PHI 2-355 Philosophy of Religion White
2014/15 202 Prall House
Phone: ext. 4239
Home: 319-551-9967
E-Mail: JWHITE
Class Time: M-F 12:00-3:00 Office Hours: M, W, F 11-12
Th 3:00-3:30

Required Books: Michael Palmer (ed.), Philosophy of Religion (Fortress, 2011). Lots of other material on Moodle

Course Requirements:

(1) Daily readings, attendance, class engagement (15%) (2) Two papers each of about 5 pages in length (40%), or one paper and dictionary (3) 3 short-answer quizzes (20%) (4) A take-home final exam (25%)
Papers: Due on the 2nd and 3rd Fridays of the block at 3 PM. An automatic extension until noon the next day will be given to anyone attending class on Friday. I will provide suggested topics for each paper. Generally, papers should be philosophical, where, for our purposes, this means they should be analytical or argumentative papers. Only extreme circumstances justify turning in a paper or the exam late, and these should be cleared if in any way possible before the event in question. Make sure you document carefully material you use in writing your papers. Academic dishonesty will result in your failing the course.
Allowable Substitute for One Paper: Dictionary Project: During the term, write down every word or phrase you encounter but don’t clearly understand, and then record its definition (I recommend using 3 X 5 index cards). Submit your collection at the end of the term. Grade for the project will be based on the number of terms and the quality of definitions.
The short-answer quizzes will generally consist of identification/definition questions answerable in one or two sentences. At least some questions on quizzes will concern material in the reading not explicitly discussed in class. They should take around 15 minutes to complete.
The final exam will consist of three or four essay questions concerned with arguments we’ve discussed. It will be due the last Wednesday of the course at 3:00 PM.
I also expect your attendance and engagement in class. This is a philosophy class and unless you are actively engaged in thinking about the issues we'll be discussing, you are not functioning as a philosopher. In particular, I am interested in knowing that you are doing the assigned reading. I expect that over the course of the block you will make it clear to me that you are so reading, by answering questions concerned with the reading and engaging in discussions centered the readings. Missing 2 or more classes will result in your receiving a zero for this component of your grade. Missing 4 or more will result in your failing the course.

Our classroom will be an electronics-free zone: no computers, cell phones, or other sorts of electronic devices may be on table tops or otherwise visible in class.

In all work, it is expected that you will adhere to strict standards of academic honesty. You must cite properly ideas you borrow from others. You must refrain from copying the work of other students. Failure to do so will result in your failing the course.

The following statement is from the Cornell College Catalogue:
Cornell College expects all members of the Cornell community to act with academic integrity. An important aspect of academic integrity is respecting the work of others. A student is expected to explicitly acknowledge ideas, claims, observations, or data of others, unless generally known. When a piece of work is submitted for credit, a student is asserting that the submission is her or his work unless there is a citation of a specific source. If there is no appropriate acknowledgement of sources, whether intended or not, this may constitute a violation of the College’s requirement for honesty in academic work and may be treated as a case of academic dishonesty. The procedures regarding how the College deals with cases of academic dishonesty appear in The Compass, our student handbook, under the heading “Academic Policies – Honesty in Academic Work.”

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