relg 110 news persetaon

As students of religion, we have been studying some of the major theorists of religion over the past 150 years. In order to form their theories, they looked to the history of religion. But we should also remember that religion is an ever-dynamic, contemporary phenomenon in our world!

In order to learn more about religion in our contemporary world, and to “test out” the theories that we have been studying, I want you to find a recent (in the past year or so) news article that deals primarily with religion.

You can start your search within your favorite newspaper, news magazine, or news-focused website (like Google news). There are also several websites that focus especially on religion-related news:

Your news article can relate to any particular religious tradition that you want. If you have questions about whether the news article you are interested in is appropriate, just email me!

The purpose of this assignment is to

• help you become more aware of the role of religion in the world and current events
• better analyze the theories of Marx, Freud and Eliade by testing out their theories in the contemporary world

Outcomes and Objectives

Student Learning Outcomes

• Identify the major theorists in the development of Religious Studies and explain their understanding of the nature and function of religion.
• Analyze definitions of religion and explain their strengths and weaknesses.

Objectives

• Explain the social, psychological, and sacred functions of religion.

Instructions

Once you have selected a news article, you are going to prepare an oral presentation (8-10 minutes long) that addresses the following questions:

A. Summary of News Article

• In one paragraph, tell me what the news article is about.
• what religious tradition is involved?

B. New Information Learned

• What did you learn about the religious tradition involved in the story?
• What did you learn about the world from the news article?

C. Reaction to the News Story

• What do you think about your news article?
• Was it something that surprised you? or what you expected?
• Do you agree with that is being discussed in the article? Or disagree with it?

D. Theorist One

• Choose one of our three theorists (Marx, Durkheim or Eliade)
• What do you think he would say about your news article?
• Does the news article reveal and strength or weakness of his theory?

E. Theorist Two

• Choose one of the remaining two theorists
• What do you think he would say about your news article?
• Does the news article reveal and strength or weakness of his theory?

Your presentation should include 5 presentation slides that address each of these topics. You can use whatever presentation platform you are most comfortable with: PowerPoint, Google slides, Canva, etc.

Then you will record yourself giving an oral presentation of the information, just as if you were presenting live in class to me and your classmates. You will review each slide and give more detail that answers each of the questions listed above.

Guidelines

You can use PowerPoint’s software to record yourself. As a Grossmont student, you have access to all the applications in the Microsoft Suite, including PowerPoint.

For more info, check out the

With Powerpoint, you just create a presentation, then click on the “record” button at the top right-hand side of the slide screen. You can use your computer’s camera to record yourself giving the oral presentation for each slide.

You can also record yourself directly within Canvas. When you go to submit your assignment, follow these instructions:

1. Click on the blue “Start Assignment” button

2. Switch to the “Studio” tab

and then it should look like this:

3. When you click “Create” it will give you several options:

• if you click ‘Screen-Cast-o-Matic” it will actually let you (just click allow when the permissions come up) record your slide on the computer along with a small video of yourself (just be sure to click “both” instead of just “screen” or “webcam”. It will look like this:

This is how I record all my video lectures. Just place your presentation slides within the black and white edge (you can make it bigger or smaller) and place the video of yourself wherever you want it on the slide, and hit record!

• if you click “studio capture”, then it will just open up your webcam and let you record a video of yourself. You could also do this, and just submit your presentation slides as a separate file.

Then it will look like this:

So you can submit one video that includes all your slides as well as a video of yourself presenting each slide, OR you could submit your slides as one file, and then a video file of yourself giving the oral presentation.

WRITE MY PAPER