Religion in Culture Lunch Series

Once again the Department sponsored a lunchtime discussion, (on Wednesday, March 28, 2007) for its majors and minors, hosted by the student association, and featuring the work of a current faculty member. This time, it was Associate Prof. Ted Trost, the longest serving member of the faculty (arriving in 1998; cross-appointed to New College, he also serves as REL's Undergraduate Advisor), who began the lunch with a presentation on the version of REL 100 he teaches, as a way of opening a discussion on the content and place of the 100-level course in the curriculum.

Gary Kessler's Studying Religion: An Introduction Through Case Studies, Prof. Trost's main book for REL 100

Although REL 100 has been on the Department's course inventory for a number of years, it was renamed "Introduction to Religious Studies" only in the late 1990s. Prior to that, it went through various incarnations, having once been an introduction to world religions as well. (Long before being hired full time in the Department in 2001, Prof. Jacobs periodically taught this course as a part time Instructor.) Since the late 1990s it has been described in the catalog as covering "various methodological approaches to the academic study of religion, with examples of religious life and thought drawn from a variety of cultures."

In the Fall of 2001, the Department offered its first large enrollment version of the course and now, in addition to periodically offering its 30 seat section of the course, it regularly offers two large sections (of 150 seats per section) each Fall semester and one each Spring semester. Along with some other courses, REL 100 helps offering incoming freshmen with opportunities to fulfill their Core Crriculum requirements. (REL 105 is the Honors version of this course.) With the addition to the faculty of Prof. Murphy in the Fall of 2002, both he and Prof. McCutcheon regularly taught the course and, within a few years, the course was adopted by all of the faculty, who each share in teaching their own version of it.

REL graduating major, Kristi Nix, looking over Prof. Trost's handout. Kristi is among the students working with Prof. Trost in his REL 100.

Given that this is Prof. Trost's first time teaching this course, he offered his experiences as the basis for a discussion among the students concerning their experiences in this course. As part of his course he is also offering an upper level independent study with several REL majors who attend his REL 100 and carry out projects associated with the course.

Our thanks to the Religious Studies Student Association for advertising and hosting this event. Thanks again to our Jennifer "Hey, Can You Make Movies on this Camera?" Alfano for her snazzy digital gifts.

Prof. Ramey (center back), who has not yet taught REL 100 (having so far focused mainly on offering REL 220 at the lower level), joined the lunch, which was held in the Department's seminar room. (Flyers from the Department's Religion in Culture lecture series can be seen on the wall.)

Student attending were (clockwise from back): Karissa Rinas, Keke Pounds, Sam Shabel, Barclay Owens, Sarah Luken, and Kristi Nix. Along with Kristi, Sam and Barclay are earning upper-level course credit for working with Prof. Trost in his REL 100.

Left to right: Dan Mullins, Karissa Rinas, and Keke Pounds--all of whom seem mesmerized by the flickering lights of the seminar room's multi-media system.

A topic tackled in Prof. Trost's REL 100 is the manner in which the term "experience" is often used by the people scholars of religion study, as if our object of study was a private, interior disposition expressed only in a secondary, derivative form. A common way in which participants talk about "religious experience" can be found here.

Sarah Luken, who has worked for two years in the main office, along with Barclay and Sam.