home

= = =  INTRO TO CULTURES  =

 ISLAM
= SOUTH ASIA = = EAST ASIA AFRICA = = EUROPE = = AMERICAS =

=World Cultures with Mrs. Larson! =

Contact Info Homework Syllabus


Contact information: school phone: 802-362-1775 school email: klarson@burrburton.org home phone: 802-235-2111 (before 9pm please!) Syllabus:


 * Unit One: CULTURES**

Rock paintings made by the San people in the Drakensberg mountains. Photograph: Alexander Joe/AFP


 * [[image:http://www.quercy.net/pechmerle/images/IMG0027_200.jpg width="200" height="130" link="http://www.quercy.net/pechmerle/images/IMG0027_600.jpg"]] || Left, in black : a [|bison], perhaps 20,000 BP. The dotted horses about 25,000 BP (radiocarbon dated) (//M//+//F//). [|Right-hand horse] : his small head is drawn in the natural cut of the rock, resembling a horse's head. On his back : a large red fish (it seems to be a pike) (//M//+//F//). [|Six stencilled black hands] all around the horses. Black dots inside and outside. Red dots. [|Left-hand horse], in red : 7 hook-like signs (//M//). ||

**Could you have survived the Ice Age? ** **with no electricity ** ** no money or anywhere to spend it ** ** no roads or cars to drive ** ** no house to live in ** **still think you can survive? ** ** [|Click here to find out!]... **

Try out your own powers at forming a civilization: [|Download Civilization IV]

**09.20** **Evolution and Wonder: Understanding Charles Darwin** From the Scopes Trial to school board controversies in our day, Charles Darwin and his theory of evolution are portrayed as a refutal of the very idea of God. With Darwin biographer James Moore, we learn about the world in which Darwin formulated his ideas and how he took religion seriously. http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/darwin/index.shtml discussion guide: http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/darwin/darwin-discussionguide.pdf

Persepolis: [|US-Iran relations timeline] [|National geographic article on Persepolis] [|Yas (Iranian rapper) video] [|TIME article- Still Trying to Squeeze Iran] [|CNN article- Obama, McCain trade Jabs over Iran] Modern Iran Powerpoint:



U.S. Religious Affiliation, 2002 (self-identification, Pew Research Council)
In February and March 2002 the Pew Research Council conducted a survey of 2,002 adults. Questions about religious preference were included. The results are below:


 * ~ Religious Preference ||~ % June 1996 ||~ % March 2001 ||~ March 2002 ||
 * Christian || 84 || 82 || 82 ||
 * Jewish || 1 || 1 || 1 ||
 * Muslim || * || 1 || * ||
 * Other non-Christian || 3 || 2 || 1 ||
 * Atheist || * || 1 || 1 ||
 * Agnostic || * || 2 || 2 ||
 * Something else (SPECIFY) || * || 1 || 2 ||
 * No preference || 11 || 8 || 10 ||
 * Don't know/Refused || 1 || 2 || 1 ||
 * TOTAL || 100 || 100 || 100 ||

[|NEW!!! GEOGRAPHY QUIZ] [|Hinduism information]
 * Unit Two: HINDUISM**[[image:http://uwacadweb.uwyo.edu/religionet/images/hinduism.JPG width="250" height="152" caption="hinduism.JPG (67831 bytes)" link="http://uwacadweb.uwyo.edu/religionet/_vti_bin/shtml.dll/er/hinduism/index.htm/map"]]

[|History Of India Slide Show]

Stone Color on Paper Artist Kailash Raj 11.5" X 8.5" Courtesy of [|www.exoticindia.com]
 * Ramayana [[image:http://www.umich.edu/%7Eiinet/csas/k12/ramayana/images/sitaabduction.gif width="400" height="279" align="absmiddle"]]**
 * //"The Abduction of Sita"//**

Ramayana Slide Show:

The Ramayana Story- Read and Enjoy! Then do these dharma issues: 1. Dasaratha 2. Rama 3. Laksmana 4. Hanuman

A Hindu Creation Story: and the study guide to go with it: A second HIndu Creation story: and the study guide to go with it:

A power point presentation of the god Shiva:

India/Pakistan Conflict From the Internet: [|India/Pakistan Conflict]



[|Quiz yourself on Hinduism!]

U.S. culture's clash between religion and science is almost exclusively driven by Christian instincts and arguments. Hindu physicist V.V. Raman offers another view of religion, the universe, and the complementarity of the questions of science and faith. http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/heartsreason/index.shtml
 * 11.09.06**
 * The Heart's Reason: Hinduism and Science**

**Unit Three: BUDDHISM [[image:http://www.mandalavermont.org/RJT_June_2005_Sm.jpg width="147" height="193" caption="Shingon Jomyo Tanaka"]]**
[|Mandala Vermont- A Buddhist Meditation Center in Vermont]

Buddhist Art: Chanting Monks:

The Tibet Question:

[|TIbet and Buddhism]

[|Story of the Buddha]

Anchee Min published her second novel about the last Chinese empress. Min's own dramatic life story, like her writing, offers a surprising window into the spiritual world of China — past and present. http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/ancheemin/index.shtml Also on above link: SoundSeen: Slideshow » "Mao Is the Reddest Sun" View a gallery of images of Chinese propaganda posters from the early 1950s to the late 1970s.
 * 09.13**
 * Surviving the Religion of Mao**

Indian journalist Pankaj Mishra pursued the history and meaning of the Buddha — not as a religious figure, but as a critical social thinker. In an intellectual and personal adventure, he pondered the Buddha's ideas in Kashmir and Afghanistan, Europe and post-9/11 America — and found a new way to critique and live in the modern world. http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/buddhaintheworld/index.shtml
 * 05.31**
 * The Buddha in the World**

A film based on Mariane Pearl's memoir, A Mighty Heart, opens in theaters, with Angelina Jolie in the starring role. Mariane Pearl, a Buddhist, speaks about how she makes sense of her husband's murder and her spiritual ethic on what she calls the front line of the war on terror. http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/pearl/index.shtml
 * 06.21**
 * A Spirit of Defiance**

With this Zen master, poet, and teacher admired by people of many faiths and no faith at all, we explore practical spiritual insights and tools for living in a world of anger and violence. http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/thichnhathanh/index.shtml
 * 01.04**
 * Brother Thay: A Radio Pilgrimage with Thich Nhat Hanh**



[|Buddhist basic beliefs]

[|Buddhism quiz]

**Unit Four: Judaism**
Powerpoint on Philosophy and ethics- Which comes first, God's commandments or reason? Genesis story: Go to : http://www.world-faiths.com/Teachers%20Resources/YEAR_8.HTM and click on "The Christian Creation Story"

10 commandments: http://www.lookstein.org/powerpoint/ten_commandments_files/frame.htm

Robi Damelin lost her son David to a Palestinian sniper. Ali Abu Awwad lost his older brother Yousef to an Israeli soldier. But, instead of clinging to traditional ideologies and turning their pain into more violence, they've decided to understand the other side — Israeli and Palestinian — by sharing their pain and their humanity. They tell of a gathering network of survivors who share their grief, their stories of loved ones, and their ideas for lasting peace. They don't want to be right; they want to be honest. http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/nomore/index.shtml
 * 12.14.06**
 * No More Taking Sides: An Israeli-Palestinian Story**

Abraham and the People of the Book (Contains the Abrahamic messages): http://www.dialogue-international.org/Dialogue%20International%20Project%20&%20Events%202005_files/SPRING-05%20DISCUSSION%20GROUP/DISCUSSION%20PRESENTATIONS/ABRAHAM%20-%20The%20Journey%20of%20Faith.pdf Abraham and Ethics powerpoint: Genesis powerpoint: Jacob and Esau Story: http://www.keyway.ca/htm1999/19991226.htm Study Guide:

With a young Los Angeles rabbi, Sharon Brous, we delve into the world and meaning of the approaching Jewish High Holy Days — from the new year of Rosh Hashanah through Yom Kippur's rituals of atonement — a span of ten days known as the Days of Awe. She's an energetic voice in a Jewish spiritual renaissance taking many forms across the U.S. http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/daysofawe/index.shtml
 * 09.06**
 * Days of Awe**

American ideals of courtship and marriage echo with Biblical imagery — "bone of my bones" "flesh of my flesh." But what does the Bible really say, and how has it been taught across the centuries in which the institution of marriage has changed dramatically? Rabbi Elliot Dorff and New Testament scholar Luke Timothy Johnson bring their personal perspectives and insights to the conversation. http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/marriageI/index.shtml
 * 07.05**
 * Marriage, Family, and Divorce**

Avivah Zornberg is one of the great, creative interpreters of Talmud and Torah in the contemporary world. She guides us through the Exodus story that is commemorated during the eight days of Passover. Passover is also the backdrop of the Easter events of the Christian New Testament. We find meaning in the text that Cecil B. DeMille and Disney never imagined — about the worst and the best of human nature, and the realities and ironies of human freedom. http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/exodus/index.shtml also on the above link: a map showing the journey of Jews out of Egypt during the exodus String theorist S. James Gates, Jr. and science writer Thomas Levenson delve into Einstein's Jewish identity, his passionate engagement around issues of war and race, and modern extensions of his ethical and scientific perspectives. http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/einstein/index.shtml Discussion guides to both programs on Einstein on above link Abraham is the common ancestor of Judaism, Islam, and Christianity. His story spans dramatic territory of the modern world — both physical and spiritual — from southern Iraq to the West Bank city of Hebron. Journalist Bruce Feiler went in search of Abraham to understand the crises and possibilities of the 21st-century world.http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/abraham/index.shtml above link also includes maps to "the world of Abraham" and "The Biblical Iraq"
 * 03.29**
 * Exodus, Cargo of Hidden Stories**
 * 03.15**
 * Einstein's Ethics**
 * 02.08**
 * Children of Abraham**

Israeli/ Palestinian Conflict:

**Unit Five: Christianity**
Christianity Readings: Use these questions to go along with the readings: 1. Parables Questions 2. Jesus and Jehohan 3. Introduction to the Gospels

Big Era Five Powerpoint: [|www.worldhistoryforusall.sdsu.edu-dev-units-five-panorama-slides-Era5.ppt]

The Catholic Church in Latin America- [|America and the Caribbean|Powerpoint on Latin America]

Readings and questions: [|Catholicism in Latin America]

In over 50 years as a Benedictine nun, Joan Chittister has emerged as a powerful and at times uncomfortable voice in Roman Catholicism and in global politics. If women were ordained in the Catholic Church in our lifetime, some say, she should be the first woman bishop. http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/obedienceandaction/index.shtml
 * 10.04**
 * Obedience and Action**

Twentieth-century Pentecostal evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson helped to popularize a charismatic faith that touched millions of people and now reaches an estimated half billion people. The eccentricity and integrity of Sister Aimee shed light on some of the most confusing and powerful religious currents in our world today. http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/sisteraimee/index.shtml
 * 08.09**
 * Reviving Sister Aimee**

We tend to speak about immigrants in terms of their political and economic impact. Salvadoran-American scholar of religion and social change Manuel Vásquez explores how religious and spiritual worldviews anchor Latino cultures and are reshaping North American culture in fascinating ways. http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/latinomigrations/index.shtml
 * 07.26**
 * Latino Migrations and the Changing Face of Religion in the Americas**

We celebrate the life of performer, educator, and humanitarian Joe Carter with his exploration in word and song of the meaning of the African-American spiritual. Before his death, he introduced the Spiritual to audiences from Novosibirsk to Nigeria. He had a singular understanding of the religious sensibility of this music — its hidden meanings, as well as its beauty, lament, and hope. http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/joecarter/index.shtml
 * 06.14**
 * Joe Carter and the Legacy of the African-American Spiritual**

Jimmy Carter speaks of his born-again faith with a directness that is striking even in today's political culture. Hear his reflections about being commander in Chief while following "the Prince of Peace"; about upholding the law of the land while privately opposing abortion; and about his marriage of 60 years as a metaphor for the challenge of human relationship both personal and global. http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/jimmycarter/index.shtml
 * 04.26**
 * The Private Faith of Jimmy Carter**

Earlier this year, conservative Christian leaders unsuccessfully called for the removal of Richard Cizik of the National Association of Evangelicals. We'll revisit Krista's 2006 conversation with him. Cizik's views on climate change, poverty, and the war in Iraq riveted our listeners, and have now been strengthened, he says, by the challenge. http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/evangelicalevolution/index.shtml
 * 04.12**
 * The Evolution of American Evangelicalism**

Vigen Guroian experiences Easter as "a call to our senses." We'll explore his Eastern Orthodox sensibility that is at once more mystical and more earthy than the Christianity dominant in Western culture. And at this time of year and beyond, Guroian does real theology in his garden as richly as in church. http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/restoringthesenses/index.shtml also on the above link: videos showing the orthodox church at easter time!
 * 04.05**
 * Restoring the Senses: Life, Gardening, and an Orthodox Easter**

South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), which held public sessions from 1996 to 1998, concluded its work in early 2004. We explore the religious implications of truth and reconciliation with two people — one black, one white — who did the work of the commission in charge of it. http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/truth/index.shtml
 * 03.22**
 * Truth and Reconciliation**

Isabel Mukonyora has followed and studied a religious movement of her Shona people, the Masowe Apostles, that embraces Christian tradition while addressing the drama of African life and history. Through her stories we explore modern African spirituality, diaspora, and finding meaning, as Mukonyora says, "in the margins." http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/sacredwilderness/index.shtml
 * 02.22**
 * Sacred Wilderness, An African Story**

===**Unit Five: Islam** ===

Beliefs of Muslims: Islam today: Koran Reading: The Joseph story and the Yusuf Story- Comparisons (Joseph story of Judeo/Christian tradition- http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=GEN%2037-50

Islam Powerpoint 1 Islam Powerpoint 2



The Wedding of Zein discussion questions:

Ingrid Mattson, the first woman and first convert to lead the Islamic Society of North America, describes her experience of Islamic spirituality, which she discovered in her twenties after a Catholic upbringing. We probe her unusual perspective on a tumultuous age for Islam in the West and around the world. http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/newvoice/index.shtml
 * 04.19**
 * A New Voice for Islam**

http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/religiousyouth/index.shtml
 * 08.16**
 * Religious Passion, Pluralism, and the Young** We revisit Krista's 2005 conversation with Eboo Patel, who calls al-Qaeda the most effective youth organization in the world. But contrary to the wisdom of secular society, he's working to deepen rather than tame the religious energies of the young across many traditions. And he believes this may be our only chance for survival.

The 13th-century Muslim mystic and poet Rumi has long shaped Muslims around the world and has now become popular in the West. Rumi created a new language of love within the Islamic mystical tradition of Sufism. With scholar Fatemeh Keshavarz, we hear his poetry as we delve into his world and listen for its echoes in our own. http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/rumi/index.shtml discussion guide also on above link
 * 03.01**
 * The Ecstatic Faith of Rumi**

Is our Western concern about women in Islam really a concern for the well-being of women? Is the veil a symptom of their problems, or ours? Our guest Leila Ahmed provides essential background and challenges Western thinking on these and other questions. http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/muslimwomen/index.shtml also on above link: watch the slideshow "Veil as resistance"
 * 12.07.06**
 * Muslim Women**
 * and Other Misunderstandings**

During the past five years, Muslim guests on SOF have conveyed a thoughtful, questing, diverse, and compelling faith. Step back with us and hear these voices from the traditional and evolving center of Islam. And, Krista speaks with Seyyed Hossein Nasr, an esteemed Muslim scholar who brings a broad religious and historical perspective to hard questions about Islam and the West that have lingered uncomfortably in American life since 9/11. http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/hearingmuslims/index.shtml
 * 09.07.06**
 * Hearing Muslim Voices Since 9/11**

Review sheet for Islam conflicts:

Virtual field trip of Africa- http://edcommunity.apple.com/ali/story.php?itemID=453

=== Final Exam===

Maps:
 * http://www.maps.com/FunFacts.aspx?nav=FF**
 * http://www.rethinkingschools.org/just_fun/games/mapgame.html**



Comparisons:

[|Christianity and Islam comparison] [|Christianity and Buddhism comparison] [|Islam, Judaism, Christianity comparison] Comparison of all five world religions chart:

Misc. Section:
06.28 Living Vodou The word "voodoo" evokes images of sorcery and sticking pins into dolls. In fact, it's a living tradition wherever Haitians are found based on ancestral religions in Africa. Patrick Bellegarde-Smith, a Vodou priest, guides us through this mysterious tradition — one with dramatic rituals of trances, and dreaming and of belief in spirits who speak through human beings. http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/vodou/index.shtml

Poet and historian Jennifer Michael Hecht says that as a scholar she always noticed the "shadow history" of doubt out of the corner of her eye. She shows how non-belief, skepticism, and doubt have paralleled and at times shaped the world's great religious and secular belief systems. She suggests that only in modern time has doubt been narrowly equated with a complete rejection of faith, or a broader sense of mystery. http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/doubt/index.shtml also on the above link: scale of doubt quiz!
 * 05.03**
 * A History of Doubt**

Adrian Ivakhiv is an environmentalist who pursued the ecological impulse of Paganism from its ancient roots to its modern revival in Europe and North America. We hear his observations about the spirit of Paganism and its influence on everyday Western culture — and even on old-time religion. http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/pagans/index.shtml slideshow also at above link
 * 02.15**
 * Pagans Ancient and Modern**

The greatest threat in the post-Cold War world, says Douglas Johnston, is the prospective marriage of religious extremism with weapons of mass destruction. Yet the U.S. spends most of its time, resources, and weapons fighting the symptoms of this threat, not the cause. The diplomacy of the future, he is showing, must engage religion as part of the strategic solution to global conflicts. http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/diplomacyandreligion/index.shtml also at above link: "What Iranians want Americans to know about Iran"
 * 01.25**
 * Diplomacy and Religion in the 21st Century**

We explore creative and generous approaches to prayer in three very different lives: Hindu chant with musician Anoushka Shankar; poetry and "non-religious" prayer with translator Stephen Mitchell; and theologian Roberta Bondi on learning to pray with the Desert Fathers and Mothers. Also, a reflection on prayer by poet and memoirist Patricia Hampl http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/approachingprayer/index.shtml
 * 12.28.06**
 * Approaching Prayer**

A great public theologian and historian, Martin Marty offers personal and historical perspective on religion in modern life including the nature of fundamentalism and the decline of America's mainline Protestant majority as Evangelical Christianity gains in influence. http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/marty/index.shtml
 * 11.02.06**
 * America's Changing Religious Landscape: A Conversation with Martin Marty**

10.12

Globalization and the Rise of Religion Experts once predicted that as the world grew more modern, religion would decline. Precisely the opposite has proven true; religious movements are surging and driving alternative globalizations across the world. Boston University sociologist, Peter Berger, and Harvard business professor, Rosabeth Moss Kanter, explore why religion of all kinds is shaping the global economy and political order. http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/globalization/index.shtml

Find out if you are living a sustainable life using this quiz! http://sustainability.publicradio.org/consumerconsequences/index.html?=sof


 * Assessments:**
 * 1. Paper assessment [[file:Paper Assessment Rubric.doc]]**