Assignment: Religion Presentation
50 points

[print version - pdf file]

Due: July 31

For this short presentation, you will present an overview of a religion practiced in the world today. This assignment is designed to allow students to become familiar with various religions from an anthropological perspective. Please make sure you view the lecture materials on religion prior to completing this assignment.

You will not be able to present the material in depth, so you should focus on the following:

• brief history: when founded, where founded, who founded
• major tenets, or beliefs—is there a belief in the supernatural? …is the concept of mana present, etc.?
• what symbolism is present
• primary rituals (e.g., in Christianity a primary ritual is Easter, in Islam, Ramadan)
• connection to other religions (do they share some core beliefs; did it evolve from another belief system, etc.)

Mechanics

1. Choose a religion. On the Religion discussion board choose a belief system by replying to the appropriate thread. Only one person per belief system and it’s on a first come, first serve basis.
2. Research the belief system using sources from the UWB library.
3. Create a PowerPoint presentation (or similar presentation software). Creativity counts.
4. Create at least one Works Cited slide and a graphics citation slide.
5. Upload it to the discussion board in the same thread that you used to pick your topic.
6. Post comments to at least three of your peers’ presentations. As always, your comments must be substantial—what most surprised you? Are there any commonalities to the belief system you researched, etc.?
7. Reply to at least one comment left on your presentation.

Assessment

Learn Actively: 15 points

• Recognize key elements of culture and have a basic understanding of cultural anthropology concepts: can apply anthropological terminology of religion; used library resources
• understand that while there are various ways of being human and we are each unique, we also share basic commonalities of experience and religion: can identify interconnections between religions
• have researched and educated your classmates about an indigenous culture: we’re going to broaden this to include world religions-- can identify the major tenets of the religion, primary rituals, and can provide an overview of the history;

Communicate with Clarity and Originality: 10 points

• have begun to develop or improve your communication skills: are comfortable with the material; does not have to read from notes, but can talk and use notes as a reference
• be able to clearly express your thoughts about human culture and adaptive process: provides a sufficient overview of the religion; does not leave information “hanging”; required elements present

Think Critically, Creatively, and Reflectively: 15 points

• be able to assess the interaction between culture, biology and environment: can identify the connections between the belief system and both cultural and natural environment
• have learned the basics of navigating anthropological databases and evaluating anthropological information in general and scholarly resources: Works Cited uses reputable resources found through the UWB library; graphics citations present
• understand that while there are various ways of being human and we are each unique, we also share basic commonalities of experience and living: can identify commonalities between belief systems

Interact in Diverse and Complex Environments: 10 points

• have some tools to use to help identify ethnocentrism: can present information in respectful manner; does not use leading language or negative descriptors; leaves editorial interpretation up to audience
• have worked on your cooperative and verbal skills through team work: posted substantial comments to peers’ presentations and replied to a comment left on their presentation 

[top]