Towards a Theory and Practice of Religious Literacy: A Case Study of Religion and Belief Engagement in a UK University

Abstract

This article reports on research undertaken in 2011-2012 into the role of religion and belief in one British university. In this indicative qualitative case study, we observed six important features in relation to religion and belief: a clear divide in attitudes to the place of religion and belief between operations and curriculum; a lack of knowledge and understanding of the religious landscape within the institution; differing and localized responses to religion and belief within and between departments; variation in the approaches of different academic disciplines; very strong desire to promote a good student experience, which included a recognition that some students identify as religious; and that religious and non-religious perspectives are widely conceived of as binary, meaning either 'secular' or religious. We conclude that these findings demonstrate, at this institution, a struggle to think and act strategically and consistently on religion and belief, and suggest that, because of their influential educational positions, this reflects and reproduces muddled thinking and acting about religion and belief in wider society. Keywords: religious literacy; higher education; religion; universitiesThe research reported in this article is intended to explore what ideas of religious literacy might look like in practice, using the example of one British university. A case study undertaken in 2011-2012 was designed to consider how religion and belief play out across a wide range of front-line staff and student settings, both academic and administrative and, by extension, to draw out the implications for other sectors and settings in wider society.The study is presented in four parts. First, the idea of religious literacy is introduced and explored in relation to higher education. Second, the methods of the case study are set out. Third, the findings are presented. Fourth, the article sets out key reflections and conclusions.

What do people find most meaningful? How representations of the self and the world provide meaning in life

“…While Study 1 and Study 2 suggested that our findings would generalize to different samples, neither of our samples were representative of the general population of their respective countries. US MTurk workers and UK university students tend to be younger, more educated, less religious, and more liberal than the average US/UK person (Dinham et al, 2017; Hanel & Vione, 2016; Paolacci & Chandler, 2014). As such, we preregistered Study 3 (https://bit.ly/2W6iJAN) aiming to confirm our pattern of findings using a nationally representative UK sample.…”

Religious pursuits? Chinese international students encountering Christianity in Britain

“…Diverse student populations make British universities sites for interfaith encounters and interactions (Dinham, Francis, and Shaw 2017). For example, scholars have noted many non-Christian Chinese international students in British churches and faith-based organisations (FBOs).…”

Introduction: Setting the Stage

“…Religious literacy has often been studied in the context of education (e.g. Conroy 2015;Moore 2014;Dinham et al 2017;Biesta et al 2019) but also in relation to the media (Lövheim 2012), welfare (Dinham 2015a), radicalization, and extremism (Francis et al 2015), law (Melloni and Cadeddu 2019), political discourse (Konttori 2019), and NGOs (Siirto and Hammar 2016). In this book we approach religious literacy in different contexts, such as city politics, mosque associations, and state administration.…”