Identity, Society, and Church

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One page Teaching Tactic: using, and critiquing, social media to learn about and learn to interpret current events and the role of technology.

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An extended set of conversations conducted by three religious studies faculty teaching at large public universities in the Southern United States spurred these reflections on how their institutional locations inflected issues such as the cultural expectations students bring to the classroom, how these expectations interact with the evolving priorities of religious studies departments, and how these factors affect the balance among the various subfields of religious studies and theology that make up such departments.

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This Forum collects the papers presented at a 2010 panel at the Society of Biblical Literature, an outcome of a Wabash Center funded grant project. The project examined the unique dimensions and experiences of teaching Biblical exegesis at the six historically black theological schools (HBTSs), including discussion of the unique needs of HBTS students and their communities, and appropriate learning goals and effective teaching practices for this context. None of the biblical studies faculty were prepared as graduate students for the unique challenges that they have encountered teaching at a HBTS, so they have all had to “learn on the job” how best to approach the unique needs of the student body. The brief statements collected here summarize the findings from the project, describe and analyze some effective teaching strategies, and offer suggestions for continuing the conversation.

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In this essay I reflect on my experience thus far of teaching Islam as a non-Muslim at Metropolitan State University and at the University of St. Thomas in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota. I begin by narrating a conversation about conversion that I had with one of my Muslim students. Then I introduce the theme of multiplicity as a way of being, teaching, and learning. The third section illustrates the theme of multiplicity pedagogically with reference to institutional identity, choice of textbooks, topical organization of the course, the "mosque visit" assignment, and class composition and student roles in the classroom. I conclude in the fourth section with personal reflections on multiplicity in relation to credibility and identity, politics and transformation. The essay was inspired by my realization that I embody multiple religious identities, and that one of my purposes is to build community inside and outside the classroom in an effort not only to transcend the tendency of our culture to adopt an essentialist view of Islam as suspect and alien, but also to recover Islam as a universal religion and to consider its agenda for world transformation alongside those of other religions.

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Sexual assault is prevalent, but many educators find themselves ill-prepared to address it in the classroom. This article conceptualizes a trauma sensitive pedagogy that engages the psychological, social, and theological implications of sexual assault for classroom conversations about sex and sexuality. First, the article examines the impact of the classic power disparity between student and teacher as a dynamic that can trigger recall of the abuse of power inherent in sexual violence. Next the article reframes understandings of trigger warnings to consider how they can be used to support educators in taking seriously the vulnerability of those who have experienced sexual assault. The article also presents perspectives on the role of “teacher self-disclosure” in facilitating conversations that acknowledge sexual assault, followed by a teaching strategy that demonstrates pedagogical sensitivity to trauma. Suggestions on how to support students through and beyond conversations that can trigger traumatic stress conclude the article.

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One page Teaching Tactic: students write an anonymous autobiography at the beginning of the semester, and return at the end of the semester to place their original reflections in conversation with the course readings.

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One page Teaching Tactic: scaffolded short, "in character" writing assignments in an online course, to foster critical reflection on different sides of an argument.

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One page Teaching Tactic: begins discussion of human sexuality and the Bible from students' social context rather than “what does the Bible say?” -- derails the rush to judgment and demonstrates the multiplicity of sexuality “issues” in the room.

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This article proposes strategies for teaching about sexuality in Islam through student-centered learning activities, such as self-reflection, multimedia presentations, and small group discussions. We focus on a diversity of perspectives related to veiling in Islam. The approaches we describe help students deconstruct and reevaluate common U.S. cultural assumptions that equate veiling in Islam with the oppression of Muslim women. Through the use of Likert scale questionnaires and written reflection papers, we have found that students are able to acknowledge and distinguish a multiplicity of perspectives regarding veiling and sexuality in Islam after they have been introduced to academic scholarship on the history of veiling, and after they have had multiple opportunities to engage in small and large group discussions on the topic.

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This article introduces English for Bible and Theology (EBT), an inherently interdisciplinary field that merges English language learning with the content of biblical and theological studies in a context that is, by nature, cross-cultural. Within this collaboration there exists the possibility not only to enable theological study, but also to enhance it through a focus on personal meaning and its communication, both of which are foundational to the communicative language classroom. That is, EBT seeks both to aid students worldwide in attaining the specialized language and cultural proficiency necessary to access English theological resources and to provide a community in which students can connect theological content to their lives. It is this second aim that provides EBT its relevance across a range of theological contexts, as native English-speaking students likewise stand to benefit from the application of EBT’s principles.

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What happens when a class assignment becomes a source of controversy? How do we respond? What do we learn? By describing the controversy surrounding an assignment on religion and representation, this article examines conflict’s productive role in teaching about New Religious Movements (NRMs) and religion. It suggests that we consider how our personal and institutional dispositions toward conflict influence our pedagogies. Moreover, it urges us to consider how teaching conflicts within and/or between disciplines can enhance our learning objectives and stimulate students’ ability to think critically.

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The article explores the distinctiveness of Hispanic or Latino/a persons and implications for teaching practice in theological education. It reports on findings from a workshop for non-Hispanic faculty that was conducted at the Hispanic Summer Program in 1901. The content is broadly defined, and the context and persons of theological education are considered in addressing the particular learning characteristics that can typify Hispanic persons. The work draws upon the pioneering work of Dr. Eldin Villafañe (The Liberating Spirit) who identifies cultural distinctiveness among Hispanic persons in the United States. Suggestions related to each of those characteristics are proposed for teaching practice with the expectation that transformation in practice can foster greater inclusion of Hispanic persons in theological education.

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How will we teach the Bible in the twenty-first century? This essay is intended to contribute to that larger discussion in three ways: after a brief introduction, I will, first, state some general working assumptions about the present situation of the church and about teaching the New Testament in the context of a seminary or divinity school; second, I will describe the course "Reading James in Haiti" which I designed and taught in the Spring of 2002; finally, and much more briefly, I will comment on the implications of transformational travel experiences like this one for the ability of seminarians to understand New Testament texts more deeply than the classroom setting allows.

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Drawing on his own work in educational theory as well as his classroom experience, the author identifies important dialogical vices that he finds in his students: pride and cowardice. These vices are put both in the theoretical context of a greater understanding of the role of dialogue in learning and in the social context of the contemporary multicultural ethos from which the students come. In opposition to the vices, the author proposes dialogical virtues (humility, charity, and courage) and a concept of tolerance that help us to avoid pride and cowardice. In this way, we achieve genuine dialogue and multiculturalism and avoid what the author calls a pernicious multiculturalism

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One page Teaching Tactic: a series of student pairings discuss questions about religious identity in a World Religions Course.

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White and African-American students in the American South are able to meet and learn from Confucianism on its own terms much more readily than their peers elsewhere. This is because of their tendency to respect authority, participate in intergenerational ritual performances (especially those concerned with manners, meals, and mortuary practices), and judge the present in terms of the past (especially the U.S. Civil War). This is true despite the incompatibility that many southern students sense between Confucianism and their own religious doctrines. Instead, southern students' grasp of Confucianism rests on the grounds of lived religious experience. When southern students learn to see in Confucianism a set of beliefs, practices, and experiences that, in some ways, mirror their own, they are empowered to identify the tradition as "religious" in a way that renders "religion" a descriptive category of comparison rather than a limiting category of unique identity.

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The author notes that current seminary stutipsdents show great variation in their academic skills, in their familiarity with the basics of Christianity, and in their sense of, and skill in, theological method. This condition is both caused and exacerbated by the students' acculturation in American religious privatism, which makes them resist a critical and constructive examination of their views and hinders their understanding of theology as an undertaking of and for the Church. The author describes a number of pedagogical strategies, teaching techniques, and classroom exercises that have shown some effectiveness in overcoming these problems.

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This reflection offers a glimpse into a Masters' level practical theology course in “wisdom formation” for its potential implications and contributions in multifaith education. Instigated by an unexpected companionship between the two instructors – an eighth-generation rabbi, leader of CLAL (the Center for Learning and Leadership) and a Presbyterian practical theologian in a free-standing United Methodist seminary – this elective course was developed for Christian and Jewish ministry students, though it eventually evolved into a required Masters of Divinity course in theologies of religious pluralism and interreligious/intercultural encounter. The course's structure and implementation are described, followed by difficulties faced and potential implications for multifaith education, specifically those in disciplinary formation, institutional stewardship, and the diverse contexts and questions for teaching and learning.

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Seminary education is adjusting to the global realities of inter-religious encounter. An increasingly important element of equipping seminarians must be the ability to embrace two dimensions of mature faith; (1) deep convictions related to their own faith, and (2) genuine civility in their engagement with others. The practice of convicted civility is best learned experientially through participative assignments and close contact with people of other faiths. The article explores an approach by which students are encouraged to develop the capacity and skills to both address the faith issues that divide us and to respond to social issues that require the exercise of civility to live together peacefully. The experience of Fuller Seminary, an evangelical, multidenominational, and multiethnic institution provides a context for educating seminarians for convicted civility in a multifaith world.

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The author and her colleagues planned and led three retreats to build relationships between rabbinical students and Muslim leaders of tomorrow. Narrative Pedagogy served to inform the creation of these immersive experiences. The retreats made use of the shared scriptural traditions around Joseph (Torah) and Yusuf (Qur'an) to build connections based on a common passion for text study. Parallel to the academic exploration of religious and cultural narratives, participants wove connections based on an ethos of appreciative inquiry and the guided sharing of personal stories. Carefully structured exercises provided a container for the growth of understanding and connection.

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This essay argues that multifaith concerns must become central components of curricula across theological education. It outlines a methodology for such incorporation in a course and for an audience that, at first glance, appears not to lend itself to such an approach, a Hartford Seminary course on Muslim public speaking for Islamic Chaplaincy students. This methodology is based on the model of educational programs developed by the Interfaith Center of New York for local religious leaders and professionals who work with and within religiously diverse settings, such as school teachers, court officials, health care professionals, and social workers. This model of practical multifaith education is based on the local realities of religious diversity that constitutes the context for the work of graduates of theological schools.

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A 1000 word essay in response to a Call for Papers on the wider context of your course.