Now that we have reached the end of the course, you have an opportunity to reflect on what you have learned. Reflection is, of course, a wonderful way of consolidating on your learning and experiences. In order to facilitate your reflection, we have created your fourth (and final) assessment.
This final assessment consists of two parts of unequal value. Part one (worth 3/5 of the value of this assessment) is a reflection on your experience in the course, wherein you discuss things you have learned and hope to take away with you. Part two (worth 2/5) is an opportunity to take up the challenge posed in week 8 (and discussed in week 9), namely, offering suggestions on how best to decolonize the study of religion.
The complete assessment should be approximately 750 words (no fewer than 675 and no more than 825). While the two parts differ, be sure to wrap up your whole essay with a brief conclusion that answers the “so what” question of why your reflections and suggestions matter.
This assessment due on Sunday April 7 at 11:59 pm. Please note that there is no grace period for this assessment. April 7 is the final deadline for everyone.
Formatting:
12 pt font, one-inch margins, double spaced. Submit a PDF with no title page. Include your name and student number on the first page only, with a word count (excluding your Works Cited).
Part One:
In order to reflect on your experience, we suggest that you look back over the materials for the course, including your own writing. The following questions should serve as a guide for your reflection, but please note that they are NOT to be answered one by one. However, be sure to conclude your essay with one important thing that you will take away from this course.
Please craft your reflection in a more personal and flowing essay of approximately 500 words.
Questions for reflection:
Now that you have completed the course, how would you define religion?
How has your understanding of religion changed over the past 12 weeks?
How has your understanding of the study of religion changed over the past 12 weeks?
Which topics were the most effective at helping you learn about the study of religion and why?
Which authors (of assigned materials) were the most effective at helping you learn about the study of religion and why?
Looking back at your own goals for the course, how well have you managed in reaching them?
Part Two:
In a short essay (of approximately 250 words), discussion at least one suggestion for how you would approach decolonizing the study of religion. In this essay, be specific about your suggestion and offer some resources (based your research) that can be used to implement your suggestion.
Please include a Works Cited section for all resources used. Use the Chicago Manual of Style author/date bibliography styleLinks to an external site. for your Works Cited. (and note that the bibliography is not included in your word count). Your resources can be in any digital medium that you wish (podcasts, videos, journal articles, blogs, etc).
Below is an example is approximately 150 words and is meant only to illustrate what we mean by providing a suggestion with some resources. Your brief essay (of approximately 250 words) should expand on this basic information, as well as add your insights into its importance as a tool for decolonising the teaching of the study of religion.
Malory Nye (2019, 13) suggests that one way of decolonising the teaching of religion is to teach from the present backwards, thus focussing on the living tradition, rather than its origins and past authorities. One resource that could be used to implement this suggestion is to use a video of the preparation riutuals for Ashura among Shi’ite Muslims in Kabala, Iraq, such as this one:
https://youtu.be/fNy2uBaChl0?si=X9BTYc_lIbL1VhxjLinks to an external site.
Ashura is an important festival in Shi’i Islam that commemorates the death of Hussein, the Prophet’s grandson. The festival that has deep roots in the past, but is practiced widely today among Shi’ite Muslims. This video (and discussion about it) can illustrate the ways that Islam is far from monolithic in its expression. As Takim (2022, 146) notes, there are internal debates among Shi’i jurists about how the practice of head cutting (known as tatbir) and self-flagellation (called zanjir) ought to be conducted. In a short essayLinks to an external site. from the Pew Research Center, we also see some discussion how Ashura highlights differences among forms of Muslim traditions.
Works Cited:
AFP News Agency 2022. “Shiite Muslims mark Ashura at Iraq’s shrine city of Karbala.” YouTube video:https://youtu.be/fNy2uBaChl0?si=qixr76DxWg_6HuprLinks to an external site., August 9.
Lipka, Michael and Fatima Ghani 2013. “Muslim holiday of Ashura brings into focus Shia-Sunni differences.” Pew Research Center Research Topics, November 14.
Nye, Malory 2019. “Decolonizing the Study of Religion.” Open Library of the Humanities 5(1): 43, pp 1-45.
Takim, Liyakat 2022. “Shi’i Rituals and Practices.” In The Routledge Handbook of Islamic Rituals and Practices, ed. Oliver Leaman, 142-51. London: Routledge.
