51²è¹Ý

Staffing

Examiner:

Requisites

Pre-requisite: RET2000

Rationale

In the last 100 years, and especially since the 1960’s, the increase in new religions, cults and faiths has been enormous. Many of the followers are in their teens or early twenties. But they also come from all ages and backgrounds. In the contemporary world, religion has a significant influence on individuals and societies across the globe, informing significant global events, as well as the everyday detail of people’s lives. An understanding of some of the major cults and sects in our society is important in understanding other people’s psyche and cultures. These movements are studied in such a way that students acquire a sense of what it is like to belong to a particular belief system and how that influences the way in which the followers of that movement understand the world, act in it, and relate and respond to others.

Synopsis

Exploring Good and Evil (Cults and Sects) provides an overview of some of the more popular or notorious cults and sects throughout contemporary society. This course presents an analysis of religious and spiritual ideas held by members of those groups. It provides an introduction into contemporary culture as well as the psychology of people more likely to be involved in such a movement. The course compares some cults and sects with one of the five main world religions. Each cult and/or sect will be examined in terms of its conception, its leader or deity, main tenets of belief, contemporary history, peculiar customs and practices, and view of the afterlife. Some specific cults and sects studied will be Mormons, Seven Day Adventists, Jehovah Witnesses, Christian Science, Scientology, Freemasonry, Unification Church, New Age Movement, The Children of God, The Divine Light Mission, Eckankar, Krishna Consciousness, The Worldwide Church of God, Transcendental Meditation and Baha'i. Students will build upon their existing understanding of the main world religions to compare and contrast them to the practices and beliefs of specific cults and sects. It is in this comparison that students will gain further understanding of the particular views and observances of the chosen religious movement.

Objectives

Topics

Text and Materials

Reference Materials

Student Workload Expectations

Assessment Details

Important assessment information

1. Attendance requirements:
   
   There are no attendance requirements for this course. However, it is the students’ responsibility to study all material provided to them or required to be accessed by them to maximise their chance of meeting the objectives of the course and to be informed of course-related activities and administration.
   
   
2. Requirements for students to complete each assessment item satisfactorily:
   
   To satisfactorily complete an individual assessment item a student must achieve at least 50% of the marks for that item.
   
   
3. Penalties for late submission of required work:
   
   Students should refer to the Assessment Procedure (point 4.2.4)
   
   
4. Requirements for student to be awarded a passing grade in the course:
   
   To be assured of receiving a passing grade a student must achieve at least 50% of the total weighted marks available for the course.
   
   
5. Method used to combine assessment results to attain final grade:
   
   The final grades for students will be assigned on the basis of the aggregate of the weighted marks obtained for each of the summative items for the course.
   
   
6. Examination information:
   
   There is no examination in this course.
   
   
7. Examination period when Deferred/Supplementary examinations will be held:
   
   Deferred and Supplementary examinations will be held in accordance with the Assessment Procedure .
   
   
8. University Student Policies:
   
   Students should read the USQ policies: Definitions, Assessment and Student Academic Misconduct to avoid actions which might contravene University policies and practices. These policies can be found at .
   
   

Assessment Notes

1. Referencing in assignments must comply with the APA referencing system. This system should be used by students to format details of the information sources they have cited in their work. The APA style to be used is defined by the USQ library's referencing guide. This guide can be found at .
   
   

Evaluation and Benchmarking

In meeting the University’s aims to establish quality learning and teaching for all programs, this course monitors and ensures quality assurance and improvements in at least two ways. This course:

1. conforms to the USQ Policy on Evaluation of Teaching, Courses and Programs to ensure ongoing monitoring and systematic improvement.
2. forms part part of the Bachelor of Secondary Education and is benchmarked against the
3. internal USQ accreditation/reaccreditation processes which include (i) stringent standards in the independent accreditation of its academic programs, (ii) close integration between business and academic planning, and (iii) regular and rigorous review.
4. professional accreditation standards of the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership.