Religious Tradition and Course Objectives: A Survey of Faculty at Faith-Based Institutions

• In Event: Issues in Faith-Based Education

Abstract

Despite several decades of discussion, little empirical evidence exists to clarify the influence of faculty member’s faith tradition on their academic work. This paper fills that gap through a large survey (n=2313) of faculty members at CCCU (Council of Christian Colleges and Universities) institutions. Here, we examine the sense professors make of the influence of their own faith traditions on their course objectives. Faculty member’s assertions that personal religious perspectives aught to influence course objectives were clustered by faith tradition. Analysis of 523 write-in responses revealed five primary categories that were also clustered by faith tradition. Conclusions discuss implications for the influence of faculty member’s beliefs on students’ religious commitment directly and on institution’s religious identity indirectly.

Authors

• Nathan Alleman, Baylor University

• Perry Glanzer, Baylor University