Religion, Belief and Faith identities UAL website
I visited this web site for the first time, I was fascinated to see so many resources there are which is great. It made me think on how I could use the resources as part of my practice in our social space at the Learning Zone and also as part of my workshops too.
The Research and Resources section would be good to share with students in my workshops. As I teach practical workshops, the Pen Portraits Case Study, would be a good resource to apply to my practice.
“We wanted to have an icebreaker which would help students talk about their personal interests. It was pretty simple – students asked each other a long list of questions and would share their answers with the group. The questions ranged from ‘what’s in your fridge?’ to ‘do you have a faith?’ Our aim was to enable students to open up about their interests without feeling pressure to delve too deeply.”
“The tutor also shared their own answers to each of the questions, this is a chance for students to get to know you and for you to offer some insight into your own creative interests and ethical viewpoints. I’m Agnostic, and I explain this to students. So from the outset we are talking openly about our religious beliefs and cultural identity. This short exercise gave us an insight into students’ beliefs and perspectives on a range of issues and topics. It also helped us to reflect on how they might relate to us as teachers – and helped us adapt our communication in a way that was inclusive of different student perspectives.”
This exercise appeals to me as I feel it’s quite simplistic and also enables students who don’t always know each other to get to know each other in a different way knowing that discussions on student’s identity are always supported and encouraged too.
Resource 2 : ‘Religion in Britain: Challenges for Higher Education.’ Stimulus paper (Modood & Calhoun, 2015)
Religion and knowledge of religion in UK universities
‘We don’t do God’? the changing nature of public religion.
Professor Tariq Modood, University of Bristol
Religion is a public, not just a private good
“It is understood that organised religion can play a significant role in relation to
ethical voice, social wellbeing, cultural heritage, national ceremonies and national
identity”.
This statement really stood out for me as I believe this to be quite true. I myself born a Hindu and married a Sikh feel maybe this has made me feel this but religion can also create hate/ war and other things like the statement below :
“Of course the public good that religion can contribute is contextual; religion can in other contexts be socially
divisive and can lead to civil and international wars. Hence religion can also be a
public bad. The point is that the good or bad that religion produces is not confine
to private lives but is socially and politically significant in many different ways”.
For me, I think I would like to have FAITH as this for me helps me to be a good human with strong values and a loving person to my family.
Religion and dissent in universities
“Free speech is an important value for universities, and the idea that it is
threatened creates concern. It is commonly forgotten that religion figures not
only in the history of suppression of dissent, but as one of the most important
bases for such dissent, pushing forward free speech doctrines. Today, there is
anxiety that some religious leaders preach intolerance. This is deepened when
crowds or hecklers protest speakers or prevent them from being heard. At the
same time, there is also worry that banning such speakers and others deemed
‘extremist’ is itself a betrayal of commitments to free speech”.
To me, free speech is so important and I believe the right to express information, ideas, and opinions free of government restrictions based on content and subject only to reasonable limitations. It is sad to see so many issues surfacing all over the world but it makes me happy that more and more students are using their voices on so many different aspects like gender segregration and sexuality. It’s good to see religiously motivated students are active in efforts to secure harmony among different religious groups and lead in efforts to promote greater knowledge of religions beyond their own. It makes me happy that often they are seeking to provide public goods on campuses such as neighbourhood tutoring, peer counselling and mediation.
The “vaguely Christian” UK
This article made me question, what does the US or African or Latin American countries do to keep their personal faith? It;s sad to read that personal faith is not prominent in British public life. Students learning journey needs to incorporate this, whether at school, college or university. It’s interesting to read that while most religions are all visible, public attention falls mainly on Muslims. I think this is incorrect and all religions should be recognised as British religion as the population is becoming more and more diverse.
Resource 3: Kwame Anthony Appiah Reith lecture on Creed
Kwame Anthony Appiah’s podcast discussion was intriguing. Being bought up in a Hindu family, my parents were very liberal in the sense that they were happy for me to learn about other religions. I too have come to know after marrying a Sikh that different faiths have so many different similarities. They are all built on shared pillars of Practice, Community and Belief.
Often within my practice, students are encouraged to talk about their identities. I think it would be a good thing to ensure this podcast is a recommended resource for students. This would be a useful way for students to understand Faith as a whole and their identity is a part of their community and their practice too.
I have chosen to wear a steel bangle which is one of the 5 K’s in the Sikh faith and sometimes I get asked by students what the significance of it is which opens up a conversation on religion and our beliefs.
The 5 Ks are 5 physical symbols worn by Sikhs
. • Kesh (uncut hair) • Kara (a steel bracelet) • Kangha (a wooden comb) • Kacher(cotton shorts)
Resource 4 SoN article : Guru Nanak and the Realm of Chlorophyll Cathedrals
A few articles really helped me to relate to myself when I was a student for the first time and to my current teaching practice. I have chosen the article named above. It is about a Sikh girl who lives with her mother who is a strict Sikh devout, they often go to the Gurdwara and her Mum recites all the prayers. They then have langar (food served to all in the temple). She went to a Catholic school and could relate to that as her day always had more structure. She’s always questioned her faith and didn’t quite understand the complex colourful stories of the Ten Sacred Gurus who constructed the Sikh faith.
It was when she started to learn about other faiths and started going on retreats that she became more attuned to the Sikh faith and everything started to make much more sense. I loved the below text from the article:
Universities now have students of many different faiths and it’s so important to ensure we continue our learning journey educating ourselves about each and every faith. My positionality and intersectionality have placed me in a position to value and respect other people’s faith and beliefs.
Within my practice I feel that showcasing students identities via social learning space (Learning Zone) would be a great way to encourage more and more students to talks about their faiths, community and practice. Also this could be one of many articles in SoN that students could be recommended to read as part of their time at University.
I think it is a good idea to include Appiah’s lecture on faith in student learning resources. As you suggested that it would help students to have a better understanding of faith as a concept and reflect on their own identity within their community. I think it is also a useful way to start a conversation around faith and encourage students to share, exchange and have discussion and reflection. In other words, using Appiah’s words, “religion becomes more verb than noun: the identity is revealed as an activity not a thing. And it’s the nature of activities to bring change.”
Thank you for sharing the article, ‘Guru Nanak and the Realm of Chlorophyll Cathedrals’ on Shades of Noir. I very much agree with Raman Mundair’s thought-jewel after having the deep conversation with the nun from the St Augustine order – “True faith is doubt.” Mundair also suggested that, “in order to be truly engaged in spiritual practice, we must be in constant dialogue with ourselves and our faith. We must be confident in our exploration and pushing of boundaries and concepts of religious and brief.”
As Appiah mentioned in his lecture Creed, “Religious identities, like all identities are transformed through history: that is how they survive.”. According to Mundair’s understanding of S.N. Goenkaji’s interpretation of Buddhism, it is often the mundane side of life makes our spiritual side of life most challenging. Only when you are in the daily reality do you have the chance to have conversations with people who hold other religious briefs that outside the ‘cloistered setting’ of one’s religious practices. We can link this to Appiah’s idea of identity transformation: it is through these kind of daily encounters and exchange that religious identities are transformed.
If universities are like other communal places which provide space for conversation and discussion around identities, then they should ensure both staff and students feel comfortable and safe to include conversation in relation to faith. Only by doing so, can we learn to value and respect each other faith and briefs as you suggested.
Hi Monica, Thank you for your post. I really enjoyed reading what you wrote an knowing more about you.
Like you, I really liked the ice-break Pen-Portraits. It is a very interesting topic, to discuss about one´s identity and it should be encouraged as you said. I feel it happens naturally among the students, and I would had that if tutors are encouraging students to do so they should be the first to be wiling to share their identities.
I really connect with what your wrote: “To me, free speech is so important and I believe the right to express information, ideas, and opinions free of government restrictions based on content and subject only to reasonable limitations.”. I question myself: if I am providing a safe place for free speech. Institutions such as universities can be intimidating so I hope we, staff, can encourage free speech.
Great to know more about your choices and the way you express the Sikh faith. I bet your conversations with students are lovely?! It is so nice when they ask us things and we have opportunity to share our choices or lives with the students.
Really inspiring the article you choose from SoN. I feel it links with Kwame Anthony Appiah Reith lecture when he talks about faith and practicing: “It was when she started to learn about other faiths and started going on retreats that she became more attuned to the Sikh faith and everything started to make much more sense”. Also it reminds me of something that Dr Bernadine Idowu said in our MA / PGcert event: something along the lines that too much talking needs to be accompanied by action to be valid. Same for religion, that needs to e practice.
Looking forward to read your next post =)