a Philosophy of Religion course

In 2010, I created a syllabus for teaching my very own Philosophy of Religion course. Here it is, available through Google Docs. The original intent was to use the syllabus as a sample to apply for a full-time position at local community colleges, but the syllabus itself is solid enough for me to use it as the framework for an actual course in philosophy of religion.*

I had wanted to make this 16-week course available back in January for people wishing to learn on a face-to-face basis, but there didn't seem to be any interest (of course, my readership at the time was half of what it is now; the blog is growing!). If you're interested in learning about the philosophy of religion with me via Skype, however, I'm willing to teach you. The cost for the course is $286 (see here for an explanation of the rate), plus the cost of the two textbooks, both of which are available through various online sources.

As currently set up, the course assumes 3 hours per week for 16 weeks. Right now, my best available teaching day is Sunday; I'd recommend having the session between meals, from 2PM to 5PM, Eastern time. Skype will allow me to handle several callers at once, if I'm not mistaken, so we can have an actual class: me plus three or four students.

If you're in a different time zone, I hope you can rearrange your own schedule to fit this time frame. If not, we can see about arranging something privately, with the caveat that we stick to 3 hours a week, and that we keep strictly to whatever schedule we decide upon. For example: if we choose to have classes at 10AM every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, we will not shift suddenly to 11AM during the third week of the course. I'm not a fan of wishy-washy behavior once a schedule has been established. Of course, there may be unforeseeable circumstances (e.g., my company occasionally schedules 11AM staff meetings)

General information about the Philosophy of Religion course has been available on this blog at this link. The syllabus itself provides more detail. If you're unclear on how to register, click the "Rates and Registration" tab under the banner, then click the "How to Register" link.

Just to put my price into perspective: $286 for 16 weeks' worth of education is extremely cheap. At 3 hours per week, that's 48 hours of class time. Divide $286 by 48 hours, and you get an hourly rate of $5.96. Who's insane enough to charge only $5.96 per hour for tutoring? Only someone who's more interested in cosmic questions than in money, that's who.

Get a few friends to sign up along with you, and let's get this thing rolling!

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*A note on capitalization: whenever I refer generically to philosophy of religion, I leave the phrase uncapitalized. When I refer, however, to the name of the course I'd like to teach, I capitalize the phrase. No inconsistencies here.


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I'm available via Skype!

If you're new to this blog and haven't had a chance to explore the tabs underneath the banner image, you should know that I'm available via Skype if you want to talk face-to-face. My contact information for email, Skype, and Twitter is located at the bottom of the "About" page (see "About" tab!). Email me a note saying you want to talk via Skype and we'll arrange a day and time. I'll wait no more than 10 minutes, however; time is precious, so please be punctual.

I mention the Skype thing because you might be hesitant about signing up to be tutored by someone you haven't vetted. That's perfectly understandable, so if you want to chat via Skype for a bit to sound me out, I'm game.

Skype allows for long-distance tutoring, by the way: we might be thousands of miles apart, and separated by two or three time zones, but that doesn't mean I can't be your tutor. Multimedia distance learning is all the rage these days; educational paradigms are changing rapidly, and many students now prefer to learn from the comfort of their own home. Skype plays right into that scenario... and it saves you the extra cost of paying my gasoline bill! (If you've visited my rate chart, you're aware I charge extra for long drives. Sorry, but that's the economy we live in.)

So hit me with some Skype action!


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