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View AllMA129 Syllabus for Lawrence Howe — Winter 2018
Wilfrid Laurier University
Religion and Culture
RE103OC: Love and its
Myths
“Do you have someone to love? We all want to love and be loved. If you do not
have anyone to love, your heart may dry up. Love brings happiness to
ourselves and to the ones we love...” – Thich Nhat Hanh 1997
Course Director: Marybeth White
Email: [email protected]
Course Description: Welcome to RE103OC, “Love and its Myths.” This course is an
enquiry into the mythologies of relationship, which inform today's attitudes towards
loving. This course will introduce you to the field of religious studies, specifically to the
function of myth and the role of religion in informing cultural understandings of love.
Topics include: the theories and function of myth, understandings of love in
Aboriginal, Neo-Pagan, ancient Greek, medieval Europe, Hindu, Judaic, Christian,
Buddhist, Jain, Sikh, and Islam cultural and religious traditions. Themes found in the
course are marriage, romantic love, friendship, filial love, and unconditional love.
Learning Outcomes:
By the end of this course students should be able to:
•List different types of love (i.e. romantic, agape, metta) and provide a
short description of each
•Explain how myth is studied and used in various contexts and communities.
•Describe the connection between myths, human consciousness, and
spiritual development.
•Compare and contrast the nature and purpose of mythic accounts or
traditional stories of what love is, what it is for, and how it works
•Explain some of the problems in thinking about love only in terms of a
feeling, emotion, or physical relationship with a significant other
•Analyze how practitioners of different religious traditions articulate their
understanding of love and apply their notion of love in their everyday
lives
•Explain the different between contextual and allegorical approaches to
love narratives
•List and define various religious studies concepts such as
eschatology, soteriological, and dualism
•Compare and contrast the role that women’s bodies play in concepts of love
Required Course Materials:
•Nhat Hanh, Thich. (1997). A True Love. Boston: Shambhala
•Von Goethe, Johann. (2012). The Sorrows of Young Werther. Translator
David Constantine. London: Oxford.
•Plato. (1999). Symposium. Translator Christopher Gill. London: Penguin.
•Online Course Reserves available through My Learning Space [ARES]
•NOTE: Books may be purchased through the WLU bookstore, in person or
online. If purchasing books through other vendors it is highly recommended
that students purchase the same publishers editions of the book so that page
numbering and translations are the same.
Course Evaluation:
•Assessments (embedded in the weekly lessons)
Discussions:
Throughout the lesson notes you will see ‘Discussion Activity’ prompts indicating for
you to post your answers to a series of questions on your group discussion board
(there is no discussion activity during the week of lessons 4 and 8). Each
discussion that you participate in will be worth 4 points. You will receive one, two, or
three points for your personal response and another 1 point for responding to at least
one other member’s post by supporting, critiquing, or elaborating on what they posted.
Your top 5 discussion activity grades will count towards your final mark the other
grades will be dropped.
You will be assigned to a group of approximately 8 students randomly picked from the
course. To locate your group members simply click on the communication tab at the
top of your MyLS page and select ‘discussions’. Your discussion posts should be at
least one paragraph in length but no longer than two paragraphs. Also note that you
can only post your reflection for a discussion during the corresponding lesson
week. This means that you can only post your reflection for lesson 1 during the 1st
week of the course, and so on and so forth. The first group member to post each
week does not need to post a response to another student’s post and will be
given the 1 point automatically.
Discussion grading rubric:
Each discussion opportunity is worth 3%. (5 posts and 5 responses worth 3% for a
total 15%). The 3% would be broken down by:
Rubric for Scoring Participation in Discussion Forums
Responsiveness to
discussion
prompts
Demonstration of
knowledge and
understanding
gained from
assigned readings.
Demonstrate
readings are very
clearly understood
and incorporated
well into responses.
(3 points)
Demonstrate some
coverage of
readings. Readings
are somewhat
understood and
incorporated into
responses. (2
points)
Postings are
superficial and have
questionable
relationship to
reading material. (1
point)
(And 1 point for responding to at least on other member’s post by supporting,
critiquing or elaborating on what they posted.) The computer will automatically
convert the number of points to be worth 3% of your grade. For example, if you
score 2 points for your response and 1 point for responding to another group
Online Discussion Participation
15%
•Quizzes (3 x 5%)
15%
•Tests (3 x 15%) 45%
•Final Exam – cumulative (must receive at least 51% to pass the course) 25%
•
member’s post, you will have 3 of 4 possible points or 2.25% of the possible 3% for
that week’s post.
Quizzes:
Quizzes can be found at the end of lessons 3,7, and 10. They are based on material
in the required readings, course notes, and activities associated with the lessons
on nature based traditions (quiz 1) karmic based traditions (quiz 2) and
monotheistic- based traditions (quiz 3). Quizzes consist of 20 multiple choice
questions. Each quiz is worth 5% of your overall grade and must be completed
based on the due dates in the course calendar located on the left hand side of the
homepage. You will have 25 minutes to complete each quiz. Please note that once
you start the quiz, you cannot stop or pause it until you are finished.
Tests:
Tests can be found at the end of lesson 4,8, and 12 and will consist of 60 multiple
choice test questions and will account for 15% of your overall grade. For due dates
check the course calendar located on the left hand side of the homepage. You will
have 75 minutes to take the test. Once the test has been completed your grade will
be displayed. At a later date, the professor will make the test available to you in
order to help facilitate your studying for the final exam. Please note that once you
start the test, you cannot stop or pause it until you are finished.
Final Exam:
Students are to write their final exams in person during examination period at their
home universities or by proctor if they are abroad or out of province, which is the
responsibility of the student to arrange before the end of the 7th week. The final
exam is cumulative and will be worth 25% of your overall grade.
Missed Quizzes, Tests, or Final Exam:
All students will obtain appropriate documentation for any missed quizzes,
tests, or final exam dated for the access period during which the assessment
took place. Appropriate documentation includes notes from: your university’s
health services (medical or counseling), hospital, police, or funeral director.
Documentation must be specific to the missed exam or access dates and if
appropriate provide an anticipated return to full time studies. It is the student’s
responsibility to ensure that documentation is obtained, scanned, and sent as an
attachment to the professor as soon as possible, given the circumstances that they
are dealing with.
Weekly Schedule:
Week
Concepts of
Love
Reading
Assessment
One
Introduction to
Love and its Myths
•Hultkrantz “Myths in
Native North American
Religion”
•Video “Northern
Lights”
•Discussion/Reflection
Paragraph
Two
Canadian
Aboriginal
Traditions and
Mythical Context
•Newbery “The
Universe at Prayer”
•Discussion/Reflection
Paragraph
Three
Neo-Pagan
Tradition
Start Reading
Thich Nhat Hanh’s
A True Love
•Starhawk “The
Goddess” and
“Witchcraft as
Goddess Religion.”
•Video “The Goddess
Remembered”
•Quiz One - Nature-
based Traditions
•Discussion/Reflection
paragraph
Four
Hindu and South
Asian Mythical
Context
•Ross. “Experiencing
Mother Meera.”
•Test One (Modules 1-4
inclusive)
Five
Love and the
Buddhist Tradition
•Finish reading Thich
Nhat Hanh’s A True
Love
•Discussion/Reflection
Paragraph
Six
The Jain Tradition
and the Ideal
Marriage
•Kelting. “A Perfect
Marriage.”
•Discussion/Reflection
paragraph
Seven
Sikh Tradition
Start reading
Plato’s
Symposium
•Singh. “The Essentials
of Sikh Bhakti and
Hindu Bhakti.”
•Scrivner. “One Soul in
Two Bodies.”
•Quiz Two (Karmic-based
Traditions)
•Discussion/Reflection
Paragraph
Eight
Christian Tradition
and Ancient Greek
Philosophy
•Finish reading Plato’s
Symposium
•Hidayati. “Love Meets
Love”
•Test Two (Modules 5-8
inclusive)
Nine
Judaic Tradition
and Relationship
Start reading
Goethe’s The
Sorrows of
Young Werther
•Spraks. “The Song of
Songs”
•Carmy. “Perfect
Harmony.”
•Discussion/Reflection
Paragraph
Ten
Islamic and Sufi
Understandings of
Love
•Hidayati, Mega “Love
Meets Love”
•Schimmel. “The Path.”
•Quiz Three
(Monotheistic-based
Traditions)
•Discussion/Reflection
Paragraph
Eleven
Courtly Love and
Romanticism
•Moore. “The Courts”
•Finish reading Goethe’s
The Sorrows of Young
Werther
•Discussion/Reflection
Paragraph
Twelve
Conclusion to
Love and its Myths
•May, Simon. “From
Physical Desire to
Paradise: Plato.”
•Hidayati, Mega “Love
Meets Love”
•Test Three (Modules 9-
12 inclusive)
•Discussion/Reflection
Paragraph
University and Course Policies:
Academic Integrity/Misconduct (cheating): Laurier is committed to a culture of
integrity within and beyond the classroom. This culture values trustworthiness (i.e.,
honesty, integrity, reliability), fairness, caring, respect, responsibility and citizenship.
Together, we have a shared responsibility to uphold this culture in our academic and
nonacademic behaviour. The University has a defined policy with respect to
academic misconduct. You are responsible for familiarizing yourself with this policy
and the penalty guidelines, and are cautioned that in addition to failure in a course, a
student may be suspended or expelled from the University for academic misconduct
and the offence may appear on their transcript. The relevant policy can be found at
Laurier's academic integrity website along with resources to educate and support you
in upholding a culture of integrity. Ignorance of Laurier’s academic misconduct
policy is not a defense.
<see: www.wlu.ca/academicintegrity >
Special Needs: Students with disabilities or special needs are advised to contact
Laurier’s Accessible Learning Centre for information regarding its services and
resources. The Accessible Learning Centre is located in the Arts Building 1C11,
fax at 884-6570 (TDD, the Telephone Device for the Deaf, is 884-1141). Students
are encouraged to review the Academic Calendar
<see: http://www.wlu.ca/page.php?grp_id=1365&p=5123 > for information
regarding all services available on campus.
Plagiarism: Wilfrid Laurier University uses software that can check for plagiarism. If
requested to do so by the instructor, students may are required to submit their
written work in electronic form and have it checked for plagiarism. (Approved by
Senate May 14, 2002) Additionally, for any course at WLU, it is your responsibility
to keep a hard copy of all written work submitted.
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