New Online Course Profile: RELG 306 – Archaeology and the Bible

In September 2013, the Department of Classical, Near Eastern, and Religious Studies (CNERS), offered its very first online distance education course in Religious Studies. The course, RELG 306: Archaeology and the Bible, focuses on the impact of archaeological research on understanding the history and religion of ancient Israel and Palestine. RELG 306 complements 100, 200, and 300 level courses in CNERS by setting out to bridge the divide between the study of texts and the study of material remains, and thus plays a significant role in the CNERS undergraduate program. Course instructor Ernest Bumann explains that it brings two fields together: the study of the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament, and archaeology. He notes, “RELG 306 brings all of the aspects of biblical history and archaeology into the course. Where do they confirm or contradict each other, or add any other information?” Students engage with fundamental questions from Biblical scholarship and archaeology such as ‘Who owns the past?’, ‘Is there a historical or religious truth?’, and ‘What constitutes identity?’.

For Ernest, a key aspect of the online course is the use of visually rich materials. “Archaeology in general needs to be seen. Artifacts or features can always be described, but only experts will know what you are talking about.” In order for students to better understand the material, the course uses a large number of photographs, plans, graphs, and other visual materials. “Students are not experts,” he explains. “They cannot fully understand archaeology simply through descriptions. They need to see the material in order to better understand it.”

As a result of the need for so many visually rich materials, the online format works very well for Ernest. “There are an incredible amount of pictures with the online course,” he states, “and the material is so rich.” Ernest feels that one of the greatest advantages of the online format is that students can view the material at any time. This is especially useful for a course that uses as many visuals as RELG 306. “The course has such a breadth of material from 2000 BC onwards,” notes Ernest, “and it has a massive amount of high quality materials.”

Ernest also makes use of the discussion board to facilitate conversations. “In terms of pedagogy, it is one of the most important things to do,” he explains. Ernest finds the discussion board was very well used in his course. Often times, the students would have a back and forth discussion on a topic, with Ernest coming in every now and then to help guide the discussions. Some students also corresponded with Ernest via email. In addition to posting to the discussion board, students completed quizzes and wrote a final exam.

Although there are no prerequisites to the course, Ernest says that it is advisable for students to have either an archaeological background or knowledge of the Hebrew Bible. The course allows students to approach the subject from either of these angles. “Some take it because they want to know more about the Bible, or want to know more about the historical or archaeological background,” notes Ernest.

RELG 306 was the first course that Ernest has taught online, and he’s happy to have taught this particular course. “I was very interested in teaching the course,” he says. “It’s a very popular course, offered by many different universities around the world.” He explained that it was good to work with the department head, other instructors who were interested in the course, as well as the staff at the Centre for Teaching, Learning and Technology who supported him throughout the design of the course. For future course offerings, he is considering the use of video interviews with experts in the field. This will add to the already large amount of visuals available in the course, and should help students gain an even better understanding of the material. Ernest is also glad that the online format opened the course up to others, beyond the traditional classroom. “It was great to put it online so that students from all over the place can take part in the course.”

This article was published in the March 2014 CTLT Newsletter, Dialogues. Below is a list of articles included in the issue:

Find out more about the CTLT Newsletter, Dialogues.