RELS 3159-01 [on] MWF

[in] 1043 Bartlett Hall

[at] 11:00-11:50AM
[w/] Professor Burnidge

By taking this class, I will.

1. Learn how religion and politics

shape American culture
2. Learn how American culture
shapes religion and politics.
Religion & politics have made and continue to make
America what we understand it to be today. At the
same time America influences how we think about
religion and politics. In this class, we will learn
why that is, how it came about, & who benefits.

3. Develop my critical thinking skills

by using Historical Perspective and
Critical Social Theory.
Critical thinking is the goal of most courses in the
Arts & Sciences. It takes time and practice to become
a critical thinker. In this class we will practice doing
so by paying attention to change over time and being
skeptical of our sources and subjects of information.

4. Apply those skills to the 2016

Presidential Campaign
Are you worried that you have to hold a certain
affiliation to do well in this class? Have no fear!
Iowa Code 721.5 states: It shall be unlawful for any
state officer, any state appointive officer, or state
employee to leave the place of employment or the
duties of office for the purpose of soliciting votes or
engaging in campaign work during the hours of
employment of any such officer or employee. (Want to
check it for yourself? See: https://goo.gl/McgXrf)

Despite what many people might say, college exists

in the real world. What we read and discuss in
class does not exist in a vacuum. It can changeI
think it should changewhat we think of the world
around us. Likewise, the world around us can and I
think shouldchange the way we think about our
class. Ive designed this class so that we can apply
what we learn directly to the real world, especially
our engagement with the presidential primary and
upcoming general election.

Professor Burnidge

Fall 2015

Course Materials & Assignments

I selected course materials and created assignments to assess your
progress toward the above learning goals. The readings and
assignments are designed to work together incrementally to help
you reach these goals. You will see the most improvement &
advancement if you complete all the readings & assignments to the best
of your abilities.
The only textbook for this class is Craig Martins A Critical
Introduction to the Study of Religion (2014). In addition to this
textbook, I will post other required material on eLearning,
including PDFs, podcasts, and videos. I expect all students to
complete these assigned readings before class. In order to insure this
will happen, I will assign short (1-page) Reading Responses
and/or In-class exercises to correspond with each set of materials.
These assignments will vary in format, but each will help you
comprehend the topic we are discussing.
In addition to this steady stream of writing & discussion, I will
assign 3 take-home essays (1-2 pages in length). A Group Project
Required Readings: Craig Martins
and Presentation will serve as the final exam.
A Critical Introduction to the Study of
All written work will be submitted via Google Drive and graded Religion (2014) & all PDFs, podcasts,
videos, or the like posted on
according to separate rubrics distributed to the class ahead of
eLearning or emailed to the class.
time. Due dates can be found on the course schedule.

Attendance & Participation

Attendance is necessary to do well in this class. It will be

taken in some form during each class. You do not receive a
grade for occupying a seat in class; instead, you are graded
on your participation in class.
I expect all students to come to every class session. We
cannot always meet this expectation and sometimes with
reason. Reasonable absences are those that result from
you or someone under your care being sick, injured, or
hospitalized; from bereavement, military or civic duties;
from official participation in a university event; and from
observing a religious holiday. These absences wont affect
your grade so long as you inform me within 48 hours of
your absence. Special accommodations (like deadline
extensions) will be made on a case-by-case basis and must
be requested before an assignment is due.
All absences should be reported via eLearning. It is the
students responsibility to catch up on what was missed.

Professor Burnidge

Fall 2015

Grading Philosophy & Policies

For the next 16 weeks, I will see myself as your coach.
Like other coaches, I will cheer you on and encourage
you as you strive to better yourself. And make no
mistake: learning requires you to strive. It requires
intellectual sweat, a real effort that can be difficult and
can be painful. You might not want to do it, or you
might want to only do the bare minimum rather than
attempt to do your best. But thats where your coach
comes in. I will push you to work harder and dig
deeper so that you will be better than when you
started. I expect all of my students to be different than
when we met on the first day of classto know more
and to think in new ways.

Grading Rubric
In-class Participation

200 pts

(20%)

Reading Responses

200 pts

(20%)

3 Take-Home Essays

300 pts

(30%)

Group Project

150 pts

(15%)

Group Presentation

150 pts

(15%)

Total

1,000 pts

Final grades will be calculated according to

the point system above. All points will be
rounded to the nearest integer (0.5 and
above will round up; 0.49 and below will
round down) and assigned a letter according
to the rubric below.

As

I expect all students to follow the UNI Student

Academic Ethics Policy. Students who commit one
of the outlined violations will be dealt with on an
individual basis according to the Ethics Sanction
guidelines. (http://www.uni.edu/policies/301)
If you have questions or concerns related to our
class, I expect you to contact me to talk about it. If you
are unhappy with your performance in this class,
then I expect you to contact me to talk about it so we
can improve together. If something is preventing
you from doing your best, then I expect you to contact
me to talk about it so I can help you strategize how
you might work around or through it.

A:
1,000-925

A-:
924-895

Bs

B+:
894-875

B:
874-825

B-:
824-795

Cs

C+:
794-785

C:
784-725

C-:
724-695

Ds

D+:
694-675

D:
674-625

D-:
624-595

If you have any questions about your grade at

any point, please contact me via email or come to
office hours (or both!) so we can talk about it.

Professor Burnidge

Course Schedule
The course will be broken roughly into four units.
August 24-September 4: American History Review
9.7: No Class (Labor Day)
September 7-October 2: We the People
9.11: Essay 1 Due
10.2: Essay 2 Due
October 5-Novemer 18: In Order to form a more
perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic
tranquility, provide for the common defence,
promote the general Welfare, and secure the
blessings of liberty to ourselves and our Posterity
TBA: Essay 3

Fall 2015

Campus Resources
ADA & Student Accommodations
I wish to hear from any student who has a disability
that may require modification of the seating, testing,
or other class requirements so that appropriate
arrangements may be made. Should a student have
a request or complaint, he or she is welcome to
contact me at any time.

November 23- 27: No class (Thanksgiving Break)

Those seeking accommodations based on

disabilities should obtain a Student Academic
Accommodation Request (SAAR) form from
Student Disability Services (SDS) (phone 319-2732677, for deaf or hard of hearing, use Relay 711).
SDS is located on the top floor of the Student Health
Center, Room 103.

November 30-December 11: Group Work & Final

Presentations

Academic Learning Center

For students who prefer to plan their schedule ahead

of time, this sparse list may be frustrating. A more
detailed schedule will be provided after we iron out what
topics we want to cover in the third section of class.
That more detailed schedule will include dates and
the corresponding readings. All schedules are subject
to change. Students will be given advanced notice
when this is the case and a new schedule will be
distributed via email and eLearning.

You can visit the website

at http://www.uni.edu/unialc/ or call 319-2732361 for more information and to set up an
appointment.

If you are unsure of any information, feel free to

email me for clarification.

Contact information
Email: cara.burnidge@uni.edu
Twitter: @burnidge (#RELcats)
Office: 1095 Bartlett Hall
Office Hours: W 1:00-3:00PM or by
appointment (you are always welcome
to email me to set up an appointment)
4

For help beyond your Instructor on any

assignments, the Academic Learning Center
provides free assistance with writing, math, science,
college reading, and learning strategies. UNIs
Academic Learning Center is located in 008 ITTC.

UNI Counseling Center

The UNI Counseling Center promotes personal
development and psychological well-being. All
appointments are confidential with a trained
counselor. Currently UNI Students who have paid
the mandatory health fee are eligible for Counseling
Center services. The Counseling Center is located at
103 Student Health Center.
You can visit the website at
https://www.uni.edu/counseling/ or call 319-2732676 for more information or to schedule an
appointment.