The focus this week will be on orienting you to the course.  You should spend considerable time familiarizing yourself with the layout of my web-site and with the assignment structure for LIB 130.  Note that you will be using two web-sites for the course.  The main site will be my public-access teaching site, Mister Dan's Page.  You will be using it to access all the course resources and assignment instructions.  You will be using the second web-site, the LIB 130 Blackboard page to participate in the weekly Discussion Forums and to submit all your assignments.

Your responsibilities for the week are the following:

1)  Spend extensive time on the Introduction To World Religion section of Mister Dan's Page.  I appreciate that there is a great deal of material on the web-site, including resources for the LIB 131 Eastern Religions companion course.  My web-page is intended as a major resource and you will only be asked to access a small portion of what is listed there.  The most important sections of the web-site for LIB 130 are the Syllabus Page, the Assignments Page, and the Discussion Topics page.

Carefully read the syllabus.  You will be accessing the syllabus throughout the semester.  Note that it not only outlines weekly responsibilities and the assignment structure, but that it also includes embedded links within the weekly schedule that open up to the relevant course materials.

There are three required books and one recommended book.  I expect you to purchase the required books and to assign them a central role within your Journal.  We will be reading Robert Crumb's Illustrated Book of Genesis very early in the semester and you need to pick that up from the NIC Bookstore if you have not already ordered that.  Both the Bible: A Very Short Introduction and the Khalidi translation of the Qur'an are available in e-editions, though I recommend that you get the Qur'an in paper form.  Living With the Gods is an optional purchase.

The Assignments page includes the Due Dates for the different assignments; instructions for submitting the assignments through Blackboard Learn; and descriptions of the individual assignments.  Note that the three main assignments -- the semester-long Note-Taking Assignment, the Journal, and the Discussion Forum -- are meant to work in concert with each other.  Careful note-taking should result not just in a strong grade for that component of the course, but provide you with a foundation for your more analytical Journal entries and Discussion Forum contributions.

You are encouraged to spend much time during the semester browsing through sections of the web-site that are not included as part of the core curriculum.  Any materials that capture your interest here can be integrated into the Note-Taking Assignment or the Journal.

2)  Write me your Reflections on Entering the Course introductory letter.  You do not need to write me more than one letter if you are taking two or more courses with me this semester.  Submit this to me through the Blackboard Learn Site.

3)  We will focus upon two case studies that link the Abrahamic religions at the beginning of our course:  the sacred site of Jerusalem and the shared figure of Abraham.  One important task throughout the term will be to explore the common strands; the similarities and differences; and the relationships between the religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.  I do not expect you to sort out the complex histories or multi-layered natures of these complex symbols.  But I do want you to ponder the possible meanings of the deep connections between the three religions from early in the semester.  Start to immerse yourself in matters Jerusalem and Abrahamic through looking at the resources highlighted in the Week 2 and Week 3 syllabus.