Week 14: Popular religion in the present

Nov. 28 – Dec. 4

Last week with reading and content, next week it’s all about wrapping up and reviewing. Time surely flies when you’re having fun (or play with magical creatures).

Unless otherwise noted, all assignments and tasks are due by 11:59PM. I strongly suggest you keep a healthy life-work balance and make sure to get enough sleep. Check the “best-before dates” policy in the syllabus.

Monday
  • □ Look ahead at the readings and tasks for this week, and plan in when you will do them.
  • – This prevents last minute panic, and means you can make the most of our time together in class.
  •  
  • □ Feedback on your fellow students’ posts
  • – Read through and use Hypothes.is (Group HST107) to comment on your fellow students’ First Post: everybody likes some encouragement! Here is a random selection of three posts. If two or more posts are the same, or one is your own, just refresh the page for a different set. It’s all random, it’s all good!
  • * Post 1:
  • * Post 2:
  • * Post 3:
Tuesday
  • □ Prepare before class: Readings
    • Chao, Adam Yuet. Miraculous Response: Doing Popular Religion in Contemporary China. Stanford: Stanford Univ. Press, 2006. [e-book]
        • Note: Read chapter 4 “Beliefs and Practices” only.
        • Note: Shaanbei is a term used by the author to denote northern (bei) Shaanxi province, it’s in northern China. (Check a map 😀 )
        • Reading questions: 1) pay attention to elements we have encountered before (ideas, gods, concepts, …) These can be subtle parallels where a similar principle applies. 2) How do people in “modern China” see religion?
    • Tan Pin Pin, “The Grave Digger’s Luck”, 2003, URL https://vimeo.com/116726922 (20 min)
        • Viewing questions: What beliefs about the afterlife and the dead are similar to our earlier encounters of this topic? What’s new?
        • Note: The documentary is about Singapore, but the wider Chinese cultural community shares many of these beliefs, incl. in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia, Indonesia, etc.
    • Textbook background: Barnett, Aevynn. “Graves, Grave Digging, Ancestors, and Luck.” In China’s Magical Creatures (and where to find them), second ed. Allentown: Muhlenberg College, 2022. https://open.muhlenberg.pub/chinasmagicalcreatures/chapter/tombs/
        • Useful to get you up to speed with the basic ideas for present-day encounters with religious behaviors in the Chinese community, including the diaspora.
  • □ Meeting: Ettinger 204, 3.30PM
  • Slides (Google drive)
Wednesday
  • □ Catch up, and/or prepare for Thursday!
Thursday
  • □ Get as much stuff as possible into the Pressbook so I can preview before class, and give feedback during our time together.
  • □ Meeting: The Hive (Trexler, B06), 3.30PM
Friday
  • □ Catch up with any missing tasks or help a fellow student! Check in the Discord chat.
Saturday
  • □ Rest day
Sunday

Where to get help:

  • Tea Room on Discord:
    • open anytime for you
    • I will be hosting Tue 2PM-3PM; Wed. 11AM-12PM, or at other times by appointment via Google Calendar. You can also find me in my office during Tea Room times.
    • Private room for confidential chat available on request.
  • Discord Channel #hst107 and the (anonymous) Padlet (both also useful for chatting, sharing fun stuff)
  • DLAs: Digital Learning Assistants: Check the schedule!
  • Writing Center: Sunday-Wednesday: 3:30 – 5:30 pm and 7-11 pm; Thursday: 3:30 – 5:30 pm and 7-9 pm; drop in or make an appointment
  • Trexler Library Course Subject Guide: our own dedicated subject guide for the course 
  • Safety on/around campus: report an incident