REL 149: Introduction to the World’s Goddesses

The course is designated at the 100-postsecondary level and targeted mainly towards first year students in fulfilling part of their foundational credits in Global and Multicultural Perspectives for the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. The curriculum provides a broad overview of the cultural traditions and religious beliefs and practices surrounding female deities throughout the globe. Students will analyze narratives, devotional practices, thealogies, iconographies, and sacred sites of female gods and how they are located within their respective cultural milieu. Students will also examine cross-cultural interactions through dominant religious motifs and develop collegiate level research and writing techniques in the academic study of female gods in religion.

Key theoretical approaches emphasized within the course design include cognitivism, constructivism, and connectivism strategies of learning. Additional conceptual frameworks include the Universal Design for Learning model. The course will be predominantly delivered through synchronous delivery, utilizing the Blackboard Collaborate software. Web based delivery is preferred due to several factors. UH Mānoa offers the most extensive course offerings in the study of religion out of all academic institutions located within the State of Hawaiʻi. However, because we live in an island state it is not feasible for students living on neighbor islands to commute to UH Mānoa in order to access face-to-face course offerings. Catering to a student body that is limited to a singular island places neighbor island students at a great disadvantage. By offering the course online, it caters to students not only throughout the State of Hawaiʻi, but also throughout the globe.