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The cultural ethnography project is designed to help you explore an otherwise unfamiliar aspect of religious belief and practice. The purpose of this assignment is to learn, through personal experience and research, about a different faith tradition. There are four components to this project: attendance, research, a reviewed rough publish, and a final paper. You are to attend a formal gathering of a faith tradition different from your own and provide an ethnographic account of your experience. How you define “different” is up to you, as long as the denominational affiliation is distinct. For example, if you consider yourself a Baptist, you should not attend a different Baptist church from the one you currently attend. Consider all aspects of the experience: the architecture, the atmosphere, the music (or lack thereof), the attendees, etc. Consider developing some questions to discuss with a leader, though written sources are best. The paper should also provide a brief description of the tradition evidencing research from your class readings and at least one other source not from the internet. The description should delineate the movement from other faith traditions and consider distinctions of the gathering you attend.
Sources: All sources used for your paper should be accessible through the library. Consider using the following reference works for your background information on religion:
Beit-Hallahmi, Benjamin. The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Active New Religions, Sects, and Cults. New York: Rosen Pub. Group, 1998. Internet resource.
Benowitz, June M. Encyclopedia of American Women and Religion. Santa Barbara, Calif: ABC-CLIO, 1998. Print.
Betz, Hans D. Religion Past & Present: Encyclopedia of Theology and Religion. Leiden: Brill, 2007. Print.
Hill, Samuel S. Encyclopedia of Religion in the South. Macon, GA: Mercer, 1984. Print.
Melton, J G. Encyclopedia of American Religions. Detroit: Gale, 2003. Internet resource.
Melton, J G, and James Sauer. The Encyclopedia of American Religions, Religious Creeds: A Compilation of More Than 450 Creeds, Confessions, Statements of Faith, and Summaries of Doctrine of Religious and Spiritual Groups in the United States and Canada. Detroit, Mich: Gale Research Co, 1988. Print.
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