Old Religions / Current Events

Old Religions / Current Events

75 points

The goal of this assignment is to give you an opportunity to see how each of the 5 major world religions we are studying in this unit influences current events.

1. For each of the major world religions (Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity and Islam) collect one news article from a credible news source (CNN, Newsweek, Time, BBC, Wall Street Journal…) covering an event or situation that is being influenced by that religion or which involves that religion. These articles should be dated within the current semester. – Use only secular news sources that are not statedly biased. For instance, you may not use sources such as Christianity Today (not secular) nor National Geographic (not a news source) nor Breitbart (statedly-biased). – Make sure they are NEWS ARTICLES and not opinion pieces, editorial pieces nor blogs. These will not be accepted for this assignment and will result in no points for that particular article/abstract.

In other words, you’ll collect 1 news article relating to Hinduism, 1 relating to Buddhism, etc. Make sure you use at least 5 different news sources. If you use a second article from a source you have already used, no points will be given for that abstract.

2. Type an abstract of each article. An abstract is a summary that is ½ page long and single-spaced (250 words). Your abstract should include the name of the religion at the top of the page, a statement that tells what the article is about, a description of some major points, and a few analytical statements in which you apply at least two concepts learned in class (for example, the terms you studied for your terms tests, either in Unit 1 or in Unit 2) that help you understand the article. These comments should demonstrate some things you have learned in this course about the five major world religions or the role/s of religion in culture. NOTE: Do not state your opinion about the article or take sides on the issue discussed in the article. Keep in mind that in this course we are taking the descriptive approach to religion, not the evaluative approach.

3. Also include: – a citation of the article either before or after the abstract. The citation must include the name of the publication (i.e. Newsweek), the title of the article, and the date (again, this must be in the current semester) of publication. The citation is not included in the ½-page length of the abstract. – an active hyper-link that goes directly to the article. If you locate an article through a database (i.e ProQuest), go to the website of the news source and hyperlink to the original article – in other words, no links through the data base (i.e. no links through ProQuest, etc.). The hyper-link is not included in the 1/2-page length of the abstract. If the link you have submitted does not work, no points will be given for that abstract.

4. Your abstracts must be in the following order (and in one document, not submitted as 5 separate documents): 1) Hinduism abstract / citation / active hyper link to the article 2) Buddhism abstract / citation / active hyper link to the article 3) Judaism abstract / citation / active hyper link to the article

4) Christianity abstract / citation / active hyper link to the article 5) Islam abstract / citation / active hyper link to the article

5. Mechanics: – single-spaced – 12 pt. font – 1” margins – your name and the religion about which you writing at the top of each page – Submit through the ASSIGNMENTS page on BlackBoard.

6. Grading:

See rubric below!

If you need help finding sources, here is a link path from the MSU library home page (library.missouristate.edu)

library.missouristate.edu

>Subject Guides

>List of all Guides

>News Resources From the News Resources page, either: >Newspaper Source >That will take you to a page where you can type in a key word or two for what you are searching. When those articles open, you can go to the left menu bar and narrow the date of publication to this semester.

OR

On the News Resources page, you may also click on some specific newspapers, then search by topic / religion and date. Note: WORLD NEWS DIGEST is not a newspaper or news source – rather, it is a collection of news stories for which you would need to search to find the original news story (probably not your most efficient route!).