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Course Syllabus: Psychology of Religion PSYC 5334, PSYC 4334, CHRI 4334, Spring 2013 Department of Behavioral Sciences Always bring this syllabus to class. Always bring your book to class. Make sure travel and vacation plans do not interfere with taking the final exam at the appointed time. COURSE DESCRIPTION: The insights of psychology as a science are used to inspect and evaluate the religious dimensions of life. How religion affects religious development, health, experience, and relationships in the church, family, and marriage will be covered. COURSE SEQUENCE IN THE CURRICULUM AND PREREQUISITE INFORMATION: This is an upper-level elective class for undergraduate psychology majors. It may count as an elective for Christianity majors in their practical studies section of the major. It can be applied to both minors as an elective to complete the minor. This is an elective course for graduate students. INSTRUCTOR INFORMATION: Name: Dr. Tom Kennedy Email: tkennedy@hbu.edu Phone: (281) 649-3172 Office Location: Atwood I, Room 216 Office Hours: 10:00-12:00 MWF; 1:00-3:00 TTh LEARNING RESOURCES: Argyle, M. (2000). Psychology and religion. New York: Routledge Koenig, H. (2008). Other Required Text: Kennedy, T. (n.d.). A guide for writing non-experimental APA style (6th Ed.) papers. Unpublished. RELATION TO THE PURPOSE STATEMENT OF THE UNIVERSITY: The mission of Houston Baptist University is to provide a learning experience that instills in students a passion for academic, spiritual, and professional excellence as a result of our central confession, "Jesus Christ is Lord." In accordance with Houston Baptist Universitys purpose this course endeavors to 1) provide a supportive atmosphere for students for students from all backgrounds which fosters intellectual and social interaction in the learning process, 2) encourage academic excellence, freedom, and objectivity 3) promote the development of critical and creative thinking, compassion, responsibility, and continuing interest in learning. Psychology of Religion, Spring 2013

RELATION TO THE COLLEGE OF EDUCATION AND DEPARTMENT OF BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES GOALS AND PURPOSES: This course contributes to the psychology major by providing an education program that is committed to academic excellence in an intellectually free and objective environment that provides physical resources and a campus environment which acknowledges the uniqueness of the individualand encourages the development of the whole person. Thus, this course endeavors to: 1)provides students the opportunity to develop interpersonal communication skills, 2) promote the development of critical thinking skills, 3) utilize and promote the development of technology skills, 4) create a learning environment based on constructivist teaching/learning strategies, 5) contribute to the students degree program by enhancing his/her basic understanding of the scientific and systematic study of behavior and mental processes. COURSE OBJECTIVES Overview/ purpose of the course The first purpose of this course is to introduce the student to the research about the various psychological disorders found in the DSM-IV-TR. The second purpose is to introduce the student to treatment approaches to each disorder. Upon completion of this course, students should be able to: 1. 2. 3. 4. To understand how to classify the different psychological disorders. To be able to describe the differences among psychological disorders. To understand the causes of psychological disorders as we now understand them. To be able to discuss the common treatments for psychological disorders and which ones tend to be most successful with particular disorders. 5. To understand the interdependence of modern psychology and biopsychology for treating psychological disorders. 6. To understand how different aspects of these disorders are found in all people Technology, writing, or oral objectives A learning/application paper will be written as well as a report on the mistakes made in the learning/application paper. COURSE AIMS: 1. 2. 3. 4. To expose the student to a survey of the field of psychology of religion To give the student exposure to how religion affects physical health. To give the student exposure to how religion affects mental health. To allow the student to conduct an evaluation of a church using social psychological techniques 5. To allow the student to research a specific topic in the field of psychology of religion. Technology, writing, or oral objectives: 1. Ability to use the internet is required to complete the requirements for their paper. Psychology of Religion, Spring 2013

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2. A PowerPoint presentation will be required. 3. Students will write a summary of their observations of a worship/scripture study TOPICAL OUTLINE: Psychology of Religion Bring your books to every class. Jan 08 Jan 10 Jan 15 Jan 17 Jan 22 Jan 24 Jan 29 Jan 31 Feb 05 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Test 1 Introductions, syllabus, meet everyone Beginnings of religion; Bellahs types of religions; did religion begin civilization? Chapter 1. Chapter 2 Chapter 3 The relation between psychology and religion Socialization Effect of personality MBTI Personality Test Religious experience Causes and effects of religious experience Students will turn in their cell phones to the professor at the beginning of the class. The student will not be allowed to take the test until this is done. Social Psychology of Effective Churches Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Freud, Jung, and other theories of religion Worship and prayer Ritual Video Chapter 11 Chapter 11 Chapter 11 Test 2 Physical health of religion Mental health of religion Mental health of religion continued Students will turn in their cell phones to the professor at the beginning of the class. The student will not be allowed to take the test until this is done.

Feb 07 Feb 12 Feb 14 Feb 19 Feb 21 Feb 26 Feb 28 Mar 05 Mar 07

Mar 11-15 Mar 19 Mar 21 Mar 22

Spring Break Chapter 10 Happiness and other benefits of religion

Visitation Paper Due. Marriage/ Parenting Not a class day. Last day to drop with a W.

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Mar 26 Mar 28 Apr 02 Apr 04 Apr 09

Criminality and Religion; Turnitin due for visitation paper. Chapter 6 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Test 3 Religious Beliefs; Origins of morals Religion and sex Religion and other behavior Students will turn in their cell phones to the professor at the beginning of the class. The student will not be allowed to take the test until this is done. Secularization New religious movements; Graduate Research Paper Due

Apr 11 Apr 16 Apr 18 Apr 23 Apr 25 TBA

Chapter 14 Chapter 15

Student Presentations Student Presentations Student Presentations; Turnitin due for Ppt. Final Exam: in this room; Students will turn in their cell phones to the professor at the beginning of the class. The student will not be allowed to take the test until this is done.

The content of this outline and the attached schedule are subject to change at the discretion of the professor. TEACHING STRATEGIES: Teaching strategies will include lecture, discussion, student Powerpoint presentations, and video presentations. ASSESSMENT OF LEARNING: Course requirements 1. 2. 3. Three tests will be given. Each is worth 100 points. Tests will draw heavily from information found in the textbook. The final exam will be worth 100 pts. Each student will submit a 5-page paper in which they evaluate a religious worship AND scripture study meeting based on social psychological principles taught in class. The cover page is page one. Students must follow the guidelines and answer the questions in Appendix A. APA requirements are listed in Appendix B. This paper is worth 50 points. The paper must be stapled.

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If the hard copy of the paper is not turned in to the professor by 3:30 pm, 3 points will deducted as long as it is turned in by the end of class. If the student turns in the paper after class ends but before 11:00 pm of the due date, an extra 5 points will be deducted. Ten more points will be deducted for every 24 hour period after that until the paper is turned in. If the student cannot make it to class the student can email the paper to the professor and the professor will treat it as a hard copy with the above rules until the student can turn in the hard copy. 4. Each student will present a 10 minute PowerPoint presentation to the class on a research topic of interest to him/her. The presentation will be worth a maximum of 30 points. It will include a references slide with at least five references. All research must be from professional psychological sources. Each student will email a copy of the presentation to the professor no later than the day after the students presentation. No grade will be given until this is done. If a student does not present on his/her scheduled day, then 5 points will be deducted. Each student will be required to print and distribute to all the students in the class a review of important points from their presentation. This review should have the students name and a paper internet reference listed on it as well as the 5 important, but not ridiculously simple, items written in sentence form. List each item by number. These items are to comprehensively reflect the important points of the paper/presentation. This 5-point review will be a source of material for the final exam. The class will ask questions about the topic after the presentation. If a student does not present on his/her scheduled day, then 5 points will be deducted. 5. During the semester, on two occasions each student will share a 3-minute report in class from a professional (found in peer-reviewed journals) research paper. Statistics must be used in the report. The student will write up a 3-5 bulleted sentence summary of the researchs major findings and email them to Dr. Kennedy. Before the next test Dr. Kennedy will post the summaries to Blackboard. Test items will be taken from the information from the research summaries. Each presentation is 10 points. This bulleted summary is due by 5:00 pm the day after the presentation. ANY exceptions to the syllabus or other agreement the student arranges with the professor must be confirmed by email in order to become valid. The student will email the professor the exception that the student understands the professor has given. The professor will accept or modify the exception according to the professors understanding of the agreement. The email that the professor returns to the student will contain the agreed upon exception. You must sit in the same place each class period. Find a place and claim it for the semester. You must meet and get to know all of the students in this class. Get at least two contact numbers for notes and other informational purposes. Graduate students will write a additional five page research paper on a topic related to counseling and psychology of religion. The references page will begin a the top of page 6. This will be presented in the Powerpoint listed in #4 above. This is worth 50 pts. and should follow the same writing guidelines as found in the APA writing guide.

6.

7. 8. 9.

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10. The new Blackboard system will show all grades the student has received plus keep a total of points up to that date as well as a running average of a grade. See Blackboard for this. Also, note that Turnitin is built into Blackboard. You can find Turnitin by clicking on Course Documents icon on the left-hand list of icons. You must read and understand the Provosts presentation on Blackboard.

11.

Grading Standards: Undergraduate Research present 20 Powerpoint 30 Visitation Paper 50 Three Tests 300 Final Exam 100 500 AVERAGE FOR FINAL GRADE Graduate Grade Average A =94-100 A- =90-93.5 B+=87-89.5 B =83-86.5 B- =80-82.5 C+=77-79.5 C =74-76.5* C- =70-73 F =below 70 Undergraduate Grade Average A =90-100 B =80-89 C =70-79** D =60-69 F =Below 60 Graduate: All of undergraduate requirements plus the following Graduate Student Paper 50 points.

* Minimum passing grade for MACCP/MAP/M.Ed. graduates. **Minimal passing grade for psychology majors/Christianity majors Student appraisal: Students will be asked to complete an anonymous appraisal of the course and instructor at the end of the quarter. This is not a graded activity, but will be used by the instructor in refining content and methodology. The instructor will not see the evaluations until after the grades have been posted. CLASS POLICIES Absence and Tardy Policies Regular attendance in class is important for student success, and it is university policy that students must attend class. Absences are recorded beginning from the first class session after the student has enrolled in the course. Professors are not obligated to allow students to make up work they miss due to unexcused absences. Any student who does not attend at least 75% of the scheduled class sessions will receive a grade of F for the course, regardless of his performance on other assessments such as tests, quizzes, papers, or projects. Professors may apply additional attendance policies as appropriate to individual courses. Likewise, the college or school may also apply additional attendance requirements as necessary. Please see the catalog currently in Psychology of Religion, Spring 2013

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use for the universitys policy on classroom absences caused in the course of student representation of the university, such as athletics, chorale, and mock trial activities. Students in this class will get four free absences. For each absence after that three points will be deducted. One point will be deducted for each tardy. In this class the professor will pass around a sign in sheet at the time class begins. Students who come to class after the professor passes out the sign in sheet are tardy. They will sign the sign in sheet on the desk by the door. Students who are less than 10 minutes late will be considered tardy. Anyone later than 10 minutes to class will be counted absent. Not signing the sign in sheet means you were absent even if you were present. Academic Honesty Please refer to the current catalog for the university's policy and procedures regarding academic honesty. Note that the university utilizes "Turn-It-In" and other programs to investigate possible plagiarism activities. All major papers for this course will be submitted to the plagiarism prevention software, Turnitin.com on or before a papers due date. No paper will be graded without meeting this requirement beforehand. A separate handout (this will be found in Appendix B of this syllabus) will be provided to give detailed instructions on this process which must include the class identification number and class password. In accordance with FERPA, and to best protect the students privacy, no per sonal identification (e.g., name, social security number, H number) should be uploaded with the text of student papers. However, Turnitin will ask for the students name and e -mail address when setting up a personal account. This identifying information will be used by the professor to evaluate the students paper and cannot be viewed by other faculty or students. To further increase confidentiality, the student may choose to use a pseudonym (false name) when setting up his or her personal Turnitin account. If a pseudonym is used for Turnitin, the student must provide this identifier next to his/her typed name on the paper copy which is submitted to the professor. Five (5) points will be deducted if the professor is unable to easily match the paper copy to the Turnitin submission of the students paper.

Children in Classroom In almost all instances, children are not allowed in the classroom nor are they allowed to be on campus unattended. Class sessions are for enrolled students only unless other arrangements are approved by the instructor in advance. Classroom Behavior Expectations The classroom environment is to be conducive to learning and is under the authority of the instructor. In order to assure that all students have the opportunity to gain from the time spent in class, students are expected to demonstrate civil behavior in the classroom and show appropriate respect for the instructor and other students. Inappropriate behavior toward the instructor, in or out of the classroom, may result in a directive to the offending student to leave the classroom or the course entirely. Psychology of Religion, Spring 2013

Classroom behaviors that disturb the teaching-learning experiences include the following behaviors: activated cellular phone or other device, demands for special treatment, frequent episodes of leaving and then returning to the class, excessive tardiness, leaving class early, making offensive remarks or disrespectful comments or gestures to the instructor or other students, missing deadlines, prolonged chattering, sleeping, arriving late to class, dominating discussions, shuffling backpacks or notebooks, disruption of group work, and overt inattentiveness. It is at the discretion of the instructor as to whether laptops will be allowed for use in the classroom. Students should take care of all bathroom needs prior to the start of the class. Leaving books on a desk and then returning after the start of class will result in a tardy for that class. Leaving during class will also result in a tardy unless there is prior professor approval. Computers and Cell Phones in the Classroom Computers may not be used in the classroom without special permission for a learning disability. Cell phones are to be turned off and placed upside down on the desk in front of the student during lectures. Students will place their cell phones on the professors classroom desk prior to the test and pick the cell phone up after they turn in their tests. Cell phones will be put in purses or pockets when graded tests are handed back. Exceptions must be approved by the professor. Violations of this policy will result in a 5 point deduction for each infraction. Early Alert As an instructor, I am committed to your success, not only in this class, but in all aspects of HBU life. To ensure that every student takes full advantage of the educational and learning opportunities, HBU has implemented an Academic Early Alert Referral System (EARS). If I think you would benefit from some of these special programs or services available to you, I will make the appropriate referral. You, in turn, will be expected to take advantage of the help offered to you. Email Policy All university and class email communication will be sent to your HBU email account. You are responsible for checking this frequently. If you choose, you may reroute your HBU email to another email address. Your emails should be in a professional format with correct spelling, capitalization, and grammar. Grievance Procedures The Academic Grievance Policy may be found in the catalog currently in use, in the Academic section of the HBU Forms section of the HBU Portal, and on the Registrars page on the HBU Website.

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Incomplete Grades Only the dean of the college or school may grant incompletes and only to students who have a major documented emergency in the last few days of a semester. Students with excessive absences, which will result in failing the course, will not be allowed to take the final exam nor be eligible to receive an incomplete. If a student has a significant problem (major illness, death in the family, for example) and misses a test, the makeup test will comprise the original test and an additional essay question. All makeup exams MUST be justified by some form of documentation of the illness or funeral. NOTE: final exams will not be given early. Incompletes will not be given for any reason than serious problems listed above. All incompletes will be issued by the dean of the College of Arts and Humanities, not the professor. Junk on the desk. The desk will be free of all non-note taking resources. Drink bottles and snacks will be exceptions. All non-note taking objects are to be placed on the floor. A 5-point penalty will be assessed for each infraction. Late Work Contact the professor as soon as possible if your scheduled paper or other work will be late. See the description of the paper above for an explanation of the penalties for a late paper. Academic Accommodations Students needing learning accommodations should inform the professor immediately and consult the Academic Accommodations section of the HBU Classroom Policy posted on Blackboard. No electronic recordings of the class are allowed. Missed Tests: Only one makeup exam will be allowed per semester/summer session. The student must have a compelling reason (to the professor) and document the compelling reason for missing a test. All makeup exams will be a combination of multiple-choice and essay. Bring a blue book. Exceptions to the Syllabus. ANY exceptions to the syllabus or other agreement the student arranges with the professor must be confirmed by email in order to become valid. The student will email the professor the exception that the student understands the professor has given. The professor must receive this email within one day of the original oral agreement. The professor will accept or modify the exception according to the professors understanding of the agreement. The email that the professor returns to the student will contain the Psychology of Religion, Spring 2013

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agreed upon exception. If a student fails to follow this procedure the professor will interpret the vocal agreement according to his memory of it. PERSON RESPONSIBLE FOR DEVELOPING SYLLABUS Tom Kennedy, Ed.D.

_____________________________________ Instructors Signature

________________ Date

Appendix A Writing the Visitation Paper The maximum grade for this paper is 50 points. The cover page will be page 1 and the last page MUST end at the bottom of page 5 of the paper. The student may not attend a service of the students own denomination nor any denomination and/or religion that the student has attended before. The student by him or herself will attend both a worship service and a scripture study session and evaluate her/his experience using the social psychology guidelines presented in class (see below). This paper must also follow APA guidelines (see Appendix B). The paper will have a 2-3 sentence introduction about the denomination and how the student learned of it. The student will also list his/her current religious affiliation or list no affiliation if applicable. A 2-3 sentence Discussion section will end the paper. The paper will be graded using the following guidelines. (Spelling, grammar, sentence structure, effective word choice, awareness of rhetorical strategies, organizing ideas in a coherent essay with good paragraph development=25%; APA style=25%; content is presented as requested above and other guidelines mentioned in class=50%). 1. Describe how you selected/found this church/temple. To whom you talked prior to attending. Psychology of Religion, Spring 2013

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2. Describe how easy/difficult it was to get there and the parking lot situation. 3. Describe how easy it was to find your way to the building (was it easy to find the way, were there signs, greeters who helped you). 4. Describe any greeting/help you received to find out where you should go. 5. Were you given any material? Did anyone introduce you or offer to sit with you? 6. Describe the worship center. Was it pleasing to see? Why? 7. What ethnic/age/social groups were present and how were they dressed? How did the people react to you before the service? 8. Describe the worship service. What parts were positive/negative for you and why? 9. Did the pastor/preacher use a direct or indirect method of communication? What did you like or dislike about the sermon and why? 10. Was the pastor/preacher more emotional or intellectual in his sermon? Was that a plus or minus in your estimation? 11. Did anyone help you with the transition to the bible study/fellowship/whatever? 12. What were your initial reactions to the scripture study people and leader? 13. What efforts were made to include you into the group? 14. How did you feel during the entire process? Did you feel included? Why? Did you feel excluded? Why? 15. (Only give HBU email address for contact information.) Were you invited back? Were you contacted in some way after the visitation?

Appendix B Minimal APA Requirements for This Paper 1. Follow ALL general rules on pages 7-8 in the APA writing guide. 2. Follow all guidelines for writing a cover page as listed in the APA writing guide. 3. You must have a header. The header is on the right side and MUST be put in the header box. a. It begins on the cover page. b. It is 5 spaces to the left of the page number which should occur on the right margin c. Manually change the font to Times New Roman 4. Manually change your page number to Times New Roman. 5. Repeat your exact title at the top of page 2. 6. Set your computer to double space. Also, eliminate the extra spacing after a paragraph that is the default in Word 2007. 7. Do not underline anything in your paper. Psychology of Religion, Spring 2013

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8. A Discussion section of 2-3 sentences must be included at the end.

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