Courtney Bender

I mean, she's not the worst CC professor out there, but she's certainly not mind-blowing. It's clear that she's studied and closely read the material on the CC syllabus, but she's certainly not an inspirational professor. In discussion, she intersperses her own little comments and banter; her voice is not completely authoritative in that she never offers a final word, but at least she doesn't force her opinions on you. She doesn't really inspire intellectual curiosity. I would say that it's an easy enough class if you're comfortable with the readings. You have a response almost every week so you end up participating a lot anyway because you've actually had to do a response. I wouldn't recommend her because she's not at all easy going and writes down/remembers everything.

Professor Bender is the perfect teacher for this class. She specializes in American religion, particularly in pluralist and cosmopolitan settings such as New York City. No one else on the religion faculty here (to my knowledge) is more knowledgeable than she is in this field. The course is just what it sounds like: religion's presence and position in cities, particularly this one, since the founding of the United States. Lectures generally follow the contents of whatever book (or parts of books, or articles) were assigned for that week, and while doing the reading really helps, you can get by without it if need be. The readings concentrated mostly on Christianity in the city, with some Judaism and some Islam in there, but nothing of Asian religions, or at least barely anything. At heart, this class is about ethnography. Each student chooses a religious site or group within Manhattan to study over the course of the semester. Each student writes four papers: the first is a "precis," an overview of the site/community, how it relates to its immediate surroundings, how it advertises itself, etc. The second is a history of the site/group. The third is a field study, an argument students make on the basis of observational field notes they write after visiting the site on several occasions. Finally, the fourth essay uses another students' research in comparison with your own to make s…

I very much enjoyed this class. No, Professor Bender never knocked my socks off in amazement, but the class really isn't structured for that kind of thing, anyway. It's a one-weekly seminar in which you discuss an important work of religious study and the theory behind it (later in the semester, you switch from an emphasis on theory to one on method). Sometimes the reading (often a whole book) took quite a while, but if you spaced it over a few days then it's not a problem. Discussions were very engaging, and I always felt like I had learned both a lot about the book itself and about the theory and method of religious study. There was one 6-8 page midterm paper (for which we were given topic questions) and the option to either write a take-home final paper or to research and write your thesis proposal (a great opportunity for majors to kill two birds with one stone). Professor Bender was engaging, she was very familiar with the subject matter, and she was both nice and welcoming. I went to office hours a few times and walked away feeling like it was time well spent, my questions answered. One thing to be aware of: Bender does not like to give paper extensions, so work to get it done on time!

Vanilla Ice cream. For better and for worse. Dependable and gives good explanations, but will never blow you away like chubby hubby or anything. Still, having gone through most people in the religion dept, especially the ones teaching more theory, i'd take vanilla ice cream and run

She has her ups and downs, but for the most part its easy to stay awake during her class. Bender is young and can connect well with the students, bringing in her own personal experiences and outside case studies to liven up material. One of the better lectures I've taken. Workload: easy - the readings are interesting (some are even taken out of popular magazines), though sometimes dated. weekly memo, one paper and midterm/final required.

In this seminar focused on the study of religion, I engaged in an in-depth exploration of the methods and theories used by scholars to understand and analyze religion. The course provided a unique perspective on how contemporary people perceive, theorize, and reflect upon the concept of religion, both implicitly and explicitly. This initial discussion was crucial in developing an understanding of the epistemological and methodological stakes involved in studying religion – essentially, how we come to know our subject and the approaches we take in studying it.

The course teaches methods for conducting fieldwork and interviews according to ethnographic principles. I learnt how to observe, study and interact with a religious community/space and examine my role and positionality as a researcher in the field. I also learnt how to critically analyze and reflect on my fieldwork and interviews and how to write field notes and convert them into ethnographic writing.

Prof Bender's CC section leaves a lot to be desired. She has students do presentations for each class while she sits back and nods. When she does participate in class discussion she can be unintentionally obnoxious and downright insulting. She never gives breaks in the middle of class and towards the end of class nearly everyone is snoozing. The odd look on her face leads many to believe she is perpetually stoned.

Four papers (see above), one 6-8 pages, two 8-10, one 10-15. No midterm or final. About one book per week, or two small ones, or three or four articles.

This course was a good experience. The readings were, for the most part, pretty interesting and a useful introduction to the study of religion. Discussions were usually lively, and the class has a good "vibe" -- lots of joking around. Prof. Bender is very nice and a good discussion leader, as was the TA. But not giving us a break in a two-hour long discussion class is pretty rough.