SSC251- Religion in Contemporary Societies

SSC251- Religion in Contemporary Societies

Subject: General Questions    / General General Questions
Question
SSC251
Religion in Contemporary Societies
Tutor-Marked Assignments 01-02
January 2017 Presentation SSC251 Tutor-Marked Assignments 01-02 January 2017 Semester SSC251
Tutor-Marked Assignments 01-02
There are 2 Tutor-Marked Assignments (TMAs) for SSC251. TMA01 and TMA02 are each
worth 25% of the overall assessment score. Together, they constitute 50% of the final mark
(the End-of-Course Assessment constitutes the other 50%). TMA Due Dates
Please upload this assignment to Turnitin by:
TMA01: Tuesday, 7 February 2017, 11:55pm
TMA02: Tuesday, 28 February 2017, 11:55pm
Resubmissions are allowed before this cut-off time.
It is strongly recommended that you make an early submission to check the originality report
and, if necessary, make amendments to your document for resubmission. Note that the
Turnitin report is usually generated immediately after the first submission, however,
subsequent reports may take up to one day to generate. Do note that Turnitin will not accept
any further submissions AFTER the cut-off time. There is a 12-hour grace period after the
cut-off time, which is not an extended deadline but solely meant for solving any technical
problems that you may encounter while attempting to make a submission before the cut-off
time. Please email Canvas Support immediately (with relevant screenshots and your TMA
attached) and follow up with Canvas Support first thing in the morning to ensure that the
problem is resolved before the grace period is over.
One late submission is allowed only if no prior submissions were made before the cut-off
time. Do note that the Canvas system will automatically deduct penalty marks for every day
that your assignment is late. With this automatic deduction, there will be no need to request
for extensions from your tutor because your tutor does not have the mandate to over-ride the
Canvas system settings. You will need to form your own judgement as to how many marks
you are willing to forego for each extra day that you gain to work on your assignment.
Take care to ensure that you upload the correct TMA document to the correct folder of the
correct course. Requests to transfer incorrectly uploaded documents to the correct folder will
require an official appeal (and an administrative fee).
Backup your TMA at all times. Once you have uploaded your TMA (in Word document
format only), retain the Turnitin digital receipt as evidence of a successful submission. View
your submission to ensure that the entire document has been uploaded successfully. Plagiarism and Collusion
The assignment is to be completed on your own. You may discuss the TMA with your
course-mates; however, the assignment must be written independently. Do not share your
notes, draft or final TMA with anyone before the marked TMAs are returned to you. SIM UNIVERSITY Page 2 of 7 SSC251 Tutor-Marked Assignments 01-02 January 2017 Semester Avoid plagiarism by giving yourself sufficient time to research and understand the material
so that you can write up your assignment in your own words. Quotations should be used
sparingly. Simply citing the source of ‘copied’ chunks of text does not excuse it from
plagiarism. Do ensure that any paraphrasing is done appropriately, even if you use text from
your own work that you have submitted as part of another assignment for the same or another
course.
The University takes a very serious view of plagiarism (passing off someone else’s ideas as
your own, or recycling of contents from your own earlier marked TMA from the same course
or another course) and collusion (submitting an assignment which is the same or very similar
to another student’s). Both are very serious academic offences. Please refer to the Student
Handbook on the penalties of plagiarism or collusion. You are strongly advised to submit
your TMA early, check the plagiarism report yourself, and if needed revise and resubmit your
TMA before the submission deadline. SIM UNIVERSITY Page 3 of 7 SSC251 Tutor-Marked Assignments 01-02 January 2017 Semester TMA01
This tutor-marked assignment comprises ONE (1) 1,500-word essay (excluding
bibliography/references) which is worth 25% of the final mark for SSC251 Religion in
Contemporary Societies. Please indicate the word count at the end of the TMA. Marks will be
deducted for essays that exceed the word limit.
Please upload this assignment to Turnitin by Tuesday, 7 February 2017, 11.55pm.
Resubmissions are allowed before this cut-off time.
Remember to provide in-text citations as well as a list of references at the end of the essay.
Please note that up to 10% of your marks go to accurate and coherent writing, and
appropriate citation and referencing. Question (100 marks)
Visit the Loyang Tua Pek Kong Temple (http://lytpk.org.sg/index.htm). The Loyang Tua Pek
Kong Temple is home to Buddhist, Hindu, Taoist deities and a Muslim karmat (shrine) within
its premises.
Reflect upon your visit and critically analyse how the visit questions your understanding of
the practice of race and religion in Singapore. In doing so, explain the concept of inter-faith
tolerance and peaceful co-existence in Singapore, apply relevant concepts and theories
covered in the course.
Student Notes
You may visit the site on your own, with a friend and/or classmate, or in groups of three, but
you will ultimately be responsible for producing your own essay based on your experience.
Before the actual visit to the site, visit the temple website for background knowledge and
acquaint yourself with temple-going etiquette e.g., as dress codes. Be sure to take notes
during your visit or snap a few photos of what you found interesting (if photography is
allowed at the site).
At the field site, observe the social rituals and behaviours that are connected to religious
worship.
In your answer, you may wish to consider the following questions: What is the significance of housing the various faiths in one shared location?
Who leads the religious activities and how is the worship of the various religions
organised?
What are some of the practices and behaviours you observed for each worship and
distinguish what are some of the similarities and differences noted?
Who visits the temple and do they restrict themselves from worshipping the deities
from their own faith or do they also worship deities from the other faiths?
In your discussion, you may also want to examine the relationship between the
Singapore state and religion and what are the various initiatives undertaken in
Singapore with regards to religion and worship. SIM UNIVERSITY Page 4 of 7 SSC251 Tutor-Marked Assignments 01-02 January 2017 Semester Another interesting point you may wish to consider is in the era of religious
fundamentalism, racial and religious intolerance, how may inter-faith initiatives like
the Loyang Tua Pek Kong Temple promote a more cordial relationship among
practitioners of various faiths? Although this is primarily field research and based on firsthand observations, you will need to
refer to secondary sources, such as media articles, for background information on the temple.
Ensure that you include references and provide a bibliography of the cited sources in your
assignment.
Write your answers in not more than 1,500 words. Please remember to provide the
word count, and list of references. SIM UNIVERSITY Page 5 of 7 SSC251 Tutor-Marked Assignments 01-02 January 2017 Semester TMA02
This tutor-marked assignment comprises ONE (1) 1,200-word essay (excluding
bibliography/references) which is worth 25% of the final mark for SSC251 Religion in
Contemporary Societies. Please indicate the word count at the end of the TMA. Marks will be
deducted for essays that exceed the word limit.
Please upload this assignment to Turnitin by Tuesday, 28 February 2017, 11.55pm.
Resubmissions are allowed before this cut-off time.
Remember to provide in-text citations as well as a list of references at the end of the essay.
Please note that up to 10% of your marks go to accurate and coherent writing, and
appropriate citation and referencing.
Question
Download and read the following articles from Factiva:
Youth in Singapore Shunning Religion, The Straits Times, 21 March 2016
http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/youth-in-singapore-shunning-religion
Fewer Singapore Residents Identify as Buddhists or Taoists, The Straits Times, 21 March
2016
http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/fewer-singapore-residents-identify-as-buddhists-ortaoists
Time to Engage the Non-Religious in Dialogue, The Straits Times, 15 Mar 2016
http://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/time-to-engage-the-non-religious-in-dialogue The Department of Statistics General Household Survey 2015 report indicated that those who
said they had ‘no religion’ comprised 18.5% of the resident population, up from 17%
indicated in the previous survey in 2010.
(a) Explain what respondents mean when they declare that they do not belong to any religion?
Are they atheist or do you think they subscribe instead to a civil religion, a new age or
post-modern religion or are they attracted to other religions (religions they were not born
into) or even have a different approach to life such as humanism? Why so? Discuss.
(60 marks)
(b) Describe and explain what constitutes the religious landscape in Singapore society. Why
do you think the religious landscape in Singapore has changed over the years? How do
you think the religiously-involved and fervent group may co-exist peacefully with the
non-religious minority?
(40 marks) SIM UNIVERSITY Page 6 of 7 SSC251 Tutor-Marked Assignments 01-02 January 2017 Semester Student Notes
This assignment assesses your understanding of the meaning of religion to the younger,
educated demographic living in a globalised world where notions of civil religion, new age
religions, secularisation exist in societies dominated by multiculturalism and religious
cosmopolitanism where religious (or non-religious) behaviour is considered to be the choice
of an individual and what are the available choices in the religious marketplace. In doing so,
this assignment requires to explore what religion means to people on a personal as well as a
social level as well as to assess to what extent ethnic identities in Singapore’s multi-ethnic,
multi-religious society, are indeed religious in nature. This assignment also requires you to
consider the impact of these trends: how does Singapore society need to understand what
constitutes religion and religious identity, and more importantly, how may the non-religious
minority synergise with the religious majority in the changing religious landscape and what
might be their response to global debates about the role of religion in human life in secular
societies. In doing so, you are required to consider how these developments influence our
conception of religious identities.
To answer the TMA question, you should refer to relevant materials from the course e.g., the
relevant portions of the study guide and course readings such as Szonyi (2009), Esposito et al
(2008), Mitchell (2006) and McFaul (2006). In addition, you should locate sources external to
the course by conducting your own research through UniSIM’s online library resources
(including media articles and journal articles) and incorporate insights or data from these into
your essay.
Please ensure that your answer applies specific, relevant social sciences concepts (e.g.,
secularisation, multiculturalism, identity, civil religion, religious marketplace, choices of
individuals, new age religions, post-modern religions, religion and globalisation, etc.) and
perspectives covered by the course. Your essay should demonstrate competence in the
perspectives on religion offered by the course, where relevant (e.g., sociology, anthropology,
and/or history of religions).
You should address each part of the TMA question in a single continuous essay with a good
introduction and conclusion – utilising sub-headers where necessary to help you organise
your arguments.
Write your answers in not more than 1,200 words. Please remember to provide the
word count, and list of references.
— End of TMA — SIM UNIVERSITY Pag