Religion 35: Relating

1. Course Philosophy Participants in the program are encouraged to explore the human search for meaning using the resources of personal inquiry and significant spiritual traditions. In order for the search to be truly meaningful, it must be connected to the individual’s personal inquiry. For adolescents, relationships are where they often seek and find meaning in their lives. Their relationship to the world around them is often shaped by television, peers, music, etc. From these and other sources, they will build relationships which may be life-denying, while at other times, be life-saving. Regardless, they will continue to search for ways which will bring them into closer relationship with the self, others, and God. 2. General Outcomes/Themes The student will:

• Examine spirituality in a variety of world religions (Confucianism, Taoism, Sikhism, Primal Traditions, Shinto)
• Examine some philosophical building blocks for ethics and morality
• Understand the impact of revelation and sacred scripture upon ethics and morality
• Understand themselves as moral persons
• Acknowledge the spiritual dimension of relationships

3. Assessment A person’s relationship with God is a matter of conscience, the internal forum of the soul. God alone is the arbiter of souls (and then again, who can plumb the depths of Divine Mercy?). It is important, therefore, that we avoid the grading or evaluation of a student’s faith. We grade the knowledge the student has acquired based on the program of studies and the skills the student is able to show in articulating his/her knowledge. A wide range of assessment information is used in the development of a student’s final grade. Individualized assessments provide specific information regarding student progress and overall performance in class. Student assessment may vary from student to student to adapt to differences in student needs, learning styles, preferences, and paces. Not all assignments are used for assessment. Course Work and Evaluation

1. Christian Action Assignment: 15% (suggested minimum hours of service = 10 - typically these would not be instructional hours)
2. Comparative World Religions: 20%
3. Course work: 65% (may include assignments, presentations, journals, reviews, notes, research projects, portfolios, exams and quizzes)

4. Primary Resources In Search of the Good: A Catholic Understanding of Moral Living, Concacan, CCCB, Ottawa, Ontario, 2004 World Religions: A Voyage of Discovery, Jeffrey Brodd, St. Mary’s Press, Christian Brothers Publishers, Winona, Minn. 1998.