Retrospect and Prospect

Sampradayas and Warwick Fieldwork in Religions and Education

Authors

  • Eleanor Nesbitt University of Warwick
  • Elisabeth Arweck University of Warwick

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/fiel2007v2i1.49

Keywords:

religion and education

Abstract

This article surveys 20 years of fieldwork, indicating how themes emerged and successive phases were interconnected. The fieldwork in question was conducted by the Warwick Religions and Education Research Unit (formerly the Warwick Religious Education and Community Project) in the Institute of Education (and formerly in the Department of Arts Education) at the University of Warwick in Coventry, a city in the West Midlands, UK.1

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biographies

  • Eleanor Nesbitt, University of Warwick

    Eleanor Nesbitt is Reader in Religions and Education at the University of Warwick. Her research for nearly 30 years has focused on religious and cultural continuity and change in Hindu, Sikh and Christian UK communities and she is currently investigating the religious identity formation of children in mixed-faith families. Her recent books include: Interfaith Pilgrims (2003), Intercultural Education: Ethnographic and Religious Approaches (2004), Sikhism: A Very Short Introduction (2005).

  • Elisabeth Arweck, University of Warwick

    Elisabeth Arweck is Senior Research Fellow in the Institute of Education at the University of Warwick and editor of the Journal of Contemporary Religion. Her publications include Researching New Religious Movements: Responses and Redefinitions (2006). She co-authored New Religious Movements in Western Europe (1997) and co-edited Theorizing Faith (2002), Reading Religion in Text and Context (2006) and Materializing Religion (2006). She is currently researching the religious identity formation of young people in mixedfaith families.

References

Alderman, C., 2002, Sathya Sai Education in Human Values, Introduction and Lesson Plans, Book 4, Age 13 Years. Pinner: Middlesex: SSEHV Promotions Limited.

Altglas, V., 2003, ‘Sociology of NRMs from India, Then and Now: Mysticism and Modernity’. 27th ISSR/SISR Conference. Turin, 21–25 July.

Arweck, E., 2002, ‘New Religious Movements’. In L. Woodhead, P. Fletcher, H. Kawanami and D. Smith (eds), Religions in the Modern World. London: Routledge, 2002: 264-88.

—2003, ‘Religion and Generations’. Unpublished paper presented at 27th ISSR/SISR Conference, Turin, 21–25 July.

Arweck, E., and P. B. Clarke, 1997, New Religious Movements in Western Europe: An Annotated Bibliography. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.

Arweck, E., and P. Collins, 2006, Reading Religion in Text and Context: Reflections of Faith and Practice in Religious Materials. Aldershot: Ashgate.

Arweck, E., and W. Keenan, 2006, Materializing Religion: Expression, Performance and Ritual. Aldershot: Ashgate.

Arweck, E., and E. Nesbitt, 2004a, ‘Living Values: An Educational Programme from Initiative to Uptake’. British Journal of Religious Education 26(2): 133-49. doi:10.1080/01416200420042000181910

—2004b, ‘Values Education: The Development and Classroom Use of an Educational Programme’. British Educational Research Journal 30(2): 245-61. doi:10.1080/0141192042000195263

Arweck, E., E. Nesbitt and R. Jackson, 2005, ‘Common Values for the Common School? How Two Values Education programmes Are Used to Promote “Spiritual and Moral Development” ’. Journal of Moral Education 30(3): 325-42. doi:10.1080/03057240500206154

Arweck, E., and M. D. Stringer, 2002, Theorizing Faith: The Insider/Outsider Problem in the Study of Ritual. Birmingham: University of Birmingham Press.

Ballard, R., 1999, ‘Panth, Kismet, Dharm te Qaum: Continuity and Change in Four Dimensions of Punjabi Religion’. In P. Singh and S. Thandi (eds), Globalisation and the Region: Explorations in Punjabi Identity. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1999: 7-37.

Barker, E., 1995, ‘Plus ca Change…’ Social Compass: revue internationale de sociologie de la religion/International Review of Sociology of Religion 42(2): 165-80.

Barot, R., 1973, ‘A Swaminarayan Sect as a Community’. New Community 2(1): 34-37.

Beckford, J., 1994, ‘The Mass Media and New Religious Movements’. ISKCON Communications Journal 4 (July–December): 17-24.

Bowen, D., 1988, The Sathya Sai Baba Community in Bradford: Its Origin and Development, Religious Beliefs and Practices. Leeds: Community Religions Project, University of Leeds.

Brear, D., 1992, ‘Transmission of a Swaminarayan Hindu Scripture in the British East Midlands’. In Williams, 1992: 209-27.

Brooks, C. R., 1995, ‘Understanding ISKCON’. ISKCON Communications Journal 3(2): 77-81.

Clothey, F., 1992, ‘Rituals and Interpretation: South Indians in East Asia’. In Williams, 1992: 127-46.

Coney, J., 1999, Sahaja Yoga: Socializing Processes in a South Asian New Religious Movement. London: Curzon.

Cush, D., 2005, ‘The Faith Schools Debate’. Journal of Sociology of Religion 26(3): 435-42.

Everington, J., 1993, ‘Bridging Fieldwork and Classwork: The Development of Curriculum Materials within the Religious Education and Community Project’. Resource 16(1): 7-10.

Farrer, F., 2000, A Quiet Revolution: Encouraging Positive Values in our Children. London: Rider.

Flood, G., 1995, ‘Hinduism, Vaisnavism, and ISKCON: Authentic Traditions or Scholarly Constructions?’ ISKCON Communications Journal 3(2) (December): 5-15.

Geaves, R., 1998, ‘The Borders between Religions: A Challenge to the World Religions Approach to Religious Education’. British Journal of Religious Education 21(1): 20-31.

—2002, ‘From Totapuri to Maharaji: Reflections on a Lineage (parampara)’. Paper presented to the 27th Spalding Symposium on Indian Religion, Oxford, 22–24 March.

—2004, ‘From Divine Light Mission to Elan Vital: An Exploration of Change and Adaptation’. Nova Religio 7(3): 45-62. doi:10.1525/nr.2004.7.3.45

Hacker, P., 1995, ‘Aspects of Neo-Hinduism as Contrasted with Surviving Traditional Hinduism’. In W. Halbfass (ed.), Philology and Confrontation Paul Hacker on Modern Vedanta. New York: State University of New York Press, 1995: 229-56.

Haraldsson, E., 1987, ‘Miracles Are my Visiting Cards’: An Investigative Report on the Psychic Phenomena Associated with Sathya Sai Baba. London: Century.

Hummel, R., 1996, Gurus, Meisters, Scharlatene: Zwischen Faszination und Gefahr. Freiburg: Herder.

Jackson, R., 1997, Religious Education: An Interpretive Approach. London: Hodder & Stoughton.

—2001, ‘Faith Based Schools and Religious Education within the State System in England and Wales’. Editorial, British Journal of Religious Education 24(1): 2-6.

—2003, ‘Should the State Fund Faith Based Schools? A Review of the Arguments.’ British Journal of Religious Education 25(2): 89-102.

Jackson, R., and E. Nesbitt, 1993, Hindu Children in Britain. Stoke on Trent: Trentham.

Johnson, C., and J. Stern, 2005, ‘Westhill Seminar 6: Ethnography, Pluralism and Religious Education’. Resource 28(1): 3-6.

Jones, K., 1976, Arya Dharm: Hindu Consciousness in 19th-Century Punjab. London: University of California Press.

Juergensmeyer, M., 1982, Religion as Social Vision (the Movement against Untouchability in 20th Century Punjab). Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

Knott, K., 1986, My Sweet Lord: The Hare Krishna Movement. Wellingborough: Aquarian.

Leslie, J., 2003, Authority and Meaning in Indian Religions: Hinduism and the Case of Valmiki. Aldershot: Ashgate.

Michaelson, M., 1987, ‘Domestic Hinduism in a Gujarati Trading Caste’. In R. Burghart (ed.), Hinduism in Great Britain: The Perpetuation of Religion in an Alien Milieu. London: Tavistock, 1987: 32-49.

Nesbitt, E., 1985, ‘The Nanaksar Movement’. Religion 15: 67-79. doi:10.1016/0048-721X(85) 90060-0

—1990, ‘Religion and Identity: The Valmiki Community in Coventry’. New Community 16(2): 261-74.

—1991, ‘My Dad’s Hindu, my Mum’s Side Are Sikhs’: Issues in Religious Identity. Charlbury: National Foundation for Arts Education. Accessible at http://www.art.man.ac.uk/CASAS/ pdfpapers/identity/pdf

—1994, ‘Valmikis in Coventry: The Revival and Reconstruction of a Community’. In R. Ballard (ed.), Desh Pardesh: The South Asian Presence in Britain. London: Hurst, 1994: 117-41.

—1999, The Religious Lives of Sikh Children: A Coventry Based Study. Leeds: Community Religions Project, Department of Theology and Religious Studies, University of Leeds.

—2001a, ‘Ethnographic Research at Warwick: Some Methodological Issues’. British Journal of Religious Education 23(3): 144-55.

—2001b, ‘Religious Nurture and Young People’s Spirituality’. In J. Erricker, C. Ota and C. Erricker (eds), Spiritual Education, Cultural, Religious and Social Differences: New Perspectives for the 21st Century. Brighton: Sussex Academic, 2001: 130-42.

—2004a, Intercultural Education: Ethnographic and Religious Approaches. Sussex: Brighton Academic Press.

—2004b, ‘Valmikis and the Label “Hindu”’. In J. Leslie and M. Clark (eds), Creating a Dialogue: Text, Belief and Personal Identity (Proceedings of the Valmiki Studies Workshop 2004). London: School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, 2004: 25-31.

—2005, Sikhism A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

—2006, ‘Locating Hindu Sacred Space’. Contemporary South Asia (special diaspora issue, ed. J. Brown and I. Talbot) 15(2) (June): 147-64.

—2007, forthcoming, ‘The Contribution of Nurture in a Sampradaya to Young British Hindus’ Understanding of their Tradition’. In J. Hinnells and W. Menski (eds), Religious Reconstruction in the South Asian Diaspora: From Generation to Generation. London: Macmillan.

Nesbitt, E., and E. Arweck, 2003, ‘Researching a New Interface between Religions and Publicly Funded Schools in the UK’. International Journal for Children’s Spirituality 8(3): 239-54. doi:10.1080/1361767032000053015

Nesbitt, E., and A. Henderson, 2003, ‘Religious Organisations in the UK and Values Education Programmes for Schools’. Journal of Beliefs and Values 24(1): 75-88.

Nye, M., 2001, Multiculturalism and Minority Religions in Britain: Krishna Consciousness, Religious Freedom and the Politics of Location. Curzon Studies in New Religious Movements; London: Routledge.

Rockford, E. B., Jr, 1999, ‘Education and Collective Identity: Public Schooling of Hare Krishna Youths’. In S. J. Palmer and C. E. Hardman (eds), Children in New Religions. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1999: 29-50.

Searle-Chatterjee, M., 2000, ‘ “World Religions” and “Ethnic Groups”: Do These Paradigms Lend Themselves to the Cause of Hindu Nationalism?’ Ethnic and Racial Studies 23(3): 497-515. doi:10.1080/014198700328962

Smith, W. C., 1978, The Meaning and End of Religion, London: SPCK.

Srinivas, S., 1999, ‘Sai Baba: The Double Utilization of Written and Oral Traditions in a Modern South Asian Religious Movement’. Diogenes 47(3): 88-99. doi:10.1177/039219219904718709

Taylor, D., 1987, ‘Charismatic Authority in the Sathya Sai Baba Movement’. In R. Burghart (ed.), Hinduism in Great Britain: The Perpetuation of Religion in an Alien Cultural Milieu. London: Tavistock, 1987: 119-33.

von Stietencron, H., repr. 1991, ‘Hinduism: On the Proper Use of a Deceptive Term’. In G. D. Sontheimer and H. Kulke (eds), Hinduism Reconsidered. Delhi: Manohar, 1991: 11-28.

Walliss, J., 2002, The Brahma Kumaris as a ‘Reflexive Tradition’: Responding to Late Modernity. Aldershot: Ashgate.

Watton, V., 1996, Religion and Life. London: Hodder & Stoughton.

Whaling, F., 1995, ‘The Brahma Kumaris’. Journal of Contemporary Religion 10(1): 3-28.

Williams, R. B., 1984, A New Face of Hinduism: The Swaminarayan Religion. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Williams, R. B. (ed.), 1992, A Sacred Thread: Modern Transmission of Hindu Traditions in India and Abroad. Chambersburg: Anima.

Published

2007-09-20

Issue

Section

Articles

How to Cite

Nesbitt, E., & Arweck, E. (2007). Retrospect and Prospect: Sampradayas and Warwick Fieldwork in Religions and Education. Fieldwork in Religion, 2(1), 49-64. https://doi.org/10.1558/fiel2007v2i1.49