Purpose The purpose of the Investigate a Religion assignment is to gain in-depth knowledge of the cultural aspects of a religion. The religion assigned is

❖ Bahá’í Faith.

Students will collect the information and format a 10- to 12-slide presentation (MS PowerPoint or Prezi). Your presentation should include your research on all the following prompts, in the given order.

Cultural Treatment

• Describe 3-4 salient features that make this religion distinct from other religions.
• How is spirituality understood in the religion? Are there any specific spiritual pathways that allow the growth of deeper human values and profound personal growth? If so, describe them?
• What are the rules and guidelines in terms of personal freedoms in the religion you researched? How strictly do the followers adhere to the rules laid down in the scriptures?
• Describe the status of gender and gender identities in the religion and discuss any gender oppression or gender discrimination that is based on faith. Discuss the religion’s policy on LGBTQIA communities. Did the policy change in the recent past? If so, describe the shift.

Internal and External Religious Discrimination

• Are there different factions of this religion? If so, what is the consensus in terms of how each faction views the other? Is there discrimination between the factions? If so, in what form?
• Explain any historical and recent discrimination that the religion and the religious group experienced. Do you think discrimination will increase or decrease in the future? Research and find an article (within the past 5 years) on religious discrimination incident that this specific religious/spiritual group experienced, and briefly describe the incident. Do you think discrimination will increase of decrease in the future?
• How do you think these types of incidents involving religious discrimination can be avoided in our society and the workplace?

PowerPoint Submission Guidelines

Within the presentation, include the following: • Slide 1: Assignment name, your name, your institution’s name

• Include a Conclusion slide: A brief wrap-up summary on the religion you researched
• Last slides should be – APA formatted references

 

• Remember: Do not use more than 1-2 direct quotes, that are not more than a couple of sentences each, in the entire assignment.
• Remember – Format has points. Use of images, attractive slide design, and legible font are a must. Do not turn your PowerPoint into a word document style.