The Resilience of Religion in American Higher Education

The Resilience of Religion in American Higher Education
Author: John Arnold Schmalzbauer
Publisher:
Total Pages: 283
Release: 2018
Genre: EDUCATION
ISBN: 9781481308731

A well-worn, often-told tale of woe. American higher education has been secularized. Religion on campus has declined, died, or disappeared. Deemed irrelevant, there is no room for the sacred in American colleges and universities. While the idea that religion is unwelcome in higher education is often discussed, and uncritically affirmed, John Schmalzbauer and Kathleen Mahoney directly challenge this dominant narrative. The Resilience of Religion in American Higher Education documents a surprising openness to religion in collegiate communities. Schmalzbauer and Mahoney develop this claim in three areas: academic scholarship, church-related higher education, and student life. They highlight growing interest in the study of religion across the disciplines, as well as a willingness to acknowledge the intellectual relevance of religious commitments. The Resilience of Religion in American Higher Education also reveals how church-related colleges are taking their founding traditions more seriously, even as they embrace religious pluralism. Finally, the volume chronicles the diversification of student religious life, revealing the longevity of campus spirituality. Far from irrelevant, religion matters in higher education. As Schmalzbauer and Mahoney show, religious initiatives lead institutions to engage with cultural diversity and connect spirituality with academic and student life, heightening attention to the sacred on both secular and church-related campuses.

The American University in a Postsecular Age

The American University in a Postsecular Age
Author: Douglas Jacobsen
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 280
Release: 2008-02-27
Genre: Education
ISBN: 019804349X

For much of the twentieth century, it was assumed that higher education was and ought to be a secular enterprise, but that approach no longer suffices. The culture has shifted, and contemporary college and university students are increasingly bringing religious and spiritual questions to campus. In response, college and university leaders are exploring anew the relationship between religion and higher education. The American University in a Postsecular Age grapples with key questions: --How religious or irreligious are faculty and students today? What level of religious literacy should be expected from students? --Can religion be allowed into the classroom without being disruptive? --Should colleges and universities help students reflect on their own faith? --Is religion antithetical to critical inquiry? --Can religion have a positive role to play in higher education? This is a state-of-the-art introduction to the national discussion about religion and higher education. Leading scholars and top educators express a wide spectrum of opinions that reflect the best current thinking. Introductory and concluding essays by the editors describe the postsecular character of our age and propose a comprehensive framework intended to facilitate ongoing conversation.

The University Gets Religion

The University Gets Religion
Author: Darryl G. Hart
Publisher:
Total Pages: 344
Release: 1999
Genre: Education
ISBN:

"The first sustained history of the academic study of religion at American universities, The University Gets Religion: Religious Studies in American Higher Education is a timely book that explores the present-day implications of religious studies' Protestant past."--BOOK JACKET.

A History of American Higher Education

A History of American Higher Education
Author: John R. Thelin
Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press
Total Pages: 555
Release: 2019-04-02
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1421428830

Anyone studying the history of this institution in America must read Thelin's classic text, which has distinguished itself as the most wide-ranging and engaging account of the origins and evolution of America's institutions of higher learning.

The Soul of the American University

The Soul of the American University
Author: George M. Marsden
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 482
Release: 1994
Genre: Education, Higher
ISBN: 0195106504

Explores the decline in religious influence in American universities, discussing why this transformation has occurred.

Faith and Knowledge

Faith and Knowledge
Author: Douglas Sloan
Publisher: Westminster John Knox Press
Total Pages: 276
Release: 1994-01-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9780664228668

Sloan explores the impact that the Protestant theological renaissance (1925-1960) had on American colleges and universities, focusing in particular on the church's most significant claim to have a continuing voice in higher education. He traces the role of the national ecumenical and denominational organizations, and studies the changing place of college chaplains.

Religion and Higher Education in Europe and North America

Religion and Higher Education in Europe and North America
Author: Kristin Aune
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 235
Release: 2016-12-01
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1317227387

Religion and Higher Education in Europe and North America illuminates the experiences of staff and students in higher education as they negotiate the university environment. Religious extremism has been rising across Europe, whilst recent attacks have thrown public debate around the place of religion on campus, the role of universities in recognising and managing religious fundamentalism and freedom of speech on campus into sharper focus. Despite these debates, research exploring religion on campus has been largely absent from discourse on higher education outside of America, with policy and practices designed to deal with religion on campus largely founded on supposition rather than evidence. This book speaks into that void, including results from recent studies in the field which form an empirically grounded base from a broad variety of perspectives on religion at universities. Aiming to offer a deeper perspective, more dialogue, and engagement on the experiences of students, Religion and Higher Education in Europe and North America presents us not only with an opportunity to counter growing trends of intolerance, but for people to connect with the humanity of others. Focusing on what research reveals about staff and students’ experiences, it incorporates research from different academic disciplines including sociology, education, social policy, theology and religious studies, and across different faith and belief groups. This thought-provoking and challenging volume features chapters written by researchers involved in informing policy and practice relating to religion and belief in higher education in the UK, US, Canada, France and the Netherlands . Spanning the academic-practitioner divide, students and academics interested in the sociology of religion and of higher education, as well as those responsible for the practical management of campus life, will find this text of particular importance.

Compromising Scholarship

Compromising Scholarship
Author: George Yancey
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2017-05-15
Genre: Christians
ISBN: 9781602584778

Conservative and liberal commentators alike have long argued that social bias exists in American higher education. Yet those arguments have largely lacked much supporting evidence. In this first systematic attempt to substantiate social bias in higher education, George Yancey embarks on a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the social biases and attitudes of faculties in American universities--surveying professors in disciplines from political science to experimental biology and then examining the blogs of 42 sociology professors. In so doing, Yancey finds that politically--and, even more so, religiously--conservative academics are at a distinct disadvantage in our institutions of learning, threatening the free exchange of ideas to which our institutions aspire and leaving many scientific inquiries unexplored.

Exiles from Eden

Exiles from Eden
Author: Mark R. Schwehn
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 160
Release: 2005-02-24
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0195346262

In this thoughtful and literate study, Schwehn argues that Max Weber and several of his contemporaries led higher education astray by stressing research--the making and transmitting of knowledge--at the expense of shaping moral character. Schwehn sees an urgent need for a change in orientation and calls for a "spiritually grounded education in and for thoughtfulness." The reforms he endorses would replace individualistic behavior, the "doing my own work" syndrome derived from the Enlightenment, with a communitarian ethic grounded in Judeo-Christian spirituality. Schwehn critiques philosophies of higher education he considers misguided, from Weber and Henry Adams to Derek Bok, Allan Bloom, and William G. Perry Jr. He draws out valid insights, always showing the theological underpinnings of the so-called secular thinkers. He emphasizes the importance of community, drawing on both the secular communitarian theory of Richard Rorty and that of the Christian theorist Parker Palmer. Finally, he outlines his own prescription for a classroom-centered spiritual community of scholars. Schwehn's study will interest all those concerned with higher education in America today: faculty, students, parents, alumni, administrators, trustees, and foundation officers.