Varieties of Religious Experience

Instructor: Paul A. Castelfranco, Department of Religious Studies, College of Letters and Science

Description: The overall goal of the seminar is to familiarize the students with the various types of religious experiences and of organized religion. The class will be exposed to a number of significant alternatives in religious backgrounds, attitudes and experiences and will discuss and evaluate these various alternatives. The instructor will help in this dialogue by acting as a facilitator and as a resource person.

Format: This year this course will emphasize the three "Abrahamic" religions: namely, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The instructor will in part lecture and in part lead discussions. In the last part of the course we will have invited guest speakers. Each student is expected to write a short paper (6 to 8 pages double spaced) on one of the following texts.

1. Alex Haley and Malcolm X: The Autobiography of Malcolm X

2. Bernard Shaw: Saint Joan

3. Andre Schwarp-Bart: The Last of the Just

There will be a final examination on the lecture material. Grading: will be based on: 1) attendance and classroom participation, 2) written paper and, 3) final examination.

About the Instructor: Professor Emeritus Castelfranco holds a Ph.D. in Agricultural Chemistry (Berkeley, 1954) and an S.T.B. degree (Harvard, 1957). His major research interest for the last twenty years before his retirement has been the biosynthesis of Chlorophyll.