{"id":179408,"date":"2016-02-12T11:42:49","date_gmt":"2016-02-12T16:42:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/webadmin.news-harvard.go-vip.net\/gazette\/gazette\/?p=179408"},"modified":"2016-02-12T11:42:49","modified_gmt":"2016-02-12T16:42:49","slug":"a-religion-course-for-the-internet-age","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2016\/02\/a-religion-course-for-the-internet-age\/","title":{"rendered":"A religion course for the Internet age"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t\n\t
\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tNation & World\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\n\t\t

\n\t\tA religion course for the Internet age\t<\/h1>\n\n\t\n\t\n\t
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\n\t\tBrett Milano\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t

\n\t\t\tHarvard Correspondent\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/address>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t

\n\t\t\tHarvardX MOOC explains world religions through their scripture\t\t<\/h2>\n\t\t\n<\/header>\n\n\n\n
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Harvard Divinity School senior lecturer Diane Moore has modest goals for her upcoming online course, \u201cWorld Religions Through Their Scripture.\u201d She merely wants to increase religious understanding, open up crucial dialogues, and change the world \u2014 or at least to create a MOOC that will examine religion in a uniquely enlightening way.<\/p>\n

The course, which launches this spring, will bring together Harvard\u2019s leading scholars in the world\u2019s major religions: Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Islam. As a HarvardX MOOC (massive open online course), it was designed to attract an international, multicultural audience.<\/p>\n

Moore, a senior lecturer on religious studies and education, a senior fellow at the Center for the Study of World Religions<\/a>, and director of the Religious Literacy Project<\/a>, has long been an advocate of \u201creligious literacy,\u201d meaning an understanding of how religion works in its cultural and political contexts. Thus her goal is not to champion one religion over another, but to heighten the study of religion itself. And it\u2019s not often that scholars of each leading religion interact in the real world, much less online.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe premise is that lack of understanding about religion \u2014 or in the term I use, religious illiteracy \u2014 is both widespread and dangerous,\u201d she said. \u201cIt fuels bigotry and prejudice and hinders cooperative endeavors in local and global arenas. Though a better understanding of religion is not itself going to cure the world\u2019s ills, it can certainly help create bridges and better understanding of our fellow humans. An approach like this isn\u2019t radical within the study of religion. But unfortunately, very few citizens of the world have been exposed to the study of religion as part of their schooling or intellectual life.\u201d<\/p>\n

The key to studying religions, Moore believes, is through their scripture. In some ways the class will function like a legal course: When students examine sacred texts like the Bible and Quran, they\u2019ll be noting how they can be differently interpreted. As Moore explains, religions often evolve and change according to the political and cultural climate.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt becomes an interesting set of questions: What interpretations rise to prominence in a given historical or cultural moment, and which become marginalized? Who gets to interpret, which voices get authority at different times? And how do communities of faith negotiate these differences within their own traditions? For example, you can look at the issue of peace and violence: Which contexts give rise to religious authority promoting peaceful coexistence, and what gives rise to religious expressions of violence?\u201d<\/p>\n

Likewise, she plans to explore how issues of gender have evolved over the years. \u201cThere is really no uniformity in any tradition about issues related to gender. Instead you see diverse interpretations of the roles of men and women that are represented in what we call the scriptures. That will be a theme running through all of the modules.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since the course was designed as a MOOC, and not adapted from a traditional classroom course, it aims to minimize the \u201ctalking head\u201d style of teaching in favor of video and interactivity. There are six modules: the first an overview, then one devoted to each religion. New content will be introduced on two days of each week.<\/p>\n

And on the third day there will be light \u2014 and sound. \u201cThat\u2019s when we want students to avail themselves of the discussion,\u201d Moore said. \u201cThere\u2019ll be opportunities to post video, be in live contact, and respond to exercises.\u201d<\/p>\n

The format also enables the study of religion in the context of place. Hollis Professor of Divinity Karen King, who put together the Christianity module, plans a virtual tour of Jerusalem\u2019s Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which is built on the historic site of Christ\u2019s crucifixion and resurrection. \u201cThe focus for me is on teaching students to study religion, to distinguish from how it\u2019s practiced by believers\u201d she said, \u201cnot teaching them to follow the religion, but to disperse easy stereotypes and make the religion appropriately interesting and complex.\u201d<\/p>\n

As King points out, the Bible is also more fluid than people usually realize. \u201dEveryone assumes that the Bible is fixed and set, but that isn\u2019t true. Catholics have more books than Protestants do, and you can take into account how it is acculturated in different places. There is a history of Christianity in Ethiopia that is entirely separate from how we think of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The course\u2019s interactivity allows students to contrast different versions of the Bible. \u201cWe\u2019ve videotaped a good scene with Karen on camera and dozens of Bibles around her,\u201d project leader Zachary Davis said. Creative animations are now being produced as well. \u201cThere\u2019ll be a piece on how to think of different levels of violence. They\u2019re really beautiful and fun animations.\u201d<\/p>\n

The modules can be taken individually, but students who take all six will notice some recurring themes. Because King\u2019s module comes first, she\u2019ll be introducing ideas that can be explored in the context of other religions. \u201cWe talk, for instance, about how Christians treat difference and diversity,\u201d she said. \u201cI talk about the Christian concept of the heretic, what paganism and Judaism are, and how Christianity has defined them. We look at the story of Sarah and Hagar, which is in the Book of Genesis but is also important to Muslims and Jews, so the same story is used differently. \u201c<\/p>\n

As Davis pointed out, a course like this could hardly be better timed. \u201cThere is no doubt that there\u2019s strong motivation of peace-building here. So many of our current conflicts are based on poor understanding of religion. So I think it\u2019s fair to say that a better understanding is crucial for the challenges we all face going forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

Registration for the course is now open<\/a>. There will be a panel discussion with the instructors on March 1 at 5:30 p.m. in Andover Hall. The event is free and open to the public. For more information<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\r\n\n

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