Today we move into the theme of "Power and Authority" and we'll begin by discussing our general understandings of religious power, authority and tradition.

We take a focused look at the power of the veil as it is used by young Muslim women in Canada.  Please form the following groups to read each other's writing on the article by Homa Hoodfar, a social anthropology professor at Concordia University in Montreal.   After your silent reading, use rounds to come up with a list of all the reasons that the Muslim women gave for choosing to wear the veil.  Appoint someone to take notes to report your list back to the rest of the class.

Whitney	Rebecca	Gavin	Jeremy
Hassen	Colin	Melissa	Lindsay
Mary Dan	Ella	Chantal	Sara
Alicia	Letisha	Francis

Please read the article "The Worldwide Rise of Religious Nationalism" by Mark Juergensmeyer.  Understanding religious nationalism can help us understand religious elements in various conflicts in our world today.  What did you find particularly informative about the article?  What was new for you?  Are there parts of the article you didn't understand?  Cite helpful or difficult passages, either by paraphrasing them or directly quoting it and then provide the location, i.e. (pg 7).  Explain what you find insightful or problematic about the passage.  Write a response that is at least one page long.  Post your writing to the Web CT topic "Religious Nationalism".  Please cut and paste your writing into the composer window.  Bring a hard copy of your response with you to class on Thursday.