Dear Student,

Welcome to Religions of Asia. There will be two academics guiding you through this unit. Anne Morrison is the unit co-ordinator. She will be helping with the administrative side of the unit, such as granting extensions and making sure that you can access everything you need within the online learning environment. Danièlle Raffaele will be assisting you with the unit content and giving you feedback on your assignments. If you have any concerns or questions please feel free to contact either of us. The online Discussion Board associated with this unit will be your primary way of contacting us. To contact us privately please use email or phone.

We trust that you will enjoy working your way through this unit and that you find it a rewarding experience. We are looking forward to working with you and hope that we can assist you with your understanding of the Religions of Asia.

Anne Morrison and Danièlle Raffaele

Dr Anne Morrison

University of South Australia
Mawson Lakes Campus
Mawson Lakes Boulevard
Mawson Lakes, SA 5095

Email: anne.morrison@unisa.edu.au
Telephone: (08) 8302 6474
Home page: http://www.unisanet.unisa.edu.au/staff/Homepage.asp?Name=Anne.Morrison

University of South Australia
School of Education
Mawson Lakes Campus
Mawson Lakes Boulevard
Mawson Lakes, SA 5095

Telephone: (08) 83026696
Email: eds-oua@unisa.edu.au

OUA Student Advisers
Tel: +61 8 8647 6145
Fax: +61 8 8647 6082
Tel: 1300 361 450 (local call cost - mobile and payphone extra)
Email: ouainfo@unisa.edu.au
Website: www.unisa.edu.au/oua

Online resources for this unit can be accessed from your unit homepage via your UniSA student portal https://my.unisa.edu.au. 

Please also check the OUA @ UniSA website for frequently asked questions and information on administrative processes for OUA students studying with UniSA. www.unisa.edu.au/oua

OUA students enrolled in UniSA units are eligible to use the Library to support their study. Regardless of where you live UniSA’s Off Campus Library Service can help you. Services include phone and online assistance, electronic document delivery to your desktop and postal delivery of loan items and documents. www.library.unisa.edu.au/services/oua/

Unibooks is UniSA’s preferred textbook supplier and textbooks can be purchased online at www.unibooks.com.au.

There are no prerequisite Subjects to be completed before this subject can be undertaken.

There are no corequisite Subjects to be completed in conjunction with this Subject.

To introduce the major religious traditions of Asia.

On completion of this Subject, students should be able to:

CO1. Understand the basic historical development of religious beliefs and practices in different Asian cultures.

CO2. Understand the religious/cultural forms of contemporary Asian village and city life.

CO3. Appreciate the links between religion and the history, politics and economics of modern Asia.

CO4. Show an understanding of the recent religious developments in Asia.

Upon completion of this Subject, students will have achieved the following combination of Graduate Qualities and Subject Objectives:

Gain an introduction to the major religious traditions of Asia.  You explore ancient India and then the Hindu, Muslim, Sikh and Jain traditions in India.  Your studies then move to Theravada Buddhism in Sri Lanka and Thailand, as well as the religions of China, Japan, Tibet and the religions of Indonesia.  You also study the recent religious developments in the Asian region.

4.5 unit points

Nil

A table outlining the unit structure and study schedule is printed at the back of this guide. Please refer to it for important information regarding due dates for assignments.

There are no textbooks listed for this Subject.

Although there is no official text it is strongly recommended that you have access to the following book:

Hinnells, JR (ed) (1998) A new Penguin handbook of living  religions. Harmondsworth: Penguin.

Please note that earlier editions of this text are adequate.

If you have difficulty accessing this book you will need to access an alternative general academic introduction to Asian Religions.

You will be required to make use of the online  Encyclopedia of Religion 2005,  Lindsay Jones (ed). You can access this online through the UniSA library catalogue.

Unit Outline
Reading booklets I and 2.

All other unit related materials can be accessed through your learnonline unit site which you will be able to access from the my Courses section in myUniSA.

All study related materials can be accessed through: https://my.unisa.edu.au

The feedback proforma is available on your course site.

Assignments need to be submitted by the due date unless an extension has been applied for. Arrangements need to be made with the unit co-ordinator on an individual basis for a longer than 7 day extension in order for assignments to be accepted for marking.

Supplementary assessment is not available for this course.

All students must adhere to the University of South Australia's policies about assessment:
http://www.unisa.edu.au/policies/manual/default.asp.

Students with disabilities may be entitled to a variation or modification to standard assessment arrangements.

Policy for students with disabilities is available at:
http://www.unisa.edu.au/policies/policies/corporate/C07.asp.

If you indicated you have a disability when you enrolled through Open Universities Australia, you will be sent a letter about UniSA services for students with disabilities. UniSA encourages you to develop a Disability Access Plan with the Learning and Teaching Unit Disability Service. http://www.unisa.edu.au/disabilityservices/default.asp

Variation to assessment methods, tasks and timelines can be provided in:

Unexpected or exceptional circumstances, for example bereavement, unexpected illness (details of unexpected or exceptional circumstances for which variation can be considered are discussed in clauses 7.5 & 7.6 of the Assessment Policy and Procedures Manual). Variation to assessment in unexpected or exceptional circumstances should be discussed with your course coordinator as soon as possible.
Special circumstances, for example religious observance grounds, or community services (details of special circumstances for which variation can be considered are discussed in clause 7.8 of the Assessment Policy and Procedures Manual). Variations to assessment in expected circumstances must be requested within the first two weeks of the course (or equivalent for accelerated or intensive teaching).

More information about variation to assessment may be found by consulting the relevant policy:
http://www.unisa.edu.au/policies/manual/default.asp (sections 3 and 7).

The university aims to foster and preserve the scholarly values of curiosity, experimentation, critical appraisal and integrity, and to foster these values in its students.

Academic integrity is a term used at university to describe honest behaviour as it relates to all academic work (for example papers written by staff, student assignments, conduct in exams, etc) and is the foundation of university life. One of the main principles is respecting other people's ideas and not claiming them as your own. Anyone found to have used another person's ideas without proper acknowledgement is deemed guilty of Academic Misconduct and the University considers this to be a serious matter.

The University of South Australia wants its students to display academic integrity so that its degrees are earned honestly and are trusted and valued by its students and their employers. To ensure this happens and that students adhere to high standards of academic integrity and honesty at all times, the University has policies and procedures in place to promote academic integrity and manage academic misconduct for all students. Work submitted electronically by students for assessment will be tested using the text comparison software Turnitin.

More information about academic integrity and what constitutes academic misconduct can be found in Section 9 of the Assessment Policies and Procedures Manual (APPM) at: http://www.unisa.edu.au/policies/manual/ or on the Learning and Teaching Unit website at: http://www.unisa.edu.au/ltu/integrity/default.asp

Nil

Conceded and Terminating passes are not available in this Subject.

Essays will be assessed on:

• Quality of argument, reflection on, and understanding of, the topics and solid conclusion
• Quality of sources
• Presentation in paragraph format, clear expression, use of in-text referencing, inclusion of bibliography

The University of South Australia recommends the Harvard Referencing be used.