Religious Norms and Practices

Observation Proposal

Assignment 1: Observation Proposal (500-word minimum, not including reference list)

Your Observation Proposal (Assignment 1) is the preparatory work for your Observation Report (Assignment 2).  You can structure it in either essay form or list form.  Either way, please use complete sentences.

Background: In this course, you will be conducting an Observation of a religious service(s) or other event sponsored by a religious/spiritual/atheist group of your choice. The purpose of the observation is to experience and analyze a religious event or service of a religion, congregation, or community that you have not experienced before. 

Many religious groups are now livestreaming their services/events, and such services/events would be perfect to propose for your observation.

Most such programs are open to all, and thus you do not need to seek permission to observe. However, if you wish you attend an online meeting or program that involves or presumes individual participation (such as a religious chatroom, meet-up, or online interactive webinar), then you will need to have the organization's permission to participate.  If you aren't sure whether you need permission, please email me, and I'll be happy to help you.

In light of the on-going pandemic, I expect that most students will do an online Observation this term.  Even if a religious group is meeting in person, it may be facing attendance limits due to state guidelines, and if that is the case, it may be disrespectful to go in person at this time (as you would be taking a spot away from a regular attendee). If you would prefer to do an in-person observation and you think it is feasible to do so, please contact me at the beginning of the course and we can discuss it.

Please include the following in your Proposal:

1. Identify the specific religious (or atheist) organization you plan to study.  You need to choose a religious (or atheist) group that has a substantial internet presence and is conducting live online programs. Alternatively, you can choose an organization that has provided substantial programs on YouTube.

Include: the name/location of the organization, the website of the organization, the names of the primary leaders of the organization and their roles.

2. Provide 2-3 links to services/programs provided on video by the organization. (Total video time should be about 2 hours.)  If you plan to watch Livestream programs, please provide links to the announcements/descriptions. Your total planned observation time should be about 2 hours.

Write a brief explanation (1-2 sentences each) about the general content of the videos.  If you would like to instead watch Livestream programs, please explain what you anticipate they are about (i.e., what kind of services or events are they?). (NOTE: You do not need to watch them now -- just a brief sentence or two description is fine.)

3. Write a paragraph about the organization (i.e., church, temple, center, etc.) sponsoring the service or event.  Please cite and include a reference where you found your information.

4. Write a paragraph about what respectful actions you would take if you were to visit this group in person. View the webpage at https://tanenbaum org/tanenbaum-resources/houses-of-worship/ . (Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious Understanding. (2019). Entering Houses of Worship.)  Are there any particular actions on this list that you might need to pay attention to? If so, what are they?  If not, why not? Be sure to cite and include a reference for this source in your proposal.

5. Write a paragraph about a resource from Pew Research Center, Religion and Public Life that you plan to include in your Observation Report (i.e., Assignment 2) (visit https://www.pewforum org/).  It can be an article from Pew Research Center that is assigned for our course, or a different one.  Please be sure to cite it in the text and include the complete reference in your Reference List.

6. Write a paragraph about why you chose to study this group, how you stand "outside" this religious group, and some initial thoughts about what you hope to learn from the experience.

7. Include a reference list of all sources cited in your Proposal. All sources cited within your Proposal should be included in the reference list.  Your reference list should include the following:

At least one article from Pew Research Center.

Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious Understanding. (2019). Entering Houses of Worship. https://tanenbaum org/tanenbaum-resources/houses-of-worship/

A resource that provides info about the church/temple/organization/etc, that you will be visiting.

The two or more videos that you will be watching (if you are watching videos) or the announcement page(s) of the service(s)/event(s) you plan to observe.

Any other resources that you have cited in your proposal.