Religion 2617, Introduction to Eastern Religions
22/01/08 22:42
Religion 2617, Introduction to Eastern
Religions
An ongoing challenge in this course is the fact that these profound and ancient religious traditions are in many ways so radically different from the Western religious traditions with which students are familiar that they often have great difficulty comprehending the basic ideas – and the larger system of thought – of the Eastern views.
An ongoing challenge in this course is the fact that these profound and ancient religious traditions are in many ways so radically different from the Western religious traditions with which students are familiar that they often have great difficulty comprehending the basic ideas – and the larger system of thought – of the Eastern views.
Religion 2617, Introduction to Eastern
Religions
An ongoing challenge in this course is the fact that these profound and ancient religious traditions are in many ways so radically different from the Western religious traditions with which students are familiar that they often have great difficulty comprehending the basic ideas – and the larger system of thought – of the Eastern views. When teaching Islamic thought, students who understand Judaism or Christianity have a strong basis for comparison and reference points. In contrast, the Eastern views are almost incommensurable with the major monotheistic Western religious traditions. Concepts such as reincarnation are so different from the traditions with which students are intimately familiar that it is difficult for students to give a fair hearing to these radically different perspectives. In addition, grasping the concept of enlightenment requires a significant expansion of the concept of human potential to envision developmental possibilities that lie beyond healthy ego development. Assessment though use of embedded questions indicates that such concepts are the most difficult for students to grasp (with most students developing at least a rough grasp of the concepts). Development of several new teaching techniques for enhancing the students’ understanding of such concepts in future courses will be carefully assessed using the accumulated assessment results as a baseline for comparison
An ongoing challenge in this course is the fact that these profound and ancient religious traditions are in many ways so radically different from the Western religious traditions with which students are familiar that they often have great difficulty comprehending the basic ideas – and the larger system of thought – of the Eastern views. When teaching Islamic thought, students who understand Judaism or Christianity have a strong basis for comparison and reference points. In contrast, the Eastern views are almost incommensurable with the major monotheistic Western religious traditions. Concepts such as reincarnation are so different from the traditions with which students are intimately familiar that it is difficult for students to give a fair hearing to these radically different perspectives. In addition, grasping the concept of enlightenment requires a significant expansion of the concept of human potential to envision developmental possibilities that lie beyond healthy ego development. Assessment though use of embedded questions indicates that such concepts are the most difficult for students to grasp (with most students developing at least a rough grasp of the concepts). Development of several new teaching techniques for enhancing the students’ understanding of such concepts in future courses will be carefully assessed using the accumulated assessment results as a baseline for comparison
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