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School of Humanities and Social Sciences
Religious Studies
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Mission |
Outcomes |
Assessment |
Faculty |
Student Work |
Program Learning Goals and Objectives:
| GOAL I: |
Students will be able to communicate
their ideas about religion and related subjects with
good writing skills that also exhibit critical thinking.
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| Objective A: |
In each upper-division course, students
will be able to write a research paper without major
writing errors. They will be able to develop their ideas
in a logical fashion and support their conclusions.
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| Objective B: |
In each upper-division course, students
will be able to answer essay examination questions
without major writing errors. They will be able to
organize their answers clearly and support their
conclusions. |
| GOAL II: |
Students will be able to describe,
interpret, compare, and explain the most important
beliefs and practices of the major religions of the
world, using appropriate scholarly methods.
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| Objective A: |
Students will be able to describe the
difference between the academic study of religion, as it
is practiced in universities, and the study of religion
that is intended to indoctrinate and reinforce the norms
of a religious community.
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| Objective B: |
Students will be able to describe,
interpret, compare, and explain the beliefs, practices,
and history of the major religious traditions of the
world.
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| Objective C: |
Students will be able to identify some
of the general characteristics that most religions share
in common.
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| Objective D: |
Students will be able to identify where
each of the major religions is practiced.
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| Objective E: |
Students will develop the skills
necessary to become critically tolerant of various
religious points of view. They will be sensitive to
relationships between various multi-cultural
perspectives and religious practice. |
| GOAL III: |
Students will be able to describe the
way religions change over time or how one religion may
evolve out of another.
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| Objective A: |
Students will be able to describe how
Buddhism grew out of yet challenged the predominate
religion of India (known today as Classical Hinduism).
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| Objective B: |
Students will be able to describe how
Christianity developed out of Judaism.
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| Objective C: |
Students will be able to explain how
and why sectarian movements develop within religious
traditions. |
| GOAL IV: |
Students will be able to describe,
interpret, and explain the moral, experiential,
otherworldly, doctrinal, and ritual dimensions of
religion.
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| Objective A: |
Students will be able to provide
comparative examples of the way religion affects
people's thinking about important social issues.
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| Objective B: |
Students will be able to explain the
meaning of important concepts, such as "spiritual" and
"mystical," and describe the ways in which they apply to
religious experience.
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| Objective C: |
Students will be able to describe
differences in doctrine between at least one western and
at least one Asian religious tradition.
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| Objective D: |
Students will be able to provide
examples of religious rituals and to explain what they
mean to those who perform them. |
ASSESSMENT PORTFOLIO
Nearly every major at CSUB requires both a senior seminar and
some sort of assessment in addition to course grades. In the
Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, senior seminar
and assessment are combined. Assessment includes a portfolio,
which students will assemble. The Department urges students to
begin assembling materials for their portfolios as soon as they
declare a major. Students should keep duplicate copies of
everything they put in their portfolio, because it will not be
returned. The portfolio will not be graded, but it must be
completed before a grade is given for the senior seminar
The portfolio will consist of two sections: (1) an assessment
and (2) supporting evidence.
In the first section, students will include a personal
assessment of at least 1,000 words of the religious studies
program and their educational experience. The faculty want to
know what its majors think of the program, how it has
contributed to their educational goals and what recommendations
for change they would make. The student statement should be a
thoughtful assessment of the program and of the student's own
educational progress. The faculty want students to address each
of the goals and objectives listed above as they write their
assessments and indicate whether, in their opinion, the goals of
the program have been met. In addition, students may wish to
address other questions and issues that are important to them
and will help the faculty improve the program of study. Before
students write their assessments, the faculty recommend that
they review the courses they have taken including the
examinations, projects, and papers.
If students take senior seminar before they complete all major
requirements, they may update their self-assessments at any time
before graduation. The assessment should be submitted in a
sealed envelope. It will not be opened until after the student
has graduated. This procedure is intended to encourage an honest
evaluation of student progress and of the religious studies
program.
The second section of the portfolio should include copies of at
least four papers students have written in connection with their
major, either at CSUB or at other institutions. This material
should provide evidence supporting both the students assessment
of the program and their educational progress. The faculty
recommend that students not necessarily include only their best
papers or those with the highest grades; rather students should
pick examples from various stages in their college career, which
demonstrate abilities in the various facets of the religious
studies major, as well as papers that indicate whether or not
students have improved their skills in writing, critical
thinking, and constructing persuasive arguments.
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