementary readings
• Observation of other religious traditions
Your
active, mindful involvement in these activities will determine how much you get
out of the course. The more you put into the course, the more you will get out
of it.
Textbooks and Readings
Your
textbooks and course reader provide the basic content of the course.
Wulff,
D. W. (1997) The Psychology of Religion:
Classic and Contemporary Views, 2nd Edition. (New York:Wiley) is
an award winning textbook that takes a very broad international and historical
approach. It is also very up to date and research based. It is not a quick,
easy read. It will require effort, but it is effort well spent. It is expressly
written for “undergraduate students in a survey course on the psychology or
religion, many of whom have little or no academic background in either
psychology or religion.” (p. ix).
Walsh,
R. & Vaughan, F. (eds) (1993) Paths
Beyond Ego: The Transpersonal Vision. Los Angeles: Tarcher. This is a good,
widely used introductory textbook for courses in transpersonal psychology.
Discussions
Do
the reading before you come to
discussion. Doing this will ensure that everyone involved will get more out of
the course. The discussions will be more comprehensible to you (which is good
for you), and therefore you will be more likely to ask interesting questions
(which is good for us and your fellow students). In listening and reading try
to think about the implications of the speaker's or author's words. (Don't just
memorize them!)
Discussions
are intended to give you a chance to raise questions, to try out your ideas,
and to learn from your classmates by getting their reactions to your thoughts
and comparing their experiences with yours. Discussions are particularly important
in a course such as this where one is trying to understand religious beliefs of
others as well as clarify one's own beliefs. It is particularly important to
communicate respect for your classmates' spiritual views and practices (or lack
of same).
Discussion Questions
For each class session,
you need to come in with a typed question, comment or idea for discussion. It
has to be related to the readings. Please note the part of the readings it
refers to. For example, “This refers to the statement on page 47 about
veeblefetzers” or “This refers to the authors’ attitude toward spiritual
leadership.” Write the question or comment on the board at the beginning of
class and then hand in the written copy.
A good discussion question or comment is one that you want to discuss
with the class. It should be one that you regard as important—one that you
actually care about. You should be interested in it, and it may be provocative;
it may even cause an argument. Questions should be open-ended.
A poor discussion question or comment is one that you chose just to
show that you did the reading. A poor question is closed ended (like a multiple
choice quiz question), one where you are not really interested in the answer,
or one that you already know the answer to.
The purpose of these
questions is to stimulate your interest in the readings by encouraging you to
relate the readings to your everyday life and to issues that you care about—to
help you to become more engaged with the ideas in the course. Many students
have told me that bringing in a discussion question changes the way they read.
As they read an article, they have this discussion question assignment in the
back of their minds and are asking themselves what it is that they want to
discuss about the reading. They report that it makes them read more carefully.
It helps them think about whether the readings are important to them, how they
are important, or what aspects of them are important. The discussion question
works best if you reflect on the reading and come up with the question right
after completing the week’s reading. I ask that you type it because when I
haven’t required that, some students began putting off coming up with a
question until five minutes before class started and then dashing one off. That
defeated the purpose of the assignment.
Questions are graded on
the quality of thought put into them, whether or not they are late, whether or
not they are typed, and whether or not they include a clear reference to the
source of the question in the readings (including page number where
appropriate).
First Paper
The
first paper (4-7 pages) is to be a comparative analysis of the functioning of
two religious groups. You are asked to visit the services of two different
traditions or denominations within a tradition (e.g. Christian, Buddhist,
Jewish, Muslim, Hindu) that are significantly different from one another.
Before you go, I will set up teams of three or four students with whom you will
be sharing your experiences. Your team should make sure that as a group you
visit at least 3 or 4 different communities. If possible, it might be best to
go with a member of the organization or a member of your team.
When
you go, try to find out answers to some of the questions I suggest below. (I
believe that most people in a spiritual community will be happy to tell you
something about their organization). In essence, try to understand how the
particular community operates, what beliefs are present, what practices occur,
and what the meanings of that community and its practices are to its
participants. In addition, you will be asked to reflect on your experiences in
those communities. Finally, I will ask you to compare the two groups you visit
in a paper. Here are some of the questions you might investigate:
1. Why do
the people of this group attend religious service? What function do these
services/meetings serve for those who participate in them?
2. How did these people come to chose this
particular group? How is this group different from others (e.g. social class,
age and race of members, friendliness, intellectual content, emotional climate,
social action component, training of spiritual leaders, participation of
congregation in service, emotion, ritual, organizational structure)?
3. How does
the religious leader function? Is the leader a priest? counselor? intellectual
leader? evangelist? administrator? roshi? What else did you notice about the
leadership position?
4. What are
the "objectives" of the meeting or service? How well do you think the
practices and rituals meet these objectives? How does the community assess
whether or not people are benefiting from the services/meetings?
5. Is there
a religious education program? How effective is it?
6. How did
you feel/experience the meeting/service? What do you think the regular
worshippers were experiencing? How were your experiences similar to or
different from prior experiences you have had in your own religious community?
7. What
were some of the core beliefs and practices in the service you attended?
The
paper should be structured in such a way so that you can compare
"ethnographic" stories in two different churches or communities you
visited.
Second Paper - Team Project
In
the groups of three or four that were set-up earlier, get together with the
other team members and compare your experiences in the visits you made. Your
team should make sure that as a group visit at least 4 different religious
groups. The team is then to prepare a team report comparing and contrasting the
groups visited by your team.
The
goal of this project is to provide you with a broader perspective on different
religious traditions that is deeper than you could gain by yourself. Although
not a focus of your paper, this might also be an opportunity to share with your
group members what you know of your own tradition. This will be especially
useful if you have chosen to take another group member to your organization as
a part of their experience of a new tradition. By planning and carrying out
this project, you will not only gain a better understanding of the concepts of
the course, but also gain experience and skills in working in cooperative
groups--skills that are important for learning in college and afterwards as
well.
After
you have shared your experiences try to discover several "core" or
main questions you all had in visiting different organizations. For instance,
you might wonder what kinds of "religious experiences" members in the
community have. After you have identified one or two main questions you might
have about the different communities, discuss how you might conduct a
scientific investigation into that question. Could empirical methods as
developed in the western science of psychology be used to aid in answering your
questions? Describe the questions, assumptions about the "psychology of
religion", and the methods you might use to investigate your questions.
Purpose
of the Journal
The
weekly journal is a means of reflecting on your own religious experiences,
thinking critically about issues relating to psychology and religion, and
integrating these things with the readings and material from lecture, and
discussions in class and out of class. I may provide you with a quote or phrase
or question and ask you to briefly reflect on it. In addition, you should feel
free to provide any other insights you may have gained or questions that have
come to mind during that week. The journal will serve as a means of dialoguing
with a classmate and me.
Process
of Doing the Journal
In
the beginning of the course, you will pair up with another student. Each week
you and your partner will exchange the SINGLE PAGE journal entries, and will
provide A SEPARATE SHEET with some comments/thoughts/feedback to that person on
the entry. At three times during the semester I will collect both your journal
entries and the comments you provided to the other person on their entries.
Pick one or two entries that were particularly important to you, and I will
give you feedback on those entries as well.
Evaluating
the Journal
I
will assign points based on the completion of weekly journal entries and the
provision of feedback to your partner. These journals are meant for your
personal exploration and sharing with another of your classmates.
Commenting
on Another Person's Journal
When
you read your partner's journal entries, your purpose is not to evaluate it.
Rather, give your own reactions, ideas, suggestions, understandings, etc. Think
of it as a conversation from which you both will share and learn.
Tests and Grading
The
tests are intended primarily to help your learning and memory, but also to
provide a basis for grading. It will test not only basic knowledge, but also
your ability to apply and think about psychology and religion.
I
do not grade competitively on a curve. It will pay to help your classmates and
to work cooperatively with them. Your grade will be determined by the total
points you earn.
Points
will be awarded as follows:
First paper 80
Team paper 40
Mid-term 40
Quizzes 36
Journals 36
Discussion Questions 36
Final exam 100
TOTAL 368
There
will be 368 possible points. Grades are based on your point total.
331 - 368 = A- to A
294 - 330 = B- to B+
240 - 293 = C- to C+
184 - 239 = D- to D+
Introduction
to Psychology and Religion, Introductions, Course expectations
Read: Wulff:
Ch. 1 Introduction
Read: Walsh
& Vaughan: Ch 1 Consciousness
Quiz
Discussion
Question Due
Read: Wulff:
Ch. 2 The Formal Beginnings
Quiz
Discussion
Question Due
Read: Wulff:
Ch. 3 Biological Foundations of Religion
Quiz
Discussion
Question Due
HAND IN JOURNALS
Read: Wulff:
Ch. 4 Behavioral and Comparative Theories of Religion
Quiz
Discussion
Question Due
Read: Wulff: Ch. 5 Religion in the Laboratory
Read: Walsh
& Vaughan: Ch. 2 Meditation, Ch. 3 Lucid
Quiz
Discussion
Question Due
HAND IN PAPER #1
Read: Wulff:
Ch. 6 The Correlational Study of Religion
Read: Walsh
& Vaughan: Ch 4 Mind
Quiz
Discussion
Question Due
Mid Term Examination
Quiz
Discussion
Question Due
Read: Wulff:
Ch. 9 Erik H. Erikson: Religion in the Human Life Cycle
Read: Walsh
& Vaughan: Ch. 5 Development,
Quiz
Discussion
Question Due
HAND IN JOURNALS AND COMMENTS
Read: Wulff:
Ch. 10 C. G. Jung and the Analytical Tradition
Read: Walsh
& Vaughan Ch. 6 Clinical, Ch 7 Therapies
Quiz
Discussion
Question Due
Read: Wulff:
Ch. 11 William James and His Legacy
Quiz
Discussion Question Due
HAND IN PAPER #2
Read: Wulff:
Ch. 13 The American Humanistic Synthesis
Read: Walsh
& Vaughan Ch 8 Science
Quiz
Discussion
Question Due
Handout:
McCormick: Introduction to Spirituality in the Workplace
Read: Walsh
& Vaughan Ch 9 Philosophy, Ch 10 World, Ch 11 Future
Quiz
Discussion
Question Due
HAND IN JOURNALS AND COMMENTS
To Be Announced
[1] Much of this syllabus comes directly from or is adapted (with permission) from the syllabus of Professor Wilbert McKeachie’s Psychology of Religion course at the University of Michigan.
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