This course covers the history of Rome from its humble beginnings to the 5th century A.D. The first half covers Kingship to Republican form; the conquest of Italy; Roman expansion: Pyrrhus, Punic Wars and provinces; classes, courts, and the Roman revolution; Augustus and the formation of empire. The second half covers Virgil to the Vandals; major social, economic, political and religious trends at Rome and in the provinces. There is an emphasis on the use of primary sources in translation.

In this experiential, arts-integrated unit, students explore the historical significance of religious buildings in order to understand the ways in which architecture reflects cultural belief systems.

Christian Parables is a resource for use by school teachers that has been developed as part of Dr Naomi Appleton and Dr Alison Jack’s project Approaching Religion Through Story at the University of Edinburgh School of Divinity.

Structured to meet Education Scotland’s Curriculum for Excellence standard for Religious Moral Education (RME), the resource is divided according to the three structuring principles of the experiences and outcomes for RME in Scotland: Beliefs, Values and Issues, and Practices and Traditions. Keywords are also provided to indicate the particular relevance of the story.

The file contains six parables in PDF format, sorted by the principles stated above, and an introduction to parables.

Resources provided as part of the project ‘Approaching Religion Through Story’ are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International Licence.

For the most part recorded on site in places such as Subiaco, Montecassino, Assis, San Casciano, Florence and Rome in June of 2013, the documentary we present here was produced and then broadcasted by the State Television of Portugal on December 24, 2013 (RTP2) and January 2, 2014 (RTP1). The Program was produced for RTP1 by the Journalist Fátima Campos Ferreira and the Reporter of Image Carlos Oliveira under the scientific advice of João J. Vila-Chã, professor for Philosophy at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. The documentary was particularly enriched by the contribution of Professor Joseph Weiler, President of the European University Institute in Florence, and was edited by Alexandre Leandro, chief-editor at the RTP. Originally titled (in Portuguese) «O Triunfo do Espírito», the documentary was conceived as (a rather unusual form of) narrative about (the Idea of) Europe and out of the recognition that for the present as for the future of the world a confront remains unavoidable with the cultural and the religious dimension of the Idea of Europe as we know it through the media of our cultural (and philosophical) history. We are grateful to all the Institutions that in places such as Subiaco, Montecassino, Assis, Florence, San Casciano and Rome allowed the team sent by the RTP to Italy to realize the work as intended and so contributed in a decisive way to this particular (and somehow peculiar) narrative about the Idea of Europe.

This site offers a brief list of words that relate to Christianity, including a number of terms that are specific to Christianity as it is practiced in the Middle East. Many of the words are accompanied by brief explanations of their significance. The glossary is preceded by a brief introduction.

Many religions have things in common. At the same time, each is unique. In the shared category, Islam, like Christianity and Judaism, descends from the first five books of the Bible. That’s why some people refer to members of all three religions as “followers of the Book.” Some people also call the three religions “Abrahamic” because they all descended from Abraham. In the unique category, Jews were the first to believe that there was one God; Muslims believe that Muhammad was God’s messenger and Christians believe that Jesus Christ was the Messiah.

In the same way that religions are both alike and unique, so, too are the members of those religions. In this activity, students learn more about Muslims in the United States and practice graph-reading skills.

This is a PowerPoint slideshow I created for my Philosophy 1000 final that could be helpful for anyone studying philosophy, religion, or the existence of god. 

The Middle East conflict and terrorism are issues we hear about almost daily in the news. This lesson will use video clips from WIDE ANGLE's 'Suicide Bombers' (2004), Internet sites, and primary sources to examine the roots of the Middle East conflict. The video contains interviews with young Palestinians who participated -- or intended to participate -- in suicide bombings. These young Palestinians share the personal, religious, political and emotional reasons behind their participation in these suicide operations. This lesson could be used to review information about the three major monotheistic religions and their connections to Israel, to relate post-World War II policies to the current political state of the Middle East, and/or to get students to understand the roots of the terrorism that threatens the world we live in.

This is a short collection, which features the work of students in Dr. Mark Kinney's course, ICST 471, ANTH 470, SOCI 493: Enculturation and Spiritual  Development Across Cultures, taught at Evangel University, 2022-2023. The course has used the open textbook Discovering Cultural Anthropology by Antonia M. Santangelo. 

The 12th grade learning experience consists of 7 mostly month-long units aligned to the Common Core State Standards, with available course material for teachers and students easily accessible online. Over the course of the year there is a steady progression in text complexity levels, sophistication of writing tasks, speaking and listening activities, and increased opportunities for independent and collaborative work. Rubrics and student models accompany many writing assignments.Throughout the 12th grade year, in addition to the Common Read texts that the whole class reads together, students each select an Independent Reading book and engage with peers in group Book Talks. Language study is embedded in every 12th grade unit as students use annotation to closely review aspects of each text. Teacher resources provide additional materials to support each unit.

In our lives, we are constantly telling stories to ourselves and to others in an attempt to both understand our experiences and present our best selves to others.  But how do we tell a story about ourselves that is both true and positive? How do we hold ourselves up in the best possible light, while still being honest about our struggles and our flaws? Students will explore ways of interpreting and portraying personal experiences.  They'll read Chinua Achebe's novel Things Fall Apart , analyzing the text through the eyes of one character. They'll get to know that character's flaws and strengths, and they'll tell part of the story from that character's perspective, doing their best to tell an honest tale that presents their character's best side. Then they'll explore their own stories, crafting a personal narrative about an important moment of learning in his or her life.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Students read and analyze Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart , viewing the events and conflicts of the novel through the eyes of one of the central characters.
Students write a two-part narrative project: one narrative told through their character’s perspective and one personal narrative about an incident in their own life.

GUIDING QUESTIONS

These questions are a guide to stimulate thinking, discussion, and writing on the themes and ideas in the unit. For complete and thoughtful answers and for meaningful discussions, students must use evidence based on careful reading of the texts.

How do our conflicts shape and show our character?
How can we tell a story about ourselves that’s both honest and positive?
How do definitions of justice change depending on the culture you live in?
What are ways individuals can react to a changing world? To a community that doesn’t accept us?

BENCHMARK ASSESSMENT: Cold Read

During this unit, on a day of your choosing, we recommend you administer a Cold Read to assess students’ reading comprehension. For this assessment, students read a text they have never seen before and then respond to multiple-choice and constructed-response questions. The assessment is not included in this course materials.

In this lesson, students will debate the fairness of Umuofian society and whether anything needs changing. They will remain in character, ensuring that all sides of the issue are fully explored and defended.

In this lesson, students will create found poems—poems using language from the novel itself—to explore the impact that colonialism has on people’s self-esteem, and on the Igbo people in particular.

It's perfectly human to grapple with questions, like 'Where do we come from?' and 'How do I live a life of meaning?' These existential questions are central to the five major world religions -- and that's not all that connects these faiths. John Bellaimey explains the intertwined histories and cultures of Hinduism, Judaism, Buddhism, Christianity and Islam. Lesson by John Bellaimey, animation by TED-Ed.

This subject examines interactions across the Eurasian continent between Russians, Chinese, Mongolian nomads, and Turkic oasis dwellers during the last millennium and a half. As empires rose and fell, religions, trade, and war flowed back and forth continuously across this vast space. Today, the fall of the Soviet Union and China’s reforms have opened up new opportunities for cultural interaction.

See https://northeast.edu/news/article/5152-hawk-talks-roots-of-abrahamic-religions-postponed-to-fri-march-17"Pollock’s primary areas of interest are in the history of Northern Europe, East Asia, and the Middle East with a focus on Abrahamic religions. His presentation will cover the origins of the three major Abrahamic beliefs, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam....“Professor Pollock is a rare scholar who is able to approach all three of these faiths from a critical perspective while at the same time celebrating them and appreciating all of the beauty they have to offer...During his time in college, Pollock delved into understanding the history of Christianity’s global legacy and the religions of other civilizations. He teaches world religions in his World Civilization class for Modesto Junior College. " 

This material is about the history of Israel, a small strip of land on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, and its importance to three major religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Israel was a major crossroad between Europe, Asia, and Africa because of its location in the middle of the region. It had different periods of rule by different empires, and during this time, many impressive architectural structures were built, like the aqueducts of Caesarea and the fortress of Masada. The British also ruled over Israel for a period of time after World War I. Eventually, in 1948, Israel became a modern state after being granted some of the original land by the United Nations. Israel is the Jewish homeland, which Jews have had since ancient times, and the idea of a specific state called “Palestine” is factually incorrect.

After completing basic biblical Greek, students are often eager to continue to learn and strengthen their skills of translation and interpretation. This intermediate graded reader is designed to meet those needs. The reader is “intermediate” in the sense that it presumes the user will have already learned the basics of Greek grammar and syntax and has memorized Greek vocabulary words that appear frequently in the New Testament. The reader is “graded” in the sense that it moves from simpler translation work (Galatians) towards more advanced readings from the book of James, the Septuagint, and from one of the Church Fathers. In each reading lesson, the Greek text is given, followed by supplemental notes that offer help with vocabulary, challenging word forms, and syntax. Discussion questions are also included to foster group conversation and engagement. There are many good Greek readers in existence, but this reader differs from most others in a few important ways. Most readers offer text selections from different parts of the Bible, but in this reader the user works through one entire book (Galatians). All subsequent lessons, then, build off of this interaction with Galatians through short readings that are in some way related to Galatians. The Septuagint passages in the reader offer some broader context for texts that Paul quotes explicitly from the Septuagint. The Patristic reading from John Chrysystom comes from one of his homilies on Galatians. This approach to a Greek reader allows for both variety and coherence in the learning process.

Introducing Africa is comprised of two lessons and is designed to raise studentsĚ_Ě_´ awareness about stereotypes of Africa; teach them information about the history, geography, economics and cultures of Africa; and to give them an appreciation for the diversity of the African continent. This kit will teach students to identify important details, make logical inferences, and draw informed conclusions from visual documents including photographs and money. The lesson was designed for third grade but can be used with older students.

This course provides a historical study of the origins of Christianity by analyzing the literature of the earliest Christian movements in historical context, concentrating on the New Testament. Although theological themes will occupy much of our attention, the course does not attempt a theological appropriation of the New Testament as scripture. Rather, the importance of the New Testament and other early Christian documents as ancient literature and as sources for historical study will be emphasized. A central organizing theme of the course will focus on the differences within early Christianity (-ies).