Dr. George T. Zervos
Office: 263 Bear Hall
Office Hours: Tue/Thur 11-12 pm
E-mail: zervosg@uncw.edu

Textbook: 

Exploring Religion
by Roger Schmidt (2nd edition)
(Bring Textbook to Class regularly)

Attendance:  Required

Attendance is required to enhance personal interaction between the instructor and the students and to reward students with excellent attendance, i.e., no more than two absences for the semester. More than two absences will have an incrementally detrimental effect on final grades. Students who come to class late and who leave in the middle of class will be considered as absent. Consistent attention in class will be beneficial since exam questions are taken exclusively from material referred to in class lectures. Since we will be working through the textbook systematically throughout the session, Study Guides for this material will NOT be provided.

Grading: Ten Point Grading System - Plus and Minus Will Be Applied

50% - Midterm Exam on Chapters 1-6 of the Textbook
50% - Final Exam on Chapters 7, 9, 10 and Supplementary Material
*** An Optional Third Exam will Replace the Lowest Grade of the Midterm or Final Exam

The Midterm and Final Exams in this course are objective and will be conducted via Blackboard (login instructions). It will be the responsibility of each student to establish a link to the UNCW Blackboard Learning System and to familiarize themselves with this online testing system. The Third Optional Exam will be objective hard copy and will cover the Supplementary Material exclusively.

The instructor reserves the right to add or deduct up to 10 points from the final grade of individual students based upon his perception of their Academic Attitude, i.e., their willingness to engage in the Academic Study of Religion with an unbiased and non-confessional attitude. Students will be required to learn the scholarly viewpoints presented in the course, but not necessarily to accept them as their own.

Course Objectives:

• to examine the human phenomenon of religion from the Academic-Scientific-Historical-Critical Perspective
• to understand the distinction between the Academic study of Religion as opposed to the Faith approach
• to conduct a basic survey of essential aspects of the history and theory of scientific religious studies
• to become familiar with scientific-historical-critical methodologies applied to the study of Religion
• to understand the nature and purpose of the University as an independent research institution
• to engage in the practical implementation of these theories/methodologies in select areas:
  • realistic appraisal of the Judeo-Christian-Islamic religious tradition
  • major trends in contemporary scholarly study of the Bible
  • interpretation of significant current world events

UNCW Mission Statement

UNCW Honor Code

This syllabus is a basic outline for this course of study. Other materials will be used to supplement the textbook during the semester. Click on BIBLE for the Study Guide to the "Study of the Bible" segment of P&R 103 and TEXTS for other material illustrating this section.

Course Syllabus