ERIC EJ861159: The Religious Studies Major and Liberal Education

2009·0.43 MB·English

by  ERIC

THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF RELIGION
The Religious Studies Major
C andLiberal Education
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E THESEDAYS, it is hardly news when a publica- by 2050. In 2007, Harvard faculty engaged in
R tion prints a retraction. When the retraction a very public debate over the importance of
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is for an eight-year-oldobituary, though, people the study of religion in the university’s core
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A tend to stand up and to take notice. curriculum, with the approved core featuring
E As the 1990s came to a close, theE conomist multiple references to religion (if stopping short
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was so certain of the imminent demise of or- of mandating its study). Former Secretaryof
ganized religion that State Albright (2000) is now a highly vocal
it featured God’s obit- advocate of the public role of religion, writing
uary in its final issue of the millennium. The that the failure of Americans to understand
If we truly wish for editors’ perspective was clear, if myopic. Church other religions “poses one of the great challenges
attendance in much of Western Europe was to our public diplomacy.” And in November
students to engage
in free fall. “The cynical, questioning, anti- 2007, the Economistprinted a retraction of its
the tremendous
authoritarian West,” often led by college notorious obituary, declaring: “Atheists and
variety of human professors, had just completed a century of agnostics hate the fact, but these days religion
understandings of relentless (and frequently effective) attacks is an inescapable part of politics.”
on religious belief. For politicians, intellectuals, Of course, those of us in the field of religious
life, death, suffer-
and even some clerics, “religion was becom- studies know that religion has always been an
ing, love, and mean-
ing marginal to public life . . . [and] faith an inescapable part of politics, as well as an in-
ing, there is irrelevance in foreign policy” (1999). The escapable part of economics, foreign policy,
perhaps no more U.S. secretary of state at the time, Madeleine social mores, and domestic interactions. The
Albright, was of the opinion that any given waning years of the twentieth century were
direct path than
world problem was “complicated enough with- certainly no exception. While the reality has
through the study
outbringing God and religion into it” (Carnes not changed in recent years, public percep-
of religion 2006). And when Henry Kissinger published tions doubtlessly have. World events have led
his nine-hundred-page, career-summarizing Americans to a new appreciation of the im-
Diplomacyin 1994, the word “religion” did not portance of knowledge about religion and to a
even appear in the index. Religion was on the vivid awareness of the dangers that emerge
way out. Or so the defenders of the Enlighten- when we fail to recognize religion as a potent
ment canon declared. source of motivation and behavior. In a world
How times have changed. shaped not merely by 9/11 but by Iraq, Bosnia,
The proportion of the world’s population Kashmir, and the West Bank—not merely by
that claims membership in the four largest re- abortion, but by gay marriage, intelligent de-
ligions—Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, and sign, euthanasia, and stem cells—Americans
Hinduism—actually increasedover the past increasingly accept the idea that we need bet-
century, from 67 percent in 1900 to 73 percent ter to understand the diverse range of religious
in 2005 (World Christian Database 2007). phenomena. In one recent survey (Wuthenow
The number is predicted to reach 80 percent 2007), over 80 percent of Americans responded
48 LIBERAL EDUCATION SPRING 2009
College of St. Benedict
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Hebrew College
affirmatively to the question, “Do you think by American colleges and universities. In
people should learn more about religions 2006, former Harvard President Derek Bok re-
other than their own?” ported that American colleges and universities
In a sense, our job as scholars of religion be- “accomplish far less for their students than
came a lot easier on September 11, 2001. Sud- they should,” citing deficiencies in the teach-
denly, the arguments we had been making for ing of writing, critical thinking, and problem
years about the importance of understanding solving as well as a failure to impart “the
world religious traditions were being made by knowledge needed to be a reasonably informed
others: not merely by former secretaries of state citizen in a democracy” (2006, 8). Beginning
and magazine editors, not merely by the gen- in 2003, the Higher Education Research Insti-
eral public, but by college deans, provosts, and tute (HERI)at the University of California,
presidents—at times, even by our “cynical, Los Angeles, surveyed over one hundred
questioning, anti-authoritarian” colleagues. thousand American college students in a mul-
tiyear study of students’ engagement with is-
A return to liberal education? sues of spirituality and religiousness. In 2006,
Concurrent with (if largely coincidental to) HERI convened a National Institute for Spiri-
these changes in public perceptions of the im- tuality in Higher Education, seeking to explore
portance of religious literacy, there emerged a “the role of liberal education in students’ de-
new (or reemerged an age-old?) debate about velopment” and “to find creative ways to en-
the quality and nature of the education provided courage the development of curricular and
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cocurricular [initiatives] around issues of spiri- endeavors are largely the province of thetal-
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tuality” (Bryant and Schwartz 2006, 1). ented few: the philosopher, the novelist, the I
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Meanwhile, the Association of American poet, the painter, the dancer. The rest of us
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Colleges and Universities (AAC&U)was con- are the audience. While, to be sure, we can T
ducting a multiyear study of liberal education learn to appreciate the creations of these artists
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that concluded, “the world in which today’s and scholars, we remain observers. Religion, E
students will make choices and compose lives by contrast, is largely created by its adherents. R
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is one of disruption rather than certainty, and Millions of worshipers and hundreds of thou-
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of interdependence rather than insularity” sands of local religious communities—through A
(2007, 15). It called for a widespread shift in their prayers, rituals, devotions, and acts of E
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the “focus of schooling from accumulating charity; their conversations about scriptures;
course credits to building real-world capabili- and their hierarchies and institutions—shape
ties” (5). In its influential 2007 report, College and are shaped by the religious meanings of
Learning for the New Global Century,AAC&U their traditions. If we truly wish for students
mapped out four essential learning outcomes to engage the tremendous variety of human
for all American college students: understandings of life, death, suffering, love,
(cid:129)Knowledge of Human Cultures and the and meaning, there is perhaps no more direct
Physical and Natural World,“focused by path than through the study of religion.
engagement with big questions, both con- Clearly, the field of religious studies now
temporary and enduring” finds itself at a pivotal moment. An unprece-
(cid:129)Intellectual and Practical Skills, including dented confluence of world events, public
“critical and creative thinking,” “inquiry perceptions, and educational insights has cre-
and analysis,” and “written and oral com- ated exciting possibilities for the growth and
munication” reimagining of the field—possibilities that
(cid:129)Personal and Social Responsibility,includ- were unthinkable even a decade ago. The cur-
ing “civic knowledge and engagement— rent moment presents important opportuni-
local and global,” “intercultural knowledge ties for the academic study of religion—and
and competence,” and “ethical reasoning poses a series of challenges. How we, as scholars
and action” of religion, respond to these challenges may
(cid:129)Integrative Learning,including the synthe- well have much to say about the future of the
sis and “application of knowledge, skills, discipline—not to mention the future of
and responsibilities to new settings and American public literacy about a broad range
complex problems” (12) of religious phenomena.
For many of us in the field of religious stud-
ies, these “new directions” for American col- The religious studies major in transition
lege students seemed anything but novel. The The religious studies major is in a state of flux.
four essential outcomes embraced by AAC&U By most indicators, the field is growing, per-
outline themes that religious studies has been haps significantly. The number of religious
focusing on for decades: intercultural learning, studies majors increased by 22 percent in the
engagement of big questions, critical thinking past decade (to an estimated forty-seven thou-
and writing, moral reasoning, and the applica- sand students), with like percentage increases
tion of all of these skills to new global con- in the number of total courses offered, course
texts and lived behaviors. It is safe to say that enrollments, and faculty positions in the field.1
few disciplines in the academy more centrally The number of religious studies majors at pub-
and more naturally address the AAC&Uout- lic institutions has grown even more rapidly,
comes than does the field of religious studies. by 40 percent during the same period, signify-
At a time when leaders in higher education ing a sea change in the field. What was once a
are increasingly asking students to engage the major situated largely within liberal arts col-
large issues of life’s meaning and to think crit- leges and denominationally linked institutions
ically and responsibly about their role in the is now establishing a widespread presence at
world, religious studies offers unique opportu- state universities. In the past five years alone,
nities. Other disciplines such as philosophy, new degree programs or departments of reli-
literature, and the creative arts doubtlessly en- gion have been proposed or established at the
gage questions of ultimate meaning. Yet these University of Texas; Ohio State University;
SPRING 2009 LIBERAL EDUCATION 51
There is a very real
Georgia State University; the shift occurring in toward the Other and awareness
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I University of Minnesota; the the field of religious of the Self, which are essential
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University of North Carolina, in religious studies.” While
O studies—not a shift
T Charlotte; the University of Ames and his colleagues at
away from the study
North Carolina, Asheville; Colorado Christian are cur-
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E and Towson State University of Western religions rently negotiating the at times
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tions. In part shaped by this religious commitment and the
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A trend, the number of religion scholarly study of religious
in isolation
E degree programs that are traditions, they are convinced
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housedin free-standing reli- of the importance of the acad-
gion departments also appears to be on the emic study of other religions amid a Christian
rise, with the total now topping 50 percent. devotional context.
What constitutes the religious studies major At Santa Clara, the department is consciously
is also undergoing rapid change. The American involved in efforts to “explore the shape and
Academy of Religion conducted comprehen- function of theological studies in relation to
sive surveys of undergraduate course offerings other approaches to religion,” including political
in religion in both 2000 and 2005. The results science, history, classics, women’s and gender
are striking, if not surprising. The number of studies, and environmental studies (Crowley
sections taught of courses in Islam and Hin- 2007, 24).
duism each almost doubled during the five- Colorado Christian and Santa Clara are part
year period; by most indications, courses in of a larger movement in which departments
Christian theology, Old Testament, and New and curricula in religious studies at public,
Testament were all flat or down. Sectionsof private, and church-related institutions are
Introduction to World Religions grew in gradually, persistently, and unevenly shifting
number; sections of Introduction to the Bible from a “seminary model” for the study of religion
declined.2 There is a very real shift occurring (in which courses in Bible, Christian history,
in the field of religious studies—not a shift and Christian doctrine are seen as primary
away from the study of Western religions per and courses on other religions and aspects of
se (indeed, courses in the Introduction to religion are deemed secondary or even unnec-
Western Religions were up significantly dur- essary) to a comparative model (in which the
ing the five-year period), but one away from focus is on promoting student understanding of
the study of Christianity in isolation. the beliefs, practices, and histories of multiple
At religiously linked schools such as Colorado religious traditions in a comparative context).
Christian University (Council of Christian
Colleges and Universities) and Santa Clara Faculty and administrator
University (Jesuit), efforts are underway to misperceptions of the field
reconceive and to globalize the study of religion In the state system of Texas, another sort of
on campus. Colorado Christian provides a par- transformation is underway. Between 1905 and
ticularly interesting example of the transforma- 1985, almost all instruction in religion within
tion of the field. An evangelical university that the units of the Texas College and University
“purposefully seeks to foster spiritual as well as System was performed by “Bible Chairs:” minis-
intellectual growth,” Colorado Christian has ters nominated and paid for by various Christ-
just added its first comparative course in world ian denominations and often teaching from an
religions and seeks to establish a religious explicitly devotional perspective. The prac-
studies major. On a campus where “Christianity tice was declared unconstitutional in the
isn’t a religion, it’s a life,” such undertakings mid-1980s, but a perception that religious
can be controversial. As Frank Ames (2007) studies is indistinguishable from religious prac-
reports, “although many parochial institutions tice remained in the minds of many administra-
maintain high academic standards for students tors and faculty members across the state. The
and appoint capable scholars and teachers to permission granted in May 2007 to the Univer-
their faculties—and often succeed in providing sity of Texas, Austin, to establish the first-ever
excellent education—it is fair to say that reli- Department of Religion within the state system
gious commitment at times diminishes empathy represents a significant change in state policy.
52 LIBERAL EDUCATION SPRING 2009
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Kent State University
But old perceptions die slowly; on one uni- state-school contexts, though, the common
versity campus in Texas, while 98 percent of fear faced is not that religious studies is not
the faculty agree that religion influences world Christianenough, but rather that it might be
events in significant ways, 10 percent of the too much so.
faculty members are still of the opinion that re-
ligious studies courses are, by their very nature, Evolving interdisciplinary efforts
unconstitutional (Raphael 2007). Such senti- and subfields
ments fly in the face of nearly unanimous legal Amid already established programs of religious
consensus. Nonetheless, the concerns of some studies, the challenges are often of a different
faculty members, in Texas and elsewhere, who nature. At the University of Minnesota and
fear that religious studies necessarily entails an Louisiana State University, efforts are underway
encroachment of religious practice into the to increase the interdisciplinary outreach of rel-
classroom can still present real obstacles to the atively small programs as a means of growing
development of the discipline in state settings. both curricular resources and institutional al-
In some senses, what is happening in the lies. In these settings, the size and scope of the
Texas state system parallels the movements at religious studies major is growing, but largely
Colorado Christian and Santa Clara—a transi- through increased collaboration between core
tioning of the religion major from a seminary faculty and colleagues in cognate departments.
to a comparative model. In Texas and other The university appointment of a scholar in
SPRING 2009 LIBERAL EDUCATION 53
Hinduism, for instance, might be jointly shared offer some kind of capstone course or experi-
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Gail Hinich Sutherland of Louisiana State are contemplating adding such a capstone.
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T observes (2008), “this is going to mean that we But what should be the nature of such
probably have to leave the narrow textualists courses, how specifically do they contribute to
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R versities. No one wants to trade scholarly pro- for assessment that might be more effective?
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fundities for glib generalities but we must take Eckerd College, for example, blends compre-
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A note of the world we are preparing our students hensive examinations in three fields with a
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This is not to say that textual study is unim- for an extended conversation between the
portant to students of religious studies. Still, in student and the departmental faculty. Rhodes
certain interdisciplinary and area-studies set- College has experimented with a model of
tings, emerging perceptions of the public impor- faculty-student research collaboration.
tance of religious studies are already shaping the Clearly, part of the challenge in developing
nature and direction of the field, pointing the assessment strategies for the discipline is the
way to courses and faculty appointments in some fact that there is continuing debate about the
subfields and not in others. Indeed, such direc- appropriatecontentof the religious studies
tions may be partially responsible for the rapid major (though the depth of these debates may
nationwide increase in the number of courses in be exaggerated at times). Unlike a number of
areas such as Hinduism and Islam but decline in undergraduate disciplines that have accredit-
the number of courses in Bible and theology. ing bodies enforcing uniform content for the
major or that spring from long-established disci-
Defining and assessing the major plinary histories, religious studies is relatively
The faculties of established programs of religious new and evolving. Its strong interdisciplinary
studies are grappling with the challenge of as- content complicates assessment further, as the
sessment. Amid a national wave of assessment major often straddles multiple departments. A
initiatives, programs are scrambling to find ways final problem is the relative lack of reliable data
to fit the notoriously broad and ever-evolving collected by departments and the discipline
field of religious studies into rubrics both literal about the career paths of students graduating
and metaphorical. Of the thirty programs sub- with undergraduate degrees in religious studies.
mitting “seed grant” proposals to the American Given that the content of the religious
Academy of Religion’s Teagle initiative on the studies major is in flux and information about
religious studies major, fully one-half already what students do with the major after gradua-
tion is incomplete at best, the tasks of defin-
ing the major and then assessing it represent
Teagle Working Group Members
continuing challenges across the discipline.
The American Academy of Religion (AAR) Working Group included
the following members: Timothy Renick (principal investigator),
Georgia State University; Lynn Schofield Clark, Denver University; Growth in community colleges
Kyle Cole, AAR; Elizabeth Conde-Frazier, Claremont School of The- At any given moment, 46 percent of American
ology; Eugene V. Gallagher, Connecticut College; Mitch Leopard, college students are attending community and
Cable News Network; Eugene Y. Lowe Jr., Northwestern University; two-year colleges. Courses in world religions,
Darby Ray, Millsaps College; Amna Shirazi, Shirazi Law Group; and introduction to religion, philosophy of religion,
Chava Weissler, Lehigh University. Bible, and even Islam are increasingly common
in these settings (over 40 percent of community
Working Group Recommendations
colleges now offer coursework in the field). In
As part of the Teagle Foundation initiative on the relationship
light of the rapid increase in the number of re-
between the disciplines and undergraduate liberal education, the
ligious studies majors at state universities, it is
American Academy of Religion Working Group issued a series of
safe to assume that community colleges provide
specific recommendations for improving the religious studies major.
The recommendations can be found in the full report of the working the training ground for many majors in the field
group, which is available online at www.teaglefoundation.org/ (Young 2007).
learning/publications.aspx. For the subset of community college students
who do not continue on to four-year institutions,
their community college education might
54 LIBERAL EDUCATION SPRING 2009
provide their only formal opportunity to take Bok, D. 2006.Our underachieving colleges: A candid C
courses in religious studies. In many cases, con- look at how much students learn and why they I
tact, let alone coordination, between the facul- should be learning more.Princeton, NJ: Princeton P
University Press. O
ties of four-year institutions and those of the Bryant, A. N., and L. M. Schwartz. 2006.National T
“feeder” community colleges in their areas is
institute on spirituality in higher education: Integrat- D
all but nonexistent. ing spirituality into the campus curriculum and co- E
curriculum. Los Angeles: Higher Education R
Research Institute. U
The task ahead
Carnes, T. 2006. Q&A: Madeleine Albright. Chris- T
In 1999, precisely the time when the Economist tianity Today,June, www.christianitytoday.com/ A
was releasing its obituary of God, historian D. E
ct/2006/juneweb-only/126-43.0.html.
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G. Hart was publishing an obituary of another Crowley, P. G. 2007. Religious studies in a Jesuit con-
sort. In The University Gets Religion: Religious text. Religious Studies News22 (4): 24.
Studies in American Higher Education,Hart Economist. 1999. God. December 23.
Hart, D. G. 1999.The university gets religion: Religious
presented a bleak picture of the future of acade-
studies in American higher education. Baltimore,
mic study of religion, declaring it a “field in
MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.
search of a rationale.” He concluded that “as Kissinger, H. 1994. Diplomacy. New York: Simon and
religious studies strives to sever ties to com- Schuster.
munities of faith, it cannot do so without self- Peck, E. 2001. Doing it all wrong in the Middle East:
Iraq. Mediterranean Quarterly12 (4): 13–26.
immolation” (1999, 10).
Raphael, R. 2007. Religious studies in Texas: A mission
Like the Economist’sdeclaration of God’s
without a major. Paper presented at the annual meet-
demise, Hart’s prediction may have been pre- ing of the American Academy of Religion, San
mature. The last decade has seen rapid growth in Diego, CA.
the academic study of religion and, by many in- Sutherland, G. H. 2008. Report on the AAR/Teagle
seed grant. Unpublished report, American Academy
dicators, this growth has been spurred on by an
of Religion.
emerging consensus, both public and academic,
World Christian Database. 2007. www.worldchristian
about what the scholarly study of religion entails database.org/wcd; (accessed November 1).
and why it is important to students and society. Wuthnow, R. 2007. Religious diversity in a “Christian
With almost fifty thousand students majoring in nation”: American identity and American demo -
cracy. In Democracy and the new religious pluralism,
religious studies in American colleges and uni-
ed. T. Banchoff, 151–70. New York: Oxford Uni-
versities at any given time (and with that num-
versity Press.
ber increasing rapidly), scholars of religion will Young, S. 2007. Out of sight, out of mind: Religious
play a significant role in shaping what the next studies and the community college. Paper pre-
generation of Americans knows, thinks, and sented at the annual meeting of the American
Academy of Religion, San Diego, CA.
does with regard to religion. Clearly, our efforts
to improve the major in religious studies and
to strengthen its links to the goals of liberal NOTES
education are anything but purely academic.■■ 1 All statistics in this paragraph are derived from the
American Academy of Religion, Census of Religion
and Theology Programs, 1996, 2000, and 2005.
(See www.aarweb.org/Programs/Department_
REFERENCES Services/Survey_Data/Undergraduate.)
Albright, M. 2000. From the secretary. State(Sep- 2 American Academy of Religion, Census of Religion
tember). Quoted in Peck 2001. and Theology Programs, 2000 and 2005. Because
Albright, M. 2006. The mighty and the almighty: the number of institutions responding to the survey
Reflections on America, God, and world affairs. differed during the two survey periods, the statistics
New York: HarperCollins. cited in this paragraph are based upon the number
Ames, F. 2007. Establishing the religious studies major: of sections offered of the particular course as a per-
Stories from the Colorado Christian University centage of the total number of sections offered
trenches. Leadership Workshop. Paper presented at during each survey period.
the annual meeting of the American Academy of
Religion, San Diego, CA.
Association of American Colleges and Universities.
2007. College learning for the new global century:
A report from the National Leadership Council for
Liberal Education and America’s Promise.Washing-
ton, DC: Association of American Collegesand
Universities.
SPRING 2009 LIBERAL EDUCATION 55