Presenter B

• In Event: 54.035 - Religion and Public Education in the United States: An Interdisciplinary Symposium

Abstract

1. Objectives or purposes. Questions of justice/oppression, liberation/bondage, or past/future embroil today’s college students. As they watch social institutions falter, their elders too often prescribe denominational adherence to dogmatic answers. Studying religions, in social contexts, helps students find their own compass and answers that will address contemporary needs. Therefore, I focus on the study of religion in public higher education and its importance for building skills of discussion, listening, and social problem solving among students.
2. Perspective(s) or theoretical framework. I approach the study of religions as a social scientist, aware of regional, national, and international distinctions, thinking through the various frames in which religion and the functions of religious belief operate. Religion is a social institution, carrying culture, language, social meaning, and communal history. College students prepare to move into leadership across a variety of fields—to be unable to understand the religious perspectives of others is a disservice that shortchanges the value of their education.
3. Methods, techniques, or modes of inquiry. I am an interdisciplinary scholar, generally drawing on theology, intellectual history, cultural studies, ethnography, politics, and American history. Particularly, I incorporate engaged scholarship (reaching out to communities), social analysis (including social media), and constructive theology.
4. Data sources, evidence, objects, or materials. Several studies by Pew Research have indicated the beliefs of millennials (http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/05/12/millennials-increasingly-are-driving-growth-of-nones/ ) and the general religiosity of the American public (http://www.pewforum.org/2015/11/03/u-s-public-becoming-less-religious/; http://www.pewforum.org/2015/05/12/americas-changing-religious-landscape/, http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/07/18/are-churches-key-to-solving-social-problems-fewer-americans-now-think-so/ ).
These ideas are reflected across media—from social media, to music videos, to television programming. Studies are also being brought to press. Of note D. and R. Jacobsen, No Longer Invisible: Religion in University Education (Oxford University Press 2011) was the beginning of several such texts. In a somewhat unique direction, N. W. Arnold penned Ordinary Theologies: Religio-spirituality and the Leadership of Black Female Principals (Peter Lang 2014). I also plan to discuss two recent classes and related student explorations.
5. Results and/or substantiated conclusions or warrants for arguments/point of view. Students in higher education settings seek more value from their studies with life-enriching integrated education. Hence the growth of service learning and community based programs as well as engaged scholarship. I lead to this conclusion: knowledge of religion is a necessary component for the educated person in the 21st century as we become more global and require greater sophistication in our careers.
6. Scientific or scholarly significance of the study or work: There is more research needed and more creative programs as we continue to think through the educational applications of the academic study of religion.

Author

• Stephanie Mitchem, University of South Carolina - Columbia