B-Buddhist Scriptures
C-Psalm 104
D-Book of John selection
E-The Koran selections
Sacred Texts of World Religions
Overview
- Selection from the "Bhagavad Gita," inThe Mahabharata
- Selection from the Teachings of Buddha
- Selection from the "Book of Psalms;" The Holy Bible
- Selection from the "Book of John;" The Holy Bible
- Selection of surahs from The Holy Koran
Sacred Writings of Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam
Simply put, the Humanities study human culture throughout the world from the first moment of human existence until the present. Because all of cultural history is such a vast subject, humanists often aim to study certain cultures at certain times and to investigate representative cultural production that seems to best capture the human spirit—those “true and beautiful” works that best make sense of who we are, where we have come from and where we are going.
Attached you will find selections from the following sacred texts:
Selection from the "Bhagavad Gita," inThe Mahabharata
Selection from the Teachings of Buddha
Selection from the "Book of Psalms;" The Holy Bible
Selection from the "Book of John;" The Holy Bible
Selection of surahs from The Holy Koran
Contextualization of Religious Traditions with Local Culture
- Curricular Unit Overview:
“THE MYTHIC CENTRAL VALLEY: IDEAS OF EDEN AND BIBLICAL EXILE”
Simply put, the Humanities study human culture throughout the world from the first moment of human existence until the present. Because all of cultural history is such a vast subject, humanists often aim to study certain cultures at certain times and to investigate representative cultural production that seems to best capture the human spirit—those “true and beautiful” works that best make sense of who we are, where we have come from and where we are going. For instance, all cultural traditions answer the perennial questions (“Who are we?” and “Where did we come from?” and “Where are we going?”) in ways that seem to strike us as true, wise or beautiful. In order to find different answers to these existential questions, we study the plastic arts, music, architecture, cinema, philosophy, religion, poetry, drama and literature from both a historical and a thematic perspective.
Doing interdisciplinary research and demonstrating learning in the Humanities is also enriched by understandings of one’s “place” in both geographic and temporal ways. This curricular unit is intended for those who currently live and study in California’s Central Valley but could also serve as a model for other curricular investigations that involve “place” and religious traditions that seek to make timeless and mythic sense of the purpose and direction of life. The Central Valley is made up of individuals who practice many world religions yet there are also consistent elements that connect many belief systems—these are often archetypal or mythic structures of belief.
One of the best ways to understand this underlying mythic similarity is to look at the practices of everyday life as ritual. When we look at everyday life as ritual we focus on predictable or repeated actions that are performed by individuals or groups with a coherent belief system, often with the aid of ritualistic tools. Examples of ritualistic tools include performing sacraments, music or chants as well as reading and discussing sacred texts. Monotheistic belief structures, in particular, attempt to employ reading and pondering sacred texts as rituals to emphasize the sacred embedded within the ordinary and every day.
The purpose of this curricular module is to give an example of how important mythological and religious traditions—such as the Western monotheisms of Judaism, Christianity and Islam—use sacred text to transform lived experiences in “place” (both geography and time), particularly today in California’s Central Valley, into a timeless, mythic journey. This curricular unit asks students to find the “mythic” in our day-to-day lives by comparing our contemporary understanding of the perennial questions of existence—in contemporary fiction and non-fiction—to Biblical stories of paradise, exile and exodus.
- Guiding Questions:
Examples of mythic stories in sacred texts include Creation Stories (Enuma Elisha, Prose Edda, “Genesis”), Redemption Stories (“Matthew,” “Mark,” “Luke” and “John;” The Ramayana), and Destruction and Unveiling Stories (The Epic of Gilgamesh, “Revelation,” The Koran).
This curricular unit—which could also be used to “wrap around” an existing course lesson related to mythological and religious texts such as the Enuma Elisha, Prose Edda, The Epic of Gilgamesh, The Koran or The Ramayana and even performative rituals of certain faiths--asks students to read selections of fiction and non-fiction related to California’s Central Valley in an attempt to identify the “mythic structures” of daily life in the Central Valley as they relate to patterns of paradise and exodus in The Holy Bible.
This particular curricular example compares views of “Genesis” and “Exodus” in the Old Testament to the contemporary works of fiction and non-fiction that focus on life and daily living practices in California’s Central Valley.
Guiding Questions:
- What is the order of Creation according to “Genesis” and why is this ordering of creation important to a human sense of the presence of God in the world? How does the order of creation and the purpose of the Edenic world in “Genesis” compare to contemporary writings about California’s Central Valley? In contemporary fiction and non-fiction is the Central Valley most often portrayed as a) Eden; b) a place of exile; c) as a place to exodus to; or d) a place to leave? Why do you think this is so?
- What are the overall effects of religion on the development of human civilizations and cultures? How can we observe and analyze the influence religion plays in cultural production as well as perceptions of meaning about the purpose and direction of life?
- What role does a religious community play in forming personal and group identities?
- Learning Outcomes:
Upon completion of this unit, students will be able to:
- Analyze Biblical explanations, particularly in “Genesis” and “Exodus,” for the purpose of work, suffering, agricultural activity and migration.
- Apply monotheistic (Jewish, Christian and Islamic) understandings of existential quandaries, garnered through the reading of sacred texts, to daily life in California’s Central Valley as explicated in contemporary fiction and non-fiction.
- Background/Preparation Instructions:
While human beings throughout time have found plenty to disagree about—politics, financial matters, family and neighborly feuds—perhaps there is no more contentious subject than religion. Religion, understood broadly as a system of beliefs and practices meant to venerate the supernatural. Religion is, at once, deeply personal and also communal in that its precepts are generally enacted in conjunction with a large community of fellow worshippers. Students should first read and discussion selections from “Genesis” and “Exodus” in the Holy Bible that deal with conceptions of Eden and the cause, purpose and resolution of experiences of exile.
Reading selections:
- “Genesis” and “Exodus” in The Holy Bible. Biblical accounts of Eden and exile and exodus in “Genesis” from the Old Testament:
http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/k/kjv/kjv-idx?type=DIV1&byte=1477
and “Exodus” from the Old Testament:
http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/k/kjv/kjv-idx?type=DIV1&byte=220736
Then students should read and discuss contemporary selections of fiction and non-fiction that portray Central Valley life—especially Edenic allegories and migration as meaningful exile—in Biblical terms.
Reading selections:
- Contemporary Fiction and Non-Fiction selections from:
John Steinbeck’s “The Harvest Gypsies;”
William Saroyan’s “Fresno;”
David Mas Masumoto’s “Firedance;”
Joan Didion’s “Notes from a Native Daughter;”
James D. Houston’s “In Search of Oildorado;”
Bill Barich’s “Prison Valley.”
- Lesson Activities:
After reading both Biblical passages from “Genesis” and “Exodus” as well as selections of contemporary fiction and non-fiction and discussing each separately, students should begin to “synthesize” how Biblical allegory is re-employed in contemporary fiction and non-fiction of California’s Central Valley.
In addition to discussions—analytic, synthetic and evaluative in nature—students can apply what they have learned by talking of allegorical and symbolic parallels between sacred texts and contemporary writings by any number of activities.
Recommended Activities:
- Ask students to perform skits of “Eden,” “The Fall” or “Exodus and Return” but with Central Valley influences that might include dress, slang, setting and slight plot alterations. For instance, a skit on how a group of Hmong migrants to the Central Valley echoes the Hebrews and their struggles under Pharaoh and subsequent wandering “in the wilderness.”
- Ask students to write and read their own works of fiction about Central Valley life that consciously employ Biblical parallels.
- Ask students to prepare small group presentations with audio-visual supports that detail how living in the Central Valley might echo mythic structures of meaning and purpose related to living in agricultural (garden-like) communities and living in communities with large numbers of migrants from other places and cultures.
- Assessment
Students should apply what they have read and discussed to ultimately write an academic paper or work of fiction, perform a skit, or give a presentation that focuses on an understanding of how sacred texts can help give daily life new dimensions of understanding and meaning. In order to evaluate integrative learning in the Humanities, an understanding of what “doing” interdisciplinary work means.
According to the Association of American Colleges and Universities:
“Integrative learning is an understanding and a disposition that a student builds across the curriculum and co-curriculum, from making simple connections among ideas and experiences to synthesizing and transferring learning to new, complex situations within and beyond the campus.”
According to the National Endowment for the Humanities:
"The term 'humanities' includes, but is not limited to, the study and interpretation of the following: language, both modern and classical; linguistics; literature; history; jurisprudence; philosophy; archaeology; comparative religion; ethics; the history, criticism and theory of the arts; those aspects of social sciences which have humanistic content and employ humanistic methods; and the study and application of the humanities to the human environment with particular attention to reflecting our diverse heritage, traditions, and history and to the relevance of the humanities to the current conditions of national life."
The attached “Integrative Learning Value Rubric” from the Association of American Colleges and Universities provides additional information about best practices in integrative learning as well as pedagogical terms and objectives that are often used in framing integrative learning curricular units, student projects and grading rubrics.
- Extending the Lesson/Suggestions for Further Research and Learning:
Instructors may further encourage exploration of the mythic structures that provide new richness and meaning to daily living in California’s Central Valley. For instance, the following Open Educational Resources may be employed to create additional research and application projects that ask students to take what they learn about Jewish and Christian religious history, belief and praxis and seek parallels in contemporary Central Valley culture:
Online Research:
http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/literature/21l-458-the-bible-spring-2007/lecture-notes/
Title: MIT Open Courseware: The Bible
Online Research:
http://oyc.yale.edu/religious-studies/rlst-145
Title: Yale University, RLST 145: Introduction to the Old Testament (Hebrew Bible)
Online Research:
https://itunes.apple.com/itunes-u/w3719-history-modern-middle/id412486643
Title: W3719 History of the Modern Middle East – Audio by Professor Richard Bulliet
Online Research:
http://oyc.yale.edu/classics/clcv-205/lecture-1#ch1
Title: “The Judeo Christian Tradition”
Online Research:
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/birthintro.html
Title: “Ancient Jewish History: The Birth and Evolution of Judaism”
Online Research:
Title: “Borrowing from the Neighbors: Pagan imagery in Christian art”
THE SEARCH FOR COMMON GROUND: Culture in California’s Central Valley