Just a matter of hours now...

The syllabus is finally starting to take shape. I have been using TiddlyWiki for this process, and it seems like I finally discovered what it's really good for -- plotting out something, like a course, that has a modular structure. Hence this list. Each item on the list is a "module" (hideous name, but somehow that's what came to me) and could be long or short. I can imagine getting several modules into a week, maybe even working on more than one in a single class meeting, but more likely, a module is a week-long unit of teaching and learning, sometimes even longer. Anyhow, as is usually the case with every syllabus I design, the first three weeks or so are very carefully planned out, and then, after that, well ... I've never been able to project that far into the future.

Topics (tentative list):

1. Introduction to the course
2. The idea of pluralism in religion
3. Insiders and outsiders in religion and imagination
4. Theory: a language to talk about religion
5. Religion in the media (this is actually going to start up right at the beginning, and continue, in a more or less systematic way, at least a few weeks into the course)
6. First- and third-person authority
7. Religious pluralism and the American idea
8. Mapping the religious landscape

This is sort of the "introductory" unit. After that, I figure we should move into the three monographs I'm assigning: first Eck, then Smith and Denton, then finally Orsi, which I think will spur some good concluding reflections.

Here's how the reading schedule looks at present:

M 1/16	Intro to the course
W 1/18	Reading: Lahiri, Lee, Eck
M 1/23	Reading: Yearley, Paden
W 1/25	Reading: Proudfoot, Boyer
M 1/30	Reading: Lame Deer, add'l. selections t.b.a.
W 2/1	Reading: Thanksgiving, Miner, Pike (et al.)
M 2/6	Reading: Bellah, "Civil Religion" and Kiely, "Monticello and Graceland"
W 2/8	Reading: Gleason, "The Melting Pot"
M 2/13	Reading: Eck, "New Religious America"
W 2/15	Reading: Eck, "New Religious America," cont'd.
M 2/20	Reading: Eck, "New Religious America," cont'd.
W 2/22	Reading: Eck, "New Religious America," cont'd.
M 2/27	Reading: Denton and Smith, "Soul Searching"
W 3/1	Reading: Denton and Smith, "Soul Searching," cont'd.
M 3/6	Reading: Denton and Smith, "Soul Searching," cont'd.
W 3/8	Reading: Denton and Smith, "Soul Searching," cont'd.
M 3/13	Spring break, no classes
M 3/15	Break cont'd.
M 3/20	Reading: Orsi, Between Heaven and Earth
W 3/22	Reading: Orsi, Between Heaven and Earth, cont'd.
M 3/27	Reading: Orsi, Between Heaven and Earth, cont'd.
W 3/29	Reading: Orsi, Between Heaven and Earth, cont'd.
M 4/3	Reading: t/b/a
W 4/5	Reading: t/b/a
M 4/10	Reading: t/b/a
W 4/12	Reading: t/b/a
M 4/17	Presentations
W 4/19	Presentations
M 4/24	Presentations
W 4/26	Presentations
M 5/1	Presentations