The premise of this class is so interesting! However, if you're not willing to scroll through, or listen to, a TON of VERY long anecdotes while looking for actual information....then this is not the class for you. I felt extremely frustrated because I really wanted to learn from this class, but it's just not organized well at all. Some of the lectures contained the EXACT same thing that we just went over in the previous week. Also...I saw there were 3 parts to this class, which is absolutely ridiculous because they could definitely condense them into one class if you took out the hours of filler....

My first choice and completed course here, two additional courses on soul beliefs follow and I will certainly be doing those as well. I found the material (both lectures and reading references) very interesting and it connected to daily life and many conversations I find myself referencing things that are discussed here. Retired professor, Daniel Ogilvie, is the primary lecturer and he's very easy to listen to. He has a good personality and gets you thinking. Because of the nature of soul and afterlife beliefs is a personal topic (controversial as well) he and the other lecturers I found to be very passionate and thoughtful in their presentations. I especially enjoyed the writing assignments and learned not only from writing my own submissions but also doing peer reviews.

This is truly a one of a kind course in that you would be hard pressed to find one book or class that is inclusive of many different sources of soul and afterlife beliefs covered collectively. His own writing is one of the reading references (as an overview) specifically because you won't find it all under one roof elsewhere. The course discusses mythology, philosophy, many religions as well as atheism, psychology and neuroscience... some might consider the religious segments taboo or unsettling. Hopefully if you are considering this course you are an open-minded individual. I chose this course to work on for the purpose of personal enrichment and it has sparked motivation for me to continue auditing courses after not having formally studied in over 20 years. It was a challenge but well worth it!

I must confess I've tried to complete other courses before but due to time constraints and other responsibilities I've failed miserably. But this time thanks to the fact I can study this on my own pace, I'm no longer having a clash between my job and the courses I want to study, which in turn fills me with excitement and appreciation for this course. Personally, I have a deep interest in the field of religion (spirituality, theology, comparative religions, etc) which I think it is fascinating. That's why I decided to enroll in this course and give it my best. I'm learning so much thanks to the awesome lectures the professors are given and the material it is provided. I watch the lectures, I take tons of notes and I do some extra research as well. I'm just about to finish unit 1 and looking forward to starting unit 2.

I want to thank Coursera from the bottom of my heart for making this course available for free so I can have access to this material. The knowledge I'm getting here is helping me to sharpen my focus on what to study next.

I hope more courses on religion (from an academic perspective) are offered in the future so I can learn even more. (I saw a course on Calvinism I'm already interested in but it's not available yet).

My name is George (Jorge in Spanish) and I'm from South America, Chile.

Thank you to all of you for your efforts. They are deeply appreciated.

I really enjoyed this course. An interesting mix of history, philosophy and psychology. I enjoyed the written assignments as it made me think harder about the course material than just passing the quizzes. Reviewing others' work was fascinating too, as it made me consider things from different points of view (though I do think the reviewing criteria would've benefitted from being just a little bit more detailed, to better reflect the huge variation in standard between submissions).

I'm very much looking forward to the next module!

Summary:

Unit 1 is comprehensive in covering historical foundations of after-life beliefs, from pre-history to modern times. This is a necessary grounding to understand the evolution of religion. It provides different religious perspectives on the issue, and Prof Hamilton brings about an objective view in exploring the topic.

Perhaps the important thing for students to better appreciate the course is that it is titled Soul "Beliefs". These are beliefs from different religions, not facts. It is necessary to keep that in mind. Understanding that will lead to a more unbiased and scientific approach towards the topic.

Context:

I came across this course after recently losing my fiancée. Am going through Unit 2 at the moment.

I grew up in a Buddhist environment for over 20 years before distancing myself over the last several years. I appreciate the philosophies of Buddhism and that of other religions, but I would describe myself to be agnostic. My recent experiences and subsequent studies of history, philosophy, neuroscience and psychiatry and various interactions with different religious leaders have only reinforced this perspective. This course has been very helpful in providing unbiased information on the topic of after-life beliefs.

Muy buen curso, considero que es un gran enfoque desde la psicología de un tema tan importante como lo es la religión, se nota la pasión que los docentes han tenido al diseñar e impartir este curso. En ocasiones da la impresión que bajan de nivel pero, si eres paciente te das cuenta que todo lo que han ideado tiene una razón y termina siendo determinante para la comprensión de los objetivos de cada semana. Si te interesan los temas relacionados con las creencias del alma, este MOOC es indispensable.

I loved the presentation of this course, as someone interested in what distinguishes us from other animals and the mechanisms that underlie our senses of self. Some of the material, I was already familiar with because of other books on anthropology and evolution, but appreciated nevertheless how it was related to the beliefs in the soul and our psychological survival.

Este es un curso muy interesante pues trata el tema del alma desde la perspectiva de varias disciplinas. El material recomendado de lectura es muy bueno. Realmente aprendí cosas nuevas y que me sorprendieron, como la relación entre la consciencia, el cerebro y el darwinismo. Superó mis expectativas.

This course breaks all the taboos with academics discussing the history of how humans developed their belief systems, how religions and societies engineer how humans define themselves and how humans view themselves and their concepts of their soul beliefs... My favorite course of all time...

I love this course, however, I really wish it would have covered other types of belief systems as well, such as the native american beliefs, ancient celtic, or ancient norse belief systems, which have some similarities to the old middle eastern religions, but also a lot of differences.

Covered a broad range of religious beliefs about the afterlife. Solid overview of Darwin and evolution as well as good videos e.g. Dawkins, Hitchens, Harris. The videos of actual classroom delivery with students provided a realism to the online experience. Both profs. were excellent teachers with the necessary skills to handle sensitive topics.

The course could be improved by more clearly written assignments. The content of these assignments was appropriate but the word structure was too vague and in some cases disjointed.

Excellent course. Well done Rutgers.

I loved the beginning of the course and the information about Darwin. I may agree with Dawson, but I find him too darn smug. I once watched a documentary about intelligent design, Another scientist told him how lucky he was to have such fame, wealth, and good health, He asked him if he died and found a God,what would he think? Dawson's answer was and I'm not exactly quoting but he

El recorrido teórico de los autores es muy elemental. Se esperaba mayor profundidad.

It's format needs a good narrator not based on stupid commercials.

For children

This course was amazing. I loved the classroom teachings with both professors. This is the sort of course that makes your shake out the dust of your brain and really stop and consider WHY you believe what you believe and then decide for yourself IF you still believe in the same manners whenever you complete the course. I am not easily swayed and this course completely made me do a 360 and rethink my "Soul" beliefs. Bravo!

This course gives a great view point of the evolution of different religions.It also dwells into how we have today managed to successfully misinterpret the core values of religion leading to mass wold unrest.Its a course that gives us a better understanding into how our beliefs have come to be as we know it today by tracing back history and the philosophers who contributed towards religious beliefs.

I found the lectures and reading material very interesting. The professors were very good at explaining complex material and it served to tie together some loose ends regarding various religions that I had been struggling with. As a retiree, I was not interested in receiving a certificate so I didn't take the tests or do the peer reviews though. I was only interested in hearing the lectures.

Excelente curso sobre un tema MUY importante y, como se indicó en el propio curso, poco tratado en ámbitos académicos. Creencias del Alma aporta informaciones históricas sobre el desarrollo de las religiones y creencias y su función para el ser humana, así como una visión (más o menos) crítica sobre los mismos, y apunta a la relevancia de éstos en conflictos y debates del mundo moderno.

The course starts by having students identify what they were taught to believe and walks the student through the human concept of soul belief. It takes you on a journey of religious progression and rationalizes mind and body experience. Thanks so much Corrsera, Ruthers, Professors Daniel Ogilvie and Leonard Hamilton, and all the great guest speakers for such an outstanding course.