Event to explore religious diversity in a public university

Updated 4:00 PM February 8, 2006

Event to explore religious diversity in a public university

By Joe Serwach, News Service
and Laurel Thomas Gnagey

A student presents a faith-based interpretation of course material and the faculty member is at a loss for how to respond. An issue of faith arises in class and the instructor observes that some students are uncomfortable. A student wants permission to make up an exam because she was attending the celebration of a religious holiday on the day it was given.

These and other scenarios dealing with religious diversity at a public research institution will be discussed during a workshop sponsored by the Center for Research on Learning and Teaching (CRLT) and supported by a grant from the Ford Foundation. "Student Religion, Faith, and Spirituality in the Classroom and Beyond: How Do Instructors Respond?" will be held 4-6 p.m. Feb. 7 in the CRLT Seminar Room, 1013 Palmer Commons.

Workshop leaders will address how to maintain an inclusive and comfortable learning environment for all students when the topic of religion arises, and discuss with participants how to mange the relationship between course requirements and religious holidays, and other ways in which academic requirements and religious commitments intersect.

Leading the workshop will be Linda Chatters, professor in the School of Public Health and associate professor in the School of Social Work; David Mindell, curator of the Museum of Zoology and professor of ecology and evolutionary biology; and Ralph Williams, professor of English language and literature.

"As at other universities, students at U-M have become more vocal about their religious faith and the role it plays in their lives," says Matthew Kaplan, CRLT associate director. "Your own personal faith goes with you into the classroom, to field placements, and to interactions in the community, and we're looking at how to engage in a dialogue when meeting others who come from very different backgrounds."

The Ann Arbor and Dearborn campuses were among 27 universities receiving Ford Foundation $100,000 grants to promote academic freedom, constructive dialogue and diversity on their campuses.

The grants are part of the foundation's Difficult Dialogues initiative, created in response to reports of growing intolerance and efforts to curb academic freedom at colleges and universities. The goal is to help institutions create programs that engage students and faculty in constructive dialogue about contentious political, religious, racial and cultural issues.

The Ann Arbor project, "Religious Diversity in the Public Research University," is a campus-wide effort designed "to create an environment where religious difference is seen as an opportunity for study and exchange, rather than silence, animosity or fear," says Lester Monts, senior vice provost. "Our students, in turn, will assume leadership roles on campus and in their home communities, embracing and modeling respect for diversity and religious pluralism."

The grant is coordinated by CRLT with participation from the Edward Ginsberg Center for Community Service and Learning, Life Sciences and Society Program, Michigan Community Scholars Program, The Program on Intergroup Relations, and Residence Education.

Activities are timed to coincide with the current Explore Evolution theme semester and the fall 2006 and winter 2007 Focus on Citizenship: From the Local to the Global. Other activities include roundtables on religion for students, faculty, staff and community groups; development of curricular modules on the place of religious faith in a public university; new courses on religious diversity, conflict and community; a campus-wide Provost's Seminar for faculty on issues of religion and faith in teaching and learning; and a Presidential Faculty Associates Program focused on religious pluralism.

U-M-Dearborn's project, titled "Dearborn Legacy, Dearborn Promise: New Learning Across Race, Religion, Culture and Ethnicity," is underway this semester with a series of faculty and course development activities.

During the next two years, the project will develop a series of courses, public lectures and related activities addressing the racial divide; religious diversity and intolerance; and issues of Middle Eastern identity, politics and culture relevant to the campus and regional community.

"The residents of this region are highly diverse in terms of race, ethnicity and religion, while at the same time, the Detroit area remains one of the nation's most racially and economically segregated," says U-M-Dearborn Chancellor Daniel Little. "This campus recognizes the legacy of the region and has been developing an academic infrastructure to increase our capacity for meaningful, difficult dialogue as we construct new learning across race, culture, religion and ethnicity."

Difficult Dialogues grantees will be invited over the next two years to share their experiences and ideas at regional conferences coordinated by the Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression in Charlottesville, Va. The center also will host a Web-based forum for project directors to share ideas online.

Difficult Dialogues is part of a broader, $12 million effort by the Ford Foundation to understand and combat anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and other forms of bigotry in the United States and Europe. It builds on the foundation's history of supporting efforts by colleges and universities to foster more inclusive campus environments and to engage effectively with the growing racial, religious and ethnic diversity of their student bodies.

For more information on the workshop or the "Religious Diversity in the Public Research University" project, go to: www.crlt.umich.edu/DD.

Event to explore religious diversity in a public university

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