Religions and the environment

Course Information
TitleΘρησκείες και περιβάλλον / Religions and the environment
CodeΧ299
FacultyTheology
SchoolSocial Theology and Christian Culture
Cycle / Level1st / Undergraduate
Teaching PeriodWinter/Spring
CoordinatorEleni Antonopoulou
CommonYes
StatusActive
Course ID600012845

Class Information
Academic Year2020 – 2021
Class PeriodWinter
Faculty Instructors
Instructors from Other Categories
Weekly Hours3
Class ID
600167435
Course Type 2016-2020
  • Scientific Area
Course Type 2011-2015
Knowledge Deepening / Consolidation
Mode of Delivery
  • Face to face
Erasmus
The course is also offered to exchange programme students.
Language of Instruction
  • Greek (Instruction, Examination)
  • English (Examination)
Learning Outcomes
After the successful completion of the course, student will be able to a. fully understand the contemporary environmental issues, and b. participate in discussions regarding the relationship of world religions and the environment, as well as their contribution to the management of the current environmental crisis.
General Competences
  • Adapt to new situations
  • Make decisions
  • Work autonomously
  • Work in teams
  • Work in an interdisciplinary team
  • Respect natural environment
  • Be critical and self-critical
  • Advance free, creative and causative thinking
Course Content (Syllabus)
This course presents the relation of various world religions to the natural environment through time, from the ancient to the modern world. Additionally, a range of contemporary environmental issues is discussed. Course outline 1. Religion and the natural environment. 2. Religions for the environment. 3. East Mediterranean religions I (Ancient Greek and Roman relition). 4. East Mediterranean religions II (Asia Minor, Balkan peninsula, Black Sea religions). 5. Judaism. 6. Cultures of Mesopotamia (Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians). 7. Eastern relitions I (Vedism, Hinduism, Jainism, Buddism). 8. Eastern religions II (Confucianism, Daoism, Shintoism). 9. Sub-saharian cultures, American Indians, Aboriginals. 10. Islam. 11. Contemporary issues of religion and ecology. 12. International environmental movements - Sustainable development. Connection to world religions. 13. Paper presentations.
Keywords
Religions, environmental protection, ecology
Educational Material Types
  • Notes
  • Slide presentations
  • Multimedia
Use of Information and Communication Technologies
Use of ICT
  • Use of ICT in Course Teaching
  • Use of ICT in Communication with Students
Course Organization
ActivitiesWorkloadECTSIndividualTeamworkErasmus
Lectures391.6
Reading Assigment351.4
Written assigments251
Exams10.0
Total1004
Student Assessment
Description
For their final assessment, students have to prepare an essay and present it during the last lecture of the semester (100% of the final grade). Alternatively, those that do not wish to prepare and essay, will have to take an oral exam during the examination period of the School (100% of the final grade).
Student Assessment methods
  • Written Assignment (Summative)
  • Oral Exams (Summative)
Bibliography
Course Bibliography (Eudoxus)
Σημειώσεις των διδασκόντων
Additional bibliography for study
Barnhill, David Landis, and Roger S. Gottlieb (eds.) 2001. Deep Ecology and World Religions: New Essays on Sacred Ground. State University of New York Press, Albany, N.Y. 291 p Bassett, Libby, John T. Brinkman and Kusumita P. Pederson (eds.) 2000. Earth and Faith: A Book of Reflection for Action. Interfaith Partnership for the Environment, United Nations Environment Programme, New York. 80 p. Callicott, J. Baird, and Roger T. Ames (eds.) 1989. Nature in Asian Traditions of Thought: Essays in Environmental Philosophy. State University of New York Press, Albany, N.Y. Chapple, Christopher Key (ed.) 2002. Jainism and Ecology: Nonviolence in the Web of Life. Harvard University Press, Cambridge. 304 p. Chapple, Christopher Key, and Mary Evelyn Tucker (eds.). 2000. Hinduism and Ecology: The Intersection of Earth, Sky, and Water. Harvard University Press, Cambridge. 656 p. Chryssavgis, John, and Bruce V. Foltz. 2013. Toward an Ecology of Transfiguration: Orthodox Christian Perspectives on Environment, Nature, and Creation. Fordham University Press, 2013. Foltz, Richard C. (ed.) 2002. Worldviews, Religion, and the Environment: A Global Anthology. Wadsworth/Thomson Learning, Belmont, California. 620 p. Foltz, Richard C., Frederick M. Denny and Azizan Baharuddin (eds.) 2003. Islam and Ecology: A Bestowed Trust. Harvard University Press, Cambridge. 632 p. Girardot, N.J., James Miller and Liu Xiaogan (eds.) 2001. Daoism and Ecology: Ways Within a Cosmic Landscape. Harvard University Press, Cambridge. 476 p. Gosling, David L. 2001. Religion and Ecology in India and Southeast Asia. Routledge, London. Gottlieb, Roger S. (ed.) 1995. This Sacred Earth: Religion, Nature, Environment. Routledge, New York. 672 p. Green Cross International. 2002. Globalization and Sustainable Development: Is Ethics the Missing Link? Synthesis report, Earth Dialogues, Lyon 2002. 12 p. Grim, John (ed.) 2001. Indigenous Traditions and Ecology: The Interbeing of Cosmology and Community. Harvard University Press, Cambridge. 832 p. Grim, John, and Mary Evelyn Tucker. 2014. Ecology and Religion. Island Press, Washington, D.C. 265 p. Jenkins, Willis, Mary Evelyn Tucker and John Grimm (eds). 2017. Routledge Handbook of Religion and Ecology. Earthscan from Routledge, London and New York. 439 p. Kaza, Stephanie, and Kenneth Kraft (eds.) 2000. Dharma Rain: Sources of Buddhist Environmentalism. Shambhala, Boston. Taylor, Bron, and Jeffrey Kaplan (eds.) (2005). The Encyclopedia of Religion and Nature. 2 volumes. Thoemmes Continuum, London & New York. 1877 p. http://www.religionandnature.com Tirosh-Samuelson, Hava (ed.) 2002. Judaism and Ecology: Created World and Revealed Word. Harvard University Press, Cambridge. 620 p. Tucker, Mary Evelyn. 2003. Worldly Wonder: Religions Enter Their Ecological Phase. Open Court Publishing Company, La Salle, Illinois. 166 p. Tucker, Mary Evelyn, and John Berthrong (eds.) 1998. Confucianism and Ecology: The Interrelation of Heaven, Earth, and Humans. Harvard University Press, Cambridge. 420 p. Tucker, Mary Evelyn, and John Grim (eds.) 1994. Worldviews and Ecology: Religion, Philosophy, and the Environment. Orbis Books, Maryknoll, N.Y. 242 p. Veitch, James (ed.) 1996. Can Humanity Survive? The World's Religions and the Environment. Awareness Book Company Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand. 310 p.
Last Update
09-03-2023