First Day of Class

1. First Day of Class Hy 476 Spring, 2011

2. Access to Course • Syllabus Online • eLearning The painting is sometimes titled as "Fame", but the absence of certain symbols associated with Fame suggest that this more likely be Clio, the muse of History. Artemisia Gentlileschi, 1632.

3. What Is “Religion?” • Definitions of religion on the Web: • a strong belief in a supernatural power or powers that control human destiny; "he lost his faith but not his morality" • an institution to express belief in a divine power; "he was raised in the Baptist religion"; "a member of his own faith contradicted him" wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn • The Religions of Dune are a key aspect of the fictional setting of the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. ...en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_(Dune) • A collection of practices, based on beliefs and teachings that are highly valued or sacred; Any practice that someone or some group is seriously ...en.wiktionary.org/wiki/religion

4. Religion • religious - concerned with sacred matters or religion or the church; "religious texts"; "a member of a religious order"; "lords temporal and spiritual ... • religious - having or showing belief in and reverence for a deity; "a religious man"; "religious attitude" • religious - of or relating to clergy bound by monastic vows; "the religious or regular clergy conducts the service" • religious - a member of a religious order who is bound by vows of poverty and chastity and obedience • religious - extremely scrupulous and conscientious; "religious in observing the rules of health" wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn • The world's principal religions and spiritual traditions may be classified into a small number of major groups, although this is by no means a uniform practice. Christianity, Islam and Judaism (and sometimes the Bahá'í Faith) can be summarized as Abrahamic religions. ...en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religions

5. Religion • Or, how about that great standby of all scholars and students looking for quick information on the web, Wikipedia

6. Definition of History? • Definitions of history on the Web: • the aggregate of past events; "a critical time in the school's history" • a record or narrative description of past events; "a history of France"; "he gave an inaccurate account of the plot to kill the president"; "the story of exposure to lead" • the discipline that records and interprets past events involving human beings; "he teaches Medieval history"; "history takes the long view" • the continuum of events occurring in succession leading from the past to the present and even into the future; "all of human history" • all that is remembered of the past as preserved in writing; a body of knowledge; "the dawn of recorded history"; "from the beginning of history" wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn • "HIStory"/"Ghosts" is a double A-side single from Michael Jackson's 1997 remix album '. The original version of "HIStory" was released as a track ...en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HIStory_(song) • History is the debut EP by Canadian indie rock band controller.controller. It was released on August 3, 2004 on Paper Bag Records.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_(controller.controller_album)

7. History • All human societies have medical beliefs that provide explanations for birth, death, and disease. Throughout history, illness has been attributed to witchcraft, demons, adverse astral influence, or the will of the gods. ...en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_(medicine) • The history of wine spans thousands of years and is closely intertwined with the history of agriculture, cuisine, civilization and humanity itself. Archaeological evidence suggests that the earliest wine production came from sites in Georgia and Iran, dating from 6000 to 5000 BC. ...en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_(wine) • The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire was written by English historian Edward Gibbon and published in six volumes. ...en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_History

8. The History of Religion • How about the History of Religion in 90 Seconds? • Or, let’s take a quick look at old standby, Wikipedia • Or, you like dates? After all, isn’t history just about names and dates? • Tired of ideas and theologies, what about “things” in American religious history?

9. And Historically, Religion in Latin America • Indigeneous Religions at the Time of Contact • Roman Catholicism introduced during the Conquest • Syncretized forms of religion as they developed in long Spanish colonial period • Arrival of Protestantism after Latin American Wars of Independence • Pentecostalism sweeps across Latin America in second half of twentieth century