Religious Studies News

Whatever money students make in their lives and whatever work they find to fill their time, taking time to reflect on one’s ideas, beliefs, and concepts enhances a person’s quality of life. At a state institution where students are often focused on how to get through their studies in as few semesters as possible, this kind of self-reflection is a luxury and one we in religious studies can help them enjoy as part of their college learning experience. In many respects, this is an undervalued aspect of our culture and of college education. Taking the time to sit and just ruminate on the decisions one has made, beliefs one holds, and one’s core values is something that is rarely modeled in our culture and even more rarely in state schools with larger class sizes. However, this is an important part of the life of the mind, the experience of the whole person throughout her or his life, whatever their occupation. There is an element of risk both in thinking about others’ religious worlds and honestly and carefully examining our own values and beliefs. This is poignantly brought to light by Robert Orsi’s recent discussion of participant observer practice in the study of religion (Orsi, 2006). Awareness of one’s beliefs and values is very significant in identifying and valuing the beliefs of others, and as a crucial part of empathizing with others, imagining their world, and knowing oneself.

A course such as “Religious Auto/Biography” combines religious studies and religious literacy. Frequently it is a general education class for students meeting a requirement for a “cultural diversity” or “writing-intensive” credit, and many of those students will not darken the door of a religious studies class again; yet it can be a course that opens doors for students to the world and helps them make their place in that world. The connection to the reader, through the direct and personal tone of an autobiography, opens a door for imagining a life lived, a space where one can ask, “Would I do the same?” or “How does it feel to have had that experience?,” sparking that imagination in a personal, intimate way that is not often part of the state university experience. I hope students can take away three things central to religious studies from this kind of course: 1) Knowledge of other religious traditions; 2) Ideas about the ways those religious traditions can be lived; and 3) A sense of their own developing ideas about life, the universe, and everything.

Humanities professors educate students, teaching them the data and analytical skills that are important in their fields; but in addition, our religious studies classes provide a distinctive opportunity because our data and analytical skills reach far beyond the classroom. We can, through the careful exploration of religious data, inculcate in our students a desire to better know their world and themselves in that world. This seems to be part of the private college and university ethos but is (often necessarily) sadly neglected at state schools. As a professor, I endeavor to take seriously a call to keep my teaching student-centered but also engaged in the world, engaged in my students’ lives — even as they believe they are pursuing a degree for its material promises for the future. It is challenging in the state school world where class sizes are ballooning and publishing demands are increasing, but it can be a rewarding part of our teaching lives, in no small part because our students are eager for this kind of engagement (Walvoord, 2008).