Great class today, I thought. Very productive, though I know some participants still have major questions. I'll write more about it some other time; right now I have to go to bed.

I just sent out this email, but I figured it belongs here too.

Dear Diversity and Dialogue students:

Interesting discussion today, I thought. I know a lot of you were left wondering about some of the topics we discussed. I think it should become clearer as we go along, but don’t hesitate to contact me with questions. Even better, strike up a conversation via your blog or the Bulletin Board page of the wiki. (You could post an extended question to your blog, and then go to the wiki and post an announcement telling people to go read it …)

There are four items in this email, so please read the whole thing.

1. The packet I mentioned in class today is stacked outside my office door (Olin 211). Please read it for Monday.
2. As I mentioned, I'd like you to do a short (750 words or so) writing assignment for Monday. The prompt is at the bottom of this email.
3. I have one other assignment for you over the weekend as well. This one is a little strange, but bear with me. I want to organize an informal "walking tour" of the religious landscape around U.C. I want each of you to contribute as many landmarks as possible. I'll put them on the course map (http://snurl.com/map309) and figure out a route to take. So, between now and Monday, I want you to take a couple walks around the campus and maybe even the surrounding area, and make a note of everything you see that seems even remotely connected with religion. (Churches, etc., qualify, of course, but see if you can spot anything less obvious as well.) Once you have done this, post it on the wiki. I'll make a new page called "Religious points of interest around UC." Please contribute at least two sites, but the more, the merrier. Extra points for originality. Don't post duplicates; before posting, make sure someone else hasn't hit your site already. If you can do this by Sunday night, I'd appreciate it, as that will give me time to collate the results.
4. Finally, we need to do a little scheduling. First, we need to schedule this walking tour, which I think should probably happen outside of class time if we can find a time that works for, say, 85% of the class. And then, we need to schedule our first group field trip. I want us to visit the regular Saturday morning worship at Tiferet Bet Israel, a Conservative synagogue in Blue Bell (slighlty more information here, on the course map). I wrote a tentative date into the calendar already, but we can change that, of course.

That's it for now. I've got to go to bed.

---

Here's the writing question for Monday:

1. Examine the two first-person accounts (John Fire Lame Deer and Samina Ali) in the packet, and choose the one that you find more interesting and/or compelling.
2. Explain how the four theorists' work we've looked at up to now (Yearley, Paden, Proudfoot and Boyer) might affect the interpretation of that text. In other words, how would your chosen text look seen through the eyes of each of those four theorists in turn? NOTE: Try and be as sympathetic as possible; i.e., even if you think (for example) that Boyer is full of "it", carefully consider ways in which Boyer's views might illuminate or reveal important aspects of the text that might be missed otherwise.
3. Finally, in a concluding postscript, give your own response. Which reading or readings do you find most convincing or apt, and why?

I’ll collect this Monday in class. Remember the rule from the syllabus: for these informal, weekly papers, no late work will be accepted, for any reason.

___________________________________

Nathan Baruch Rein, PhD
Office: Ursinus College, Dept. of Philosophy and Religion, Olin 211, Collegeville PA 19426, 610.409.3000 x2571, fax 610.489.0627
Home: 110 Third Avenue, Phoenixville PA 19460, 610.933.4686
email address - webpages.ursinus.edu/nrein - academic.ursinus.edu/phil

"Sell not virtue to purchase wealth, nor Liberty to purchase power." Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard's Almanack (1738)