Educating About Religious Diversity and Interfaith Engagement: A Handbook for Student Affairs

by Kathleen M. Goodman (Editor), Mary Ellen Giess (Editor), Eboo Patel (Editor)

This book arises out of a recognition that student affairs professionals have little preparation or guidance in dealing with matters of spirituality, religion, secularism and interfaith work at a time of greater diversity in students' beliefs; and from a broad recognition that there is a need to engage with this aspect of student life. For those who don't know how to begin and may be nervous about tackling a topic that has the potential to lead to heated disagreements, this book provides the resources and practical guidance to undertake this work.

With the aim of providing student affairs practitioners and faculty with the tools they need to increase their comfort level and enable their ability to engage in discussions about belief both in and out of the classroom, the contributors provide foundational knowledge, concrete teaching ideas, sample activities, and case studies that can be used in a variety of settings.

This book serves multiple audiences in student affairs by providing teaching ideas for practitioners who want to include a session or two about interfaith in their programs as well as ideas for student affairs faculty who may be teaching one session on this topic or a whole course.

The book is divided into four sections. The first offers context, provides the findings of research, and asks readers to reflect on the framework they use to embark on this work, whether a social justice framework that aims to highlight issues of power and privilege or an interfaith cooperation framework that aims to create religious pluralism.

Part 2 provides concrete ideas for creating courses, activities, events, and programs focused on spirituality, religion, secularity, and interfaith engagement, as well as ideas for incorporating these topics into courses typically offered in student affairs preparation programs. Part 3 presents case studies to engage students, practitioners, and faculty in thinking about campus situations related to religious diversity. Part 4 provides some basic information about a variety of religions and worldviews held by college students.

334 pages, Paperback

Published February 21, 2019

Reviews

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the second book we read as part of a group effort on our campus to learn more about interfaith/interreligious literacy and engagement on college campuses. I am very glad I read it. There is a lot of good information in it. It definitely gave me a broader and deeper perspective on the work of interfaith/interreligious literacy and engagement in higher education in the United States. Most of the information is particularly relevant for public college and university campuses in the U.S. with significant religious diversity; so it wasn't as germane to our particular context as a private, religiously homogenous campus. It could definitely be relevant for other campuses and universities that have high levels of religious diversity in other countries. The world of higher education, in general, desperately needs to pay more deliberate attention to these issues if we are going to prepare graduates to promote peace and foster human flourishing in a our increasingly globalized and religiously diverse world. We cannot pretend that we have prepared students for "real life" if we are ignoring or neglecting this vital aspect of their education. And my experience with college students over the last two decades is that they are clamoring for it. Even though some of the issues and ideas in the book weren't directly relevant or applicable to our particular context, I did learn a lot, and I found plenty of good ideas that we can, and will, be attempting to adapt to our circumstances and implement. This book is an absolute must-read for all administrators and staff, as well as faculty with student mentoring responsibilities, at public colleges and universities with high levels of religious diversity. One nice thing about it is that it is divided into several sections, so readers can focus on those sections that matter the most to them. The first section provides some research on the context of religious diversity in higher education which highlights the need for interfaith/interreligious work in that arena. The second section offers teaching ideas specifically for student affairs faculty. Section three focuses on strategies and activities for student affairs practitioners. The fourth section contains some very insightful, real, challenging case studies, which could lead to some real-world application. The final section provides a very informative and well-written group of chapters that summarize foundational knowledge about what matters to students of varying religious backgrounds regarding their campus life and experience. All the contributors are very thoughtful and their experiences add to the collective wisdom we need to move forward in this field--for the sake of our students the future thriving of humanity.