Final Exam has two components
The final exam has two components: a written reflection and a class discussion of the written reflection.
The purpose of the final written reflection
To explain what you have learned in this course concerning religious and theological studies.
The purpose of the final discussion
To discuss your understanding of the course material and to learn from the variety of ways in which your classmates understood the course content.
The focus question of the final written reflection and discussion
How does a religious tradition shape an understanding of what it means to be human?
The audience for your final written reflection
Your audience is other students in this class, some of whom will be reading your written reflection.
Organization and content of the essay
The written reflection is to be organized around the following four components and should appear in your essay in the order listed below.
1. Explain some basic ways that scholars study religious traditions. What are some of the key questions and basic concepts they use to study a religious tradition? Prothero, Portier, and Nostra Aetate will be useful to you here.
2. How were these approaches (the key questions and basic concepts) used in our study of Christianity? What are some of the fundamentals (beliefs, practices, teachings, exemplars) that emerge from our study of Christianity, and how do they shape a Christian's understanding of what it means to be human in relationship to God? Please use two Scripture selections and at least three other sources from across the semester.
3. Choose one of the other religious traditions studied in this course (Buddhism, Judaism, or Islam). NOTE: Choose a different tradition than the one you wrote about in the second reflection. What are some of the fundamentals (beliefs, practices, teachings, exemplars) that emerge from our study of that tradition, and how do they shape that tradition's understanding of what it means to be human? The Overviews, Ochs, and the "Being Human" selection will be useful to you here.
4. Finally, explain why the study of religious traditions is significant in the 21st century, considering religious understandings of what it means to be human. This is to be your reflection. Please write three or four well-developed paragraphs.