Philosophy 103 - World Religions - Summer 2009

Taught over the World Wide Web!!!! So, print this out and tape it on the refrigerator!!!

PHL 103 web class begins on June 8, 2009
PHL 103 web class ends August 1, 2009 AT NOON
I "must" submit grades on or before 6 PM on Aug 2, 2009

You will do 16 weeks of work in 8 weeks! Yes, this will eat into some of your summer free time!

Good news is that I will not require a term paper. There just is not enough time for you to write a good paper in that short a period.

This is NOT a writing intensive class!!!! No attendance, no on-campus orientation, and no on-campus tests

Dr. Michael Fuller - Professor of Anthropology
Office - My normal office is in the Social Science Building at Meramec

Office Phone: (314) 821-4543 this is the telephone number of the Prof. Carol Berger, coordinator for Philosophy at Florissant Valley, and she will relay your message to me. I will email her an answer to your question and also send a copy to you. Best way to contact me in this class is by my email address of MFuller@STLCC.edu

Website: http://users.stlcc.edu/mfuller

You will submit ALL homework and take ALL tests in this class through the Blackboard system
https://blackboard.stlcc.edu

Your USER ID is your Student ID code (mine looks like A12345678). The "A" must be in CAPS!!! Your initial password is the same as your 6-digit birthdate in MMDDYY format. Confused? Go to http://stlcc.edu/banner/ for information on resetting your PIN or contact the admissions office at your campus. After logging in, students should click on the appropriate course link. NOTE: PIN (Blackboard password) modifications will not take effect in Blackboard until the following day.

Email address: MFuller@STLCC.edu

Office Hours: are largely irrelevant over Summer. I will try to be "on-line" checking emails around 8 am, St. Louis time. I have often traded emails with student during the morning time. By the way, running the class from Macedonia has worked flawlessly for the past 3 summers. The fun part of it is that I get to show you the neat religious artifacts and artworks that we are uncovering.

Purpose of the Course:
An orientation course, examining the nature and function of religion in human experience and culture, and an introduction to the history, content, and present status of selected world religions, such as Traditional African religions, Traditional Native American religions, Hinduism, Jainism, Taoism, Confucianism, Buddhism Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and New Age religions.

Textbook:
You will be assigned to read a dozen chapters that are embedded within Blackboard. You can print out one copy of each chapter, if you wish. I recommend that you read the chapters, on-line.

Other Professors use a $70 book for this class. Hope you don't mind saving the money and stress of the bookstore.

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Objectives:

1. We will use on-line readings, web resources, streaming videos, and pod-casts to study religion's impact on humankind's socio-political, historical, economic, and spiritual quest.

2. Understand how religions are formed and respond to change.

3. Recognize the beliefs and rituals of the world's major religions.

Equipment Requirements:

Specific hardware and software requirements are a functional PC or Mac that can support Netscape or Explorer. Personally, I use the Safari program on my Apple PowerBook G4. The computer can be at home, work, or in the college library. You must have the same email address for the entire semester.YOU REALLY, REALLY need to check you STLCC student email account. Blackboard ONLY talks to the college email address for you (and not your hotmail or yahoomail accounts).

Be aware that your email (especially if using American On-Line) may block emails sent by your teacher UNLESS you put MFuller@STLCC.EDU in your email folder as a good guy (not blocked). Most mail servers are fine.

VERY IMPORTANT...Sign your name to every email that you send me. Even if sending it through blackboard! I have no way of figuring out your handle or funny email name. Always fill-in the subject heading of your email or the college spam filter will eat it.

EXTREMELY IMPORTANT....All homework must be submitted in the SUBMIT HERE folder at Blackboard. Do not email your answers to me. Answers emailed through Blackboard are not acceptable. There is no way to assign a grade if the homework was not properly submitted through Blackboard.

MEGA IMPORTANT... When submitting a homework assignment or taking a quiz, then the easy way to FAIL is by having multiple applications running at one time. Students from last semester have demonstrated that you can flunk an assignment by having Windows media player, facebook, myspace and black board at the same time. Blackboard will crash when multiple applications are running.

Calendar of Learning:

Week 1 (June 8 to 15) Fill out Class Survey at Blackboard. Watch "Welcome" streaming video that you will find at Blackboard. Read "Globalization" pdf that you will find at Blackboard

Watch "Overview" streaming video that you will find at Blackboard. Submit Homework 1 that analyzes survey data. This is done through Blackboard.
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Week 2 (June 15 to 22) Watch "Osage" streaming video that you will find at Blackboard. Read "Native American Overview" that you will find at Blackboard. Do Hopi Assignment.

Do Huichol Assignment. Watch Huichol streaming videos in Blackboard. Do Pygmy Assignment. Submit Homework 2 through Blackboard.
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Week 3 (June 22 to 29) Read "Hinduism" pdf at Blackboard. Do Badagas Assignment. Do Bengali Assignment.

Read "Theravada Buddhism" pdf at Blackboard. Listen to podcast about Buddhism as directed at Blackboard. Submit Homework 3 (Hinduism) through Blackboard.

Submit Homework 4 (Buddhism) through Blackboard. Take Quiz 1 covering assignments 1 to 4. Quiz 1 will consist of 40 questions. IT MUST BE TAKEN BEFORE 10 PM ON JUNE 29TH WHEN IT DISAPPEARS FOREVER!!! Quiz 1 and Homeworks 1, 2, 3 and 4 will not be accepted after June 29th.

Week 4 (June 29 to July 6) Read "Jainism and Sikhs" pdf at Blackboard. Watch streaming the Sikh streaming video that is linked through Blackboard. Submit homework 5 (Jainism and Sikhs) through Blackboard.

Read "Japanese Mythology", "Shinto", and "Handbook of Japanese Religion" pdfs at Blackboard. Submit Homework 6 (Shinto) through Blackboard
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Week 5 (July 6 to 13) Read "Chinese Religion" and "Confucius: The First Teacher" pdfs at Blackboard. Watch the movie "Crouching Tiger/Hidden Dragon" in the college library, by on-line rental, or by rental from a videostore. Submit homework 7 through Blackboard.

Read "Judaism" pdf at Blackboard. Watch "Judaism" streaming video that you will find at Blackboard. Listen to the Podcast about Judaism as directed through Blackboard. Submit homework 8 through Blackboard.

Watch "Christianity Part 1" streaming video that you will find at Blackboard. Take Quiz 2 covering up through Judaism, but not covering Christianity. The quiz consists of 40 questions. IT MUST BE TAKEN BEFORE 10 PM ON July 13th WHEN IT DISAPPEARS FOREVER!!! Quiz 2 and Homeworks 5, 6, 7 and 8 will not be accepted after July 13th.

Week 6 (July 13 to 20) Read "The Scope of Christianity" pdf at Blackboard. Submit Homework 9 through Blackboard.

Watch"Christianity Part 2" streaming video in Blackboard. Read "Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union" pdf at Blackboard. Submit Homework 10 through Blackboard.
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Week 7 (July 20 to 27) Watch streaming video about the pilgrimage to Mecca in Blackboard. Read "What is right about Islam" pdf at Blackboard. Submit homework 11 through Blackboard.

Week 8 (July 27 to August 1) take Quiz 3 with 40 questions covering readings on Islam and Christianity; MUST BE TAKEN BEFORE 10 PM ON AUGUST 1st WHEN IT DISAPPEARS FOREVER!!! Quiz 3 and Homeworks 9, 10 and 11 will not be accepted after NOON on August 1st

Yes, each quiz is open book, and open notes. Not fair to have your mother take the quiz (mainly because she won't know the answers!!!). There will be a set of "quiz hints " posted on the Blackboard site a week or two before the quiz... to give you a chance to review and see the level of technicality.

Please submit your homework and quiz before the deadline so if you have trouble with a submission, then I "may" be able to reset the assignment. If you wait until the last minute (and have a problem), then don't expect sympathy from me.

Beware, if you go surfing for the answers to complete a Quiz, then that often crashes Blackboard and voids your test. That is very, very bad. I may decide not to reopen the quiz , but require you to take an essay makeup examination. You do not want to take the makeup test!!! Makeup tests are far more challenging.

2. There are 11 homework assignments related to the textbook, and internet. Please note that all homework answers must be submitted through blackboard at "SUBMIT HERE." I will not accept, grade or record answers sent to me by email.

3. You are welcome to visit me some day at the Meramec campus. Email me ahead of time to make an appointment because I am often out doing archaeological fieldwork or museum research. BUT, you never ever are required to come to campus. No orientation. No sit-down Mid-term. No sit-down Final Examination.

4. The ACCESS OFFICE - disAbility Support Services has been designated by the college as the primary office to guide, counsel and assist students with disabilities. If you receive services through the ACCESS OFFICE and require accommodations for this class, make an appointment to see me as soon as possible to discuss you approved accommodation needs. Email me if you have an Instructor Notification Memo provided by the ACCESS OFFICE to the appointment. I will hold any information you share with me in strictest confidence unless you give me permission to do otherwise.

5. An Honors Contract can be developed for this class if your GPA is 3.5 or higher. Please contact the Honors Coordinator (Dr. Chaya Gopalan at (314) 513-4892) for more information. Go to http://www.stlcc.edu/fv/honors/ for more information. Please e-mail me if you wish to do this and we can discuss your project.

6. Email me if your are having problems with the course. ALWAYS, always put PHL 103 in the subject heading. ALWAYS tell me your whole name! Don't assume that if you send an email through blackboard that it shares you name with me!!! It does not!

7. I very, very, very rarely give Incomplete grades at the end of the semester. Keep track of your grades and ask me before doing anything rash about dropping the class.

8. HOSE ME DOWN AND I WILL FAIL YOU. Translation: you will be given a failing grade if you cheat on an homework, cheat on a quiz, or hack into any of the computer system.

But in this class you can talk loudly and make funny noises. Be careful NOT TO spill food and drink on your keyboard. You can even wear inappropriate clothing when taking this class!!! Yup, I can't see you. What happens if you computer is old, slow or dead? Use a college computer in the college library! You need to wear appropriate clothing in the library, by the way.

Alias of your teacher:
Michael Fuller - The name his parents gave him
Dr. Michael Fuller - The name that gets extra respect
Professor Michael Fuller - How the college thinks of him
SpaceGhost
Mojo Jojo

Lord Michael de Safita - Friend of Richard I and crossbow expert


Moodeer Fuller - Arab villagers in Syria call him this as he searches for lost secrets at Tuneinir

Daddy - Amira Fuller calls me this (my daughter is a pirate!)

Neathery's husband - wife's students call him. She also teaches real time and web classes.

Madman - common nickname around Instructional Resources

I always dress in Academic robes while grading your homework,
I NEVER SLEEP and yes,
I am watching you to make sure that you don't cheat!
I have shaved off my beard and moustache since this photograph was taken. Why? Just to confuse the college administrators.