Religious Studies News

Some of our schools and departments are at a perilous place. At the very moment when analysis of past trends and projections of future development confirm the wisdom of steps made in cooperation with alternative paths and innovative education, with all the potential of wider reach of service and increased enrollment, these are two areas under risk of — if not outright elimination — at least severe curtailment because of financial challenges. It is as if, in the face of economic difficulties, there is a retreat to some of the old ways of thinking and doing, even though we have the evidence to show that this time should have passed. In such a context, various persons advocate adoption of an educational “gold standard” with modest adaptations. However, I am not certain that any “gold standard,” with its classist, hegemonic, and modernist assumptions, has served all student constituencies as well as many claim, especially those persons who represent the growth in enrollment in higher education: women and persons of color.

Some schools and departments have begun to experience this demographic shift in enrollment and are ahead of others, especially with an increased number of persons of color as a percentage of student population. But any school’s continued participation in this potential enrollment tsunami is by no means guaranteed. The pivotal moment is now for schools to live up to their rhetoric, to embrace diversity fully and consistently — or risk losing the diversity achieved so far. In this time of transition much is at risk. By embracing the idea of intercultural pedagogy and experimenting with multiple ways to implement that concept, the potential exists not only to attain more effective ways of teaching and learning in religious studies, but also to address directly the monumental demographic shifts in our society and our various institutions. If we are successful, then our classroom praxis will well demonstrate the tremendous contribution that religious studies can make to the missional and financial needs of higher education.