Places to Send Students in Search of Religion Blog Topics
Posted: January 22, 2012 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: blogging, teaching 1 Comment »I gave a couple of talks around Emory last week about my experience teaching with social media last semester. In the wake of those I’ll be posting some resources for folks looking to use blogging or Twitter in their classes. Here is a list of good sites I recommended to students for looking for articles/posts to write their posts about. While I didn’t require them to use these, almost every one of them did and they had great results.
Religion Dispatches: http://www.religiondispatches.org
Religion in American History: http://usreligion.blogspot.com
CNN Belief Blog: http://religion.blogs.cnn.com
NY Times Religion: http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/r/religion_and_belief/index.html?
Religion News Service: http://religionnews.com/index.php?/rnsblog
Reuter’s Faith World: http://blogs.reuters.com/faithworld/
Washington Post OnFaith: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/on-faith
Huffington Post Religion: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/religion/
USA Today Faith & Reason: http://content.usatoday.com/communities/Religion/index
Google News- Religion: http://news.google.com/news/section?pz=1&jfkl=true&cf=all&ned=us&hl=en&csid=41b9657e37e26fc7&ict=ln
The Revealer: http://therevealer.org/
Killing the Buddha: http://killingthebuddha.com/
Warren Throckmorton: http://wthrockmorton.com/
Engines of Change and Chronology in American Religious History
Posted: November 17, 2011 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: american religious history, ASCH, blogging, chronology, historiography, us religion blog Leave a comment »Cross-posted from Religion in American History
While we are all aflutter over this weekends’ American Academy of Religion, I would ask us to take a moment and turn our attention to another scholarly society–the American Society of Church History. Earlier this month the ASCH launched its very own blog that is open to contributions from any of its members (ahem, AAR are you listening?) So far there has been some quite interesting content covering Christian history in America. Yesterday’s post from W. Clark Gilpin, “Wanted: A New Chronology of American Religious History,” especially caught my attention.
Gilpin points out that one of the central tasks of the historian is to track change over time and this requires some sort of chronology. How one builds that chronology, though, will depend on what one sees as the engine driving change.
In no small measure, decisions about periodization depend on the issues that a given author or group of authors have identified as the principal engines of change. Historians who link American religious history to immigration are likely to produce a different chronology from historians focused on the intersection of religion and politics, or the history of religiously motivated movements of social reform. And yet, a moment’s reflection will also suggest that these three sets of concerns display interesting chronological convergences, for example, with changes in U.S. immigration law and movements for civil rights during the 1960s.
The entire post is worth a read, but this point was especially interesting to me. As we think about the narratives we tell about religion in America, what are the engines driving our chronologies? What do they allow us to see? Where do they give us blindspots? For my current work I’d have to say “religious difference” drives the narrative. Gilpin names immigration, politics, and reform. Lately on the blog we’ve been talking a lot about the market. Are there other engines we’ve yet to put to use? Where could they take us?
2011 Cliopatria Awards: My blog’s not great but maybe you could nominate my tweets
Posted: November 4, 2011 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: blogging, history, shameless self-promotion, Twitter Leave a comment »
The 2011 Cliopatria Awards are now open for nominations. These awards are given out for the best bloggers, blogs, and posts in the field of history. But this year there is a new category: Best Twitter Feed. I’m not going lie, I’d love it if you nominated my feed for this award. I’m not sayin’, I’m just sayin’.
Also, please think about nominating my friends at Religion in American History and The Way of Improvement Leads Home for their great posts and writers.
(Image: John James Audubon [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons)
I’m Now at michaeljaltman.net
Posted: September 26, 2011 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: blogging, shameless self-promotion Leave a comment »…so check your RSS feeds and what-not. I decided it was time I grew up and got my own domain. So, now you can find me at http://michaeljaltman.net. Pretty cute, eh? You should get redirected here from the old URL but I don’t know how this will affect RSS feeds. Of course, if you read this blog via RSS you might never get this post, so you’ll never know. Spread the word and tell your friends.
REL100 Syllabus: Blogging, Tweeting, and Deconstructing Religion
Posted: August 23, 2011 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: academia, blogging, Christianity, Hinduism, REL100, syllabus, teaching, Twitter Leave a comment »I finally finished the syllabus for REL100. Good thing, too. The first day of class is tomorrow morning. It’s all filled up–40 students. Here goes nothin’!
REL 100: Introduction to Religion
Christian and Hindu Traditions
Michael J. Altman
Office Hours: Thursday 9am-noon, Callaway S220 (or by appt.)
I. Course Description
This course introduces the academic study of religion through a comparative approach to Hindu and Christian religious cultures. The central question of our course is “What is religion?” We will attempt to answer this question by drawing on a range of examples from Hindu and Christian religious cultures. These case studies will come from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries in both India and America and range from Hindu pilgrimage to Catholic devotionalism to yoga to evangelicalism. These case studies will be organized around three themes: the body, ritual and devotion, and space and motion. In each case and through each theme we will pay special attention to the ways “religion” is constructed, authorized, and maintained. Turning to the ways religion was constructed in the past will shed light on the ways it is understood today. By the end of the course we will have an understanding of the rich variety of religious cultures found within Christianity and Hinduism while also gaining theoretical tools for analyzing various constructions of “religion” in public discourse and culture.
II. Course Outcomes
We will develop expertise in interpreting the plurality of religions (especially Christianity and Hinduism) in their historical settings.
We will critically assess the influence religions (again, especially Christianity and Hinduism) exert in shaping experience and society.
We will investigate the diverse of ways of “being in the world” in Christian and Hindu traditions.
Drafting a Syllabus: REL100 Intro. to Religion- Christian and Hindu Traditions
Posted: August 15, 2011 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: blogging, digital humanities, REL100, syllabus, teaching, Twitter 2 Comments »I’ve been preparing for my maiden voyage in the world of teaching this coming semester. I’ve been given the privileged of teaching my own class: Religion 100 Introduction to Religion. At Emory we teach this course comparatively so every class picks two traditions to focus on. Being an Americanist who studies Hinduism in American culture, I of course chose Christianity and Hinduism. I’m really excited about the course. I’m going to try and use Twitter inside and outside of class and we’re also going to set up a public blog for the class. Is this too much? I don’t know. We’ll see. So, without further ado, below is my first draft of the syllabus. I’d welcome any comments, provocations, or advice. I’ve already turned to Facebook for a lot of ideas and help with it as it stands now. So let me know what you think! (The spacing in the schedule section is a little off from copying and pasting out of Word but I’m too lazy to fix it right now.)
Religion 100: Introduction to Religion
Christian and Hindu Traditions
MWF 10:40-11:30 White Hall 112
Michael J. Altman
@MichaelJAltman
Office Hours: Tues. 2pm-4pm, Wed. 3pm-5pm at the Starbucks in the Oxford Rd. Bldg. and by appt.
I. Course Description
This course introduces the academic study of religion through a comparative approach to Hindu and Christian religious cultures. The central question of our course is “What is religion?” We will attempt to answer this question by drawing on a range of examples from Hindu and Christian religious cultures. These case studies will come from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries in both India and America and range from Hindu pilgrimage to American Catholic devotionalism to yoga to evangelical Christian revivalism. These case studies will be organized around three themes: the body, ritual and devotion, and space and motion. In each case and through each theme we will pay special attention to the ways “religion” is constructed, authorized, and maintained. Turning to the ways religion was constructed in the past will shed light on the ways it is understood today. By the end of the course we will have an understanding of the rich variety of religious cultures found within Christianity and Hinduism while also gaining theoretical tools for analyzing various constructions of “religion.”
I Got a (Kinda) New Blogging Gig
Posted: February 7, 2011 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: academia, blogging, religion dispatches, Religion Dispatches Leave a comment »I’m taking a small step up as a blogger. I’ve been blogging as a guest blogger over at Religion Dispatches for a while now. I’ve been writing a weekly review of religion in the news and I’ve also done some other posts here and there. I usually post a portion of these peices here and a link to the full text at RD. Anyways, now the fine folks over at RD have asked me to come on as regular blogger and write a few blog posts a week. So, that means I’ll be doing a lot more writing there and a lot less here–not that I’ve been doing much here lately. I won’t be posting everything I write over at RD on this blog. Instead, there’s a nifty new RSS feed from my RD blog on the right hand sidebar here.
I will still use this blog to write about academic stuff, my research, history, and other things but please read my blog at RD to find great stuff on religion, culture, and politics. I’m really excited to take this chance to branch out and find ways to relate my academic training to news and opinions going on everyday. I’m a big fan of public scholarship and our role in the academy as public intellectuals. This a chance to begin learning how to write for a general audience as a young scholar.
If you read this blog in an RSS reader, please add the RD Blog RSS feed or the RSS feed for my RD blog. Its going to be some great content, I promise.
Getting Back to the Writing
Posted: December 3, 2010 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: blogging, dissertation, exams, grad school, writing Leave a comment »
I passed my exams. Hooray!
For me, the exciting part is that I get to go back to writing. I got into this whole grad school thing for the writing. I enjoy the teaching. I like the reading. Seminar classes are fun. But I love the writing. From the research to the bibliography to the blank stare I give the laptop monitor, the writing is what keeps me going. With exams done I look ahead at two more mountains to climb and they are both writing mountains.
First, their is the smaller peak–the dissertation proposal. I’ve been thinking through this project since my M.A. thesis and now I’m finally to the point where I can begin to think through and write down what I really want to do in this dissertation. I’ve written a half-dozen or so seminar papers that are sort of first drafts for future dissertation chapters, but the proposal is a chance to finally think big picture. I can’t wait.
The second mountain, the dissertation itself, is taller, steeper, and I imagine it having a dark cloud and lightning bolts at the top. It’s still off in the distance a ways. I can’t see the top of it–it is hidden by that cloud with the lightning–but I can see it standing tall behind the peak of the proposal. I think it’s best not to stare at it too long or else I might lose my way on the climb up the proposal.
So, now that I’m done with all the reading and examining it is also time to get back to writing not related to school. I’m now writing for three blogs. First, I’m still doing a weekly review of religion over at Religion Dispatches. Second, I’ll be writing more contributions over at Religion in American History. Lastly, I’m now a contributing-scholar for a new blog for emerging scholars called State of Formation. I’ve written two posts for State of Formation. The first post argued that we need to be aware of the ways we construct the term religion. The second post was an attempt to think through the question of what makes religious practice authentic. I’ll post excerpts and links to other blog posts and articles on this blog as they appear on the inter-webs and I might even get around to writing something original for this blog.
I have to say it again. After all that reading, I’m so glad to be writing again.
(Somebody keep this post handy when I’m halfway through a chapter of the dissertation and ready to quit it all and go to brewery school.)
Shariah-Approved Sex Aids, Abstinence-Only Goes to China, and Abercrombie Hijab…The Week in Religion, Poetically
Posted: September 10, 2010 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: American Religion, beer, blogging, gender, Islam, media, Mormonism, Religion, religion dispatches, Religion Dispatches, religion news, science, sex Leave a comment »Ramadan is not only a time for fasting, it’s also a time for the best television around the Muslim world. A television serial in Egypt has stirred controversy: The Group explores the world of the Muslim Brotherhood, the country’s largest opposition movement. Similarly, a Syrian serial, What Your Right Hand Possess (it sounds better in Arabic) has drawn furiouscriticism for allegedly distorting Islam. A Malaysian TV station has axed a commercial wishing Muslims a happy Eid al-Fitr because viewers complained the commercial was too Christmas-y.
In France, halal food is going upscale.
Christian morality meets communist population control: evangelical group Focus on the Family has partnered with Chinese officials to bring its abstinence program to Chinese teens. Muslim couples can find “shariah-approved” products for “sexual health” at El Asira—an online shop attracting 30,000 visits a week.
Teetotaling Mormons in Idaho grow barley for beer brewers.
A Muslim mason who worked to rebuild the Saint Jean Cathedral in Lyon, France, has been immortalized as a winged gargoyle on the facade of the church. The inscription beneath his stone image reads “God is great.” In Germany, a team of researchers have built digital models of synagogues destroyed by Nazis on Kristallnacht in 1938.
Continue Reading at Religion Dispatches>>>
The Week in Religion, Poetically
Posted: August 27, 2010 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: American Religion, blogging, Islam, religion dispatches, Religion Dispatches, religion news Leave a comment »A limit of two stories about the not-a-mosque not at Ground Zero: First,I can’t get “We’ve Got To Stop the Mosque at Ground Zero” out of my head. It’s mix of offensive lyrics and campy Toby Keith rip-off vocals makes it funny and pathetic at the same time. Plus, it’s catchier than the Bed Intruder song. Second, Miss USA, a Muslim herself, has taken a standagainst the Park51 project. So, there you have it.
The Salem Witch Trials: video game edition. It’s like a Hawthorne short story for your PC or Mac.
A Brooklyn rabbi has been approved to serve as a chaplain in the Army reserves but can’t because the Army wants him to shave his beard. As an older rabbi serving the Army put it, “Look at some of our past generals’ beards, like Ulysses Grant. In the Civil War, a lot of those guys in the military leadership looked like Hasidic individuals.” At Fort Eustis in Virginia, about 80 soldiers were punished for choosing not to attend an evangelical Christian concert organized by the camp’s commanders. A Muslim soldier is wants to leave the military as a conscientious objector.
Continue reading at Religion Dispatches >>>
