Religion and the Cultural Landscape: A Religious Trek

Directions: The religion Trek is an extra credit activity deisgned to provide an interpretive experience with respect to the places of worhsip for six religions presented in class. A place of worship or house of worship is a building or other location where a group of people (a congregation) comes to perform actos of religios praise, honor, or devotion. The form and function of religious architecture has evolved over thousands of years of both changing beliefs and architectural style. The term temple is often used as a general term for any house of worship; but churches and mosques are not generally called temples.

To receive full credit on this activity:

• Each student or group must obtain a photograph of themselves (or the group they are with) in front of the place of worship.
• Each student or group must complete a brief analysis of eah place of worshipworship. (History, who worships there, architectural features).
• Each student or group must submit one map of their Religious Trek. (Note: A single map (1 map) must include all places of worhsipworship visited).
• Each place of worship needs to be from a different world religion (Lutheran Church and a Presbyterian Church are both Protestant Christian so pick one). Ex: Buddhist temple, Muslim Mosque, Confucist temple, Hindu temple, Sikh temple, Eastern Orthodox Church, Catholic Church, Protestant Church.

Due date: Tuesday, January 4th, 2011.2011

Guidelines:

• Be respectful while visiting the places of worship.
• Each place of worship has been notified of the assignment and expectfs visitors.
• If allowed or invited, enter the place of worship. Ask if pictures can be taken.
• If unsure of anything, ASK permission, we do not want to offend or insult.
• Try to take advantage of the tour times available where offered.

Assignment:
1. Locate the places of worship you are interested in visiting on ONE MAP.
(You will be submitting the map with your pictures and analysis)

2. Take a picture of each of the palces of worship you visit with YOU (or the group you are working with) IN THE PICTURE.
(NOTE: if there is no one available to take a group picture, make sure you include a picture of the person with you who takes the group photo).
3. Prepare a comparative anaylsis paper.

• One paper per groupperson (or per person if working laone) Include all of the group members names on the paperalone)
• Describe the architectural characteristics of each place of worship visited.
• Points to discuss: Building materials; colors; contribution (of the place of worship) to the existing cultural landscape or explain if it is an example of maladaptive diffusion.
• Explain how the architecture of each of the places of worship visited reflects its respetive religion.