The Baltimore Mural Project: An approach to threshold concepts in religious studies

Abstract

The Baltimore Mural Project (BMP) seeks to connect religious studies education to the growing literature on threshold concepts in order to address bottleneck areas in student learning. The project is designed for undergraduate service courses comprised of mostly non‐majors: for example, world religions. Students in these courses often struggle to understand and apply the discipline's unique approaches to the study of religion (i.e. its threshold concepts). Rather than merely memorize certain facts about a religious tradition's myths [or world forming stories], rituals [or embodied disclosures], materials, and so on... students are asked to apply threshold concepts related to religion, art, and the social good to the study of murals in Baltimore. Through a series of project elements (including: field work, photography, digital geomapping, and quantitative, qualitative, and archival research) the BMP helps students who struggle with threshold concepts in religious studies by creatively connecting the more conventional aspects of world religions courses to social justice issues related to mural art in Baltimore. By experientially helping students to make these connections, they are able to find creative routes through otherwise hindering barriers to their learning in religious studies.

An investigating on the ritual elements influencing factor of decorative art: based on Guangdong's ancestral hall architectural murals text mining

“…Material artistic expression was an early scholarly concern, with Bell-Villada [104], Gathercole [105], and Welch [106] focusing on the materiality and formal beauty of the artwork. Due to the diversity of the arts and the complexity of the mechanisms of material shaping, this element is then Educationality Ho [66] As a curriculum in the non-conventional education system, murals set the tone for public art education in the Brunei community and unite the community to create a proud cultural heritage for its members Schneller and Irizarry [67] Although there is no direct evidence of whether the impacts of sea turtle murals in California have reduced the frequency of gear used by local fishermen, community murals have increased public environmental awareness and behavior Morales and Barnes [68] The city itself becomes a critical area for learning and engaging with the concept of thresholds in Religious Studies, and the Baltimore Mural Project (BMP) can help students overcome barriers to learning in Religious Studies by giving them a better understanding of the core concepts of religion Soto-Martin et al [69] The DStretch ® tool allows for in-depth analysis and visualization of murals, helping to increase students' sense of responsibility for cultural heritage preservation, and authors promote the reinforcement of this educational aspect through the creation of mural art de-Miguel-Molina [70] Constructing a common narrative to appeal to different stakeholders is a great way to attract people interested in educational and historical issues, such as the Cable Street Battle Mural in London. Dark murals alone have the potential to attract visitors in an economically and culturally sustainable way De Miguel Molina et al [71] The mural movement has been shown to create positive effects on community development and identity preservation.…”