WORLD RELIGIONS & CONFLICTS

Thombs, M., Gillis, M., & Canestrari, A. (2009). Using webquests in the Social Studies classroom: A culturally responsive approach. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.

 

Religious Conflict: Is an end in sight?

 

Advanced Preparation

During the week prior to the start of the webquest set aside time to speak with your students individually to gain a better understanding of their cultural influences, religious positions, language needs (ESL), and learning preferences. You should use this information to gain an understanding of the types of roles, grasps, and assignments to create in your WebQuest. Decide on the instructional objectives of the WebQuest - research skills, writing, collaboration, communication, literacy strategies, content instruction, or presentation skills. Decide on your WebQuest design pattern.

 

Twenty-Six WebQuest Design Patterns

http://webquest.sdsu.edu/designpatterns/all.htm

 

Introduction

Over the past few months, we have studied a number of different religionsand asked a number of respected church leaders to visit us here in the classroom. We have learned about the major religious conflicts that exist today; these include the Irish debate, the India/Pakistan conflict, the Arab-Israeli conflict, Sunniism vs. Shiitism, the war in the Balkans and Afghanistan, as well as the current world challenges with Al Qaeda. Additionally, we have discussed the Holocaust, the Crusades, and the Spanish Inquisition. Religious conflict can be violent and the impact long lasting. Whether the struggles have been on a multi-country scale or occurred within one region, lives will inevitably be affected. So, questions which might be asked at the outset, "What is religion?" "What are the underlying causes of the conflict being carried out in the name of religion?" "How can future conflicts be avoided in the future?" Everyone in this class - just as everyone in the world - has a personal cultural history which has been touched in some way by a past or current religious conflict.

For this project we will suppose that the year is 2050. Local and world leaders have come together for a World Peace Summit. We will examine some of the histories of conflict in the name of religion in order to help guide our leaders as they seek to secure world peace.

 

TASKS

World leaders have studied the underlying causes of war since the beginning of history and have discovered a few consistent themes - one is war in the name of religion. The leaders have asked us to make a documentary of each of the conflicts studied (TASK 1) and then present individual papers at the conference comparing all four (TASK 2).

 

PROCESS

Each student will be assigned to one of four groups to study a religious conflict and film a documentary about it. You will need to understand the religions on each side of the conflict, as well as the history of the war itself. The four groups are as follows:

1. Islamic/Catholic strife on the island of Mindanao in the Phillipines
2. Roman Catholic schism in Brazil (Roman Catholic and Candomble)
3. Arab/Israeli conflict (Islam and Judaism)
4. Sri Lanka (Hinduism and Buddhism) 

 

GATHERING BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE

Understanding Religion 

You will use the notes you have taken from the various guest speakers who have visited us in the classroom and the information gained from the Internet. (See the Resources section). An organizer for summarizing your data is below.

 

	Religion _________________	Religion __________________
God(s)
List three primary beliefs
List three important rituals
Similarities between the two religions studied
Differences between the two religions studied
Founding or important leaders
Sacred texts
Sacred symbols
Place(s) of worship
Other important observations

 

You will have two class sessions to complete the research portion of the assignment.

 

INVESTIGATING THE ASSIGNED CONFLICT

In your small group you will read abou your assigned religious conflict (See resources for links to information you will need to review). You should determine the answers to the following questions, which will be used by your group to script and produce the documentary.

1. How did the conflict begin?
2. What are the key points of disagreement?
3. Are the points of disagreement about religion or something else?
4. What factors or incidents have exacerbated the conflict?
5. How long has the conflict continued?
6. Why hasn't the conlfict been resolved? 

 

ROLES

You will be assigned to a multicultural, multilingual group. In that group you will decide what roles should be played in the final documentary and who will play them. When completing the research for the assignment half of the group will be language specialists and half will be culture specialists. You will decide among the group who will be each. You will work as a team to complete the chart, answer the questions, and film the documentary.

The language experts will:

• assist anyone in the group who might have difficulty with English language content
• prepare the actual script for the documentary

 

The culture experts will:

• advise the language experts about any particular customs, values, sensitivities that they need to be aware of while visiting the country to make the documentary
• make sure the documentary is objective and reflects any cultural considerations that you have advised the language experts about

 

Use the following chart to document each team member's role:

	Culture or Language Specialist	Specific Role in Documentary
Team Member #1
Team Member #2
Team Member #3
Team Member #4
Team Member #5
Team Member #6

 

DOCUMENTING THE PROBLEM

Without taking sides, prepare a documentary that educates the public about:

• what religion is
• the religions involved in the conflict
• the conflict itself

All members of the group must be used in the documentary in agreed upon roles. Roles to consider: interviewer, economist, translator, culture expert. Choose roles that you as a group believe make sense. Keep in mind that all of the groups will each of the documentaries to assess solutions for ending religious conflicts.

You will have three weeks (mostly outside of class) to script and film the documentary.

 

ASSESSING SOLUTIONS

Once all of the documentaries have been viewed and we have had time to ask questions of each team, you will write an individual essay (2+ pages) to present to the world leaders. They have asked us to determine the underlying causes of the conflict and make recommendations for preventing strife in the future. Use the following organizer to compare, not reexamine individual conflicts.

	Conflict 1	Conflict 2	Conflict 3	Conflict 4
Common areas of disagreement
Unique areas of disagreement
Economic factors
Cultural factors -language -ethics -tradition -other -belief systems
Geographic factors
Other factors (list them and assess)

 

RESOURCES: Religions

Buddhism

Buddhism: BBC Religion & Ethics: Buddhism - http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/buddhism/ 

Religion Facts.com - http://www.religionfacts.com/buddhism

 

Candomble

BBC Religion & Ethics: Candomble- http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/candomble

Pilot Destination Guides - http://pilotguides.com/destintion_guide/south_america/brazil/candomble.php

Candomble: Encyclopedia - http://www.experiencefestival.com/a/Candombl/id/438599

 

Hinduism

BBC Religion & Ethics: Hinduism - http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/hinduism/

ReligionFacts.com - http://www.religionfacts.com/hinduism 

 

Islam

BBC Religion & Ethics: Islam- http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/islam

ReligionFacts.com - http://www.religionfacts.com/islam

 

Judaism

BBC Religion & Ethics: Islam- http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/judaism

ReligionFacts.com - http://www.religionfacts.com/judaism  

 

Roman Catholicism

Beliefnet - http://www.beliefnet.com/Faiths/2001/06/What-Catholics-Believe.aspx

ReligionFacts.com - http://www.religionfacts.com/christianity/denominations/catholicism.htm

 

CONFLICTS

Visit the following sites to discover information on the various conflicts

 

Center for Religious-based Conflict

http://aps.naples.net/community/NFNWebpages/storyboard.cfm?StoryBoardNum=142&PageNum=150

 

Peace Forum Paper

http://bugsnbytes.tripod.com

 

Asia Source Paper

http://www.asiasource.org

 

Islamic / Catholic Strife on the Island of Mindanao in the Phillipines

http://center2000.org/Centerrel%40center2000.org/Welcome.html

 

History Teacher

http://historyteacher.net/Arab-Israeli_Conflict.htm  

 

Religious Tolerance

http://religioustolerance.org  

 

EVALUATION

 

TASK 1: Create a Documentary

 

	Exceeds Standards	Meets Standards	Approaching Standard	Does Not Meet Standard
Research (Individual)	The research came from at least six different sources and was cited correctly	The research came from at least three to five different sources and was cited correctly	The research came from at least less than three different sources and was cited correctly	The research was minimal and was not cited or cited correctly
Collaboration (Individual)	The student showed leadership skills and helped keep the group on task	The student made significant contrbutions to the group and the final project	The student made some contributions, but allowed other students to assume a greater share of the work	The student did not make significant contributions to the final product
Quality of the Documentary (Grup)	The documentary was professional. It portrayed the facts without bias and presented a complete view of the topic	The documentary portrayed the facts without bias and presented a complete view of the topic	Additonal facts are needed to present the  complete view of the topic & slight bias is evident	The topic was not presented completely or was presentd in a biased manner
Use of Technology (Group)	The technology  was used in a way that enhanced the overall quality of the documentary	The technology was appropriate  and well chosen	For the most part the technology was well used but in some places lessened the effect of the documntary	The technology detracted from the overall quality of the documentary

 

TASK 2: Present a Paper to World Leaders

	Exceeds Standards	Meets Standards	Approaching Standards	Does Not Meet Standards
Writing  Mechanics	There were no errors in grammar, spelling, punctuation or capitalization	There were one or two errors in grammar, spelling, punctuation or capitalization	There were three or four errors in grammar, spelling, punctuation or capitalization	There were fiv or more errors in grammar, spelling, punctuation or capitalization
Support for Argument and Cohesiveness of Argument	The conclusions are well supported by documented facs. The conclusions logically flow from the statements	The conclusions are supported by  documented facts. The conclusions for the most part logically flow from the statements	Some conclusions are not supported by documented facts. The arguments have some inconsistencies	The arguments  are not well supported. The conclusions lack logic and consistency.
Quantity and Quality of Information	The paper contains many well-cited facts. The sources are reputable	The paper contains sufficient well-cited facts. The sources are reputable	Sources were cited, but were not from highly reputable sources. Some opinions were presented as facts	Sources were not cited. More opinions than facts were presented

 

 

CONCLUSION

Congratulations! You tackled some complicated, and perhaps emotional issues. As a follow-up to this assignment, after receiving your evaluated essay, think about sharing it with your classmates. We will set aside time for sharing in the near future.

 

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