Messing Around with Introductory Religion Courses in Canada
Keywords:
Canada, experiential, fieldwork, food, messy, study abroad, world religions paradigmAbstract
This is a story about the challenges and virtues of messiness for scholarship and teaching in academia generally, and Religious Studies in particular. It begins when I was first hired to teach Introduction to the Study of Religion at the University of Toronto Mississauga. It continues with a discussion of research into how introductory religion courses are taught in Canada, and reflection on that research – which includes examples of student learning from a world religions summer course I have taught in Hong Kong since 2012. It ends with a consideration of the ways in which messiness has been a key component of Michel Desjardins’ own scholarship and teaching.
References
a. “Academic Calendar 2012–13.” Mount Allison University. March 1. https://www.mta.ca/academic_calendar/12-13/calendar_2012-13.pdf
b. “Course Catalogue 2012–13.” St. Thomas More College, University of Saskatchewan. https://stmcollege.ca/media/pdf/COURSE%20CATALOGUE%202012-2013.pdf
c. “RE104 Evil and Its Symbols.” Wilfrid Laurier University. https://academic-calendar.wlu.ca/course.php?c=27351&cal=1&d=1000&s=500&y=53
d. “Undergraduate Calendar 2012–2013.” Concordia University. January. https://www.concordia.ca/content/dam/concordia/offices/archives/docs/undergraduate-calendars/2012-13-undergraduate-calendar.pdf
“RELG100.” University of British Columbia. August 7. https://cnrs.ubc.ca/2013/08/07/relg100
“2015 Call for Proposals: Theory in a Time of Excess.” North American Association for the Study of Religion. December 7. https://naasr.com/2014/12/07/2015-call-for-proposals-theory-in-a-time-of-excess
Anderson, Charles P. and T.A. Nosanchuk, eds. 1967. The 1967 Guide to Religious Studies in Canada. Canadian Society for the Study of Religion.
Anderson, Charles P., ed. 1969. Guide to Religious Studies in Canada / Guide pour les Études Religieuses au Canada. Canadian Society for the Study of Religion / Société Canadienne pour l’Étude de la Religion. https://doi.org/10.1177/000842987200200325
———, ed. 1972. Guide to Religious Studies in Canada / Guide des Sciences Religieuses au Canada. London: Sage. https://doi.org/10.1177/000842987200200325
Badertscher, John M., Gordon Harland, and Roland E. Miller. 1993. Religious Studies in Manitoba and Saskatchewan: A State-of-the-Art Review. Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier University Press. https://doi.org/10.1177/000842989502400108
Bell, Catherine. 2008. “Extracting the Paradigm – Ouch!” Method and Theory in the Study of Religion 20: 114–124. https://doi.org/10.1163/157006808x283534
Berling, Judith A. 2004. Understanding Other Religious Worlds: A Guide for Inter- religious Education. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0360966900003868
Bowlby, Paul W.R., with Tom Faulkner. 2001. Religious Studies in Atlantic Canada: A State-of-the-Art Review. Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier University Press. https://doi.org/10.1177/000842980203100315
Carlson, Jeffrey. 1998. “From Site Unseen to Experiential Learning: Religious Studies in the ‘Discover Chicago’ Model.” Teaching Theology and Religion 1(2): 120–127. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9647.00021
Cohen, Leonard. 1992. “The Anthem.” In The Future. New York: Sony Music.
Cotter, Christopher R., and David G. Robertson, eds. 2016. After ‘World Religions’: Reconstructing the Introductory Course in Religious Studies. Aboingdon: Routledge.
Coward, Harold. 2014. Fifty Years of Religious Studies in Canada: A Personal Retrospective. Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier University Press.
Chuang Tzu. 1964. Chuang Tzu: Basic Writings. Translated by Burton Watson. New York: Columbia University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0012217300032121
Delaporte, Marianne and Hans Wiersma. 2010. “Site Visits and Civic Engagement.” Religious Studies News: Spotlight on Teaching. October. http://rsnonline.org/indexfeec.html?option=com_content&view=article&id=252&Itemid=333.
Derry, Ken. 2011. “Indigenous Traditions.” In World Religions: Western Traditions, third edition, edited by Willard G. Oxtoby and Amir Hussain, 322–385. Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1177/0040571x9710000311
———. 2014. “‘Like You Could Read What Was Inside of Me.’ Genocide, Hermeneutics, and Religion in The Wizard of Oz.” Journal of Religion and Popular Culture 26(3): 293–309. https://doi.org/10.3138/jrpc.26.3.293
———. 2018. “Being Sith Lord Sexypants.” In The Myth Awakens: Canon, Conservatism, and Fan Reception of Star Wars, edited by Ken Derry and John Lyden, 1–22. Eugene, OR: Cascade.
Desjardins, Michel. 1998. “Like a Cook in a Café.” Studies in Religion/Sciences religieuses 27(1): 69–78. https://doi.org/10.1177/000842989802700107
———. 2004. “Teaching about Religion with Food.” Teaching Theology and Religion 7(3): 153–158.
———. 2005. “Satan in Your Midst, or What I Learned about Teaching from Confrontational Situations.” In Making a Difference: A Celebration of 3M Teaching Fellowship / Toute la différence: Hommage au Prix d’enseignement 3M, edited by Marilyn Lerch, 153–154. Hamilton: Centre for Leadership in Learning.
———. 2006. “What the Canadian Doctoral Programs Tell Us about the Academic Study of Religion in Canada. Studies in Religion/Sciences religieuses 35(3–4): 505–515. https://doi.org/10.1177/000842980603500308
———. 2012. “Religious Studies that Really Schmecks: Introducing Food to the Academic Study of Religion.” In Failure and Nerve in the Study of Religion, edited by William Arnal et al., 147–156. Sheffield: Equinox.
———. 2013. “Practicalities and Pedagogies: Implementing International Learning Opportunities for Students.” In The World is my Classroom: International Learning and Canadian Higher Education, edited by Joanne Benham Rennick and Michel Desjardins, 215–35. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. https://doi.org/10.3138/9781442669079-013
———. 2016. “The Desjardins Diet for World Religions Paradigm Loss.” In After ‘World Religions’: Reconstructing the Introductory Course in Religious Studies, edited by Christopher R. Cotter and David G. Robertson, 123–137. Abingdon: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.1163/15685276-12341522
Flueckiger, Joyce Burkhalter, ed. 2004. “Teaching with Site Visits.” Religious Studies News: Spotlight on Teaching. October. http://rsnonline.org/images/pdfs/oct04sot.pdf
Fraser, Brian J. 1995. The Study of Religion in British Columbia: A State-of-the-Art Review. Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier University Press.
Freire, Paulo. [1968] 1970. Pedagogy of the Oppressed. Translated by Myra Bergman Ramos. New York: Continuum.
Gathje, Peter. 2000. “Experiential Education: Pedagogy Across the Spectrum.” Religious Studies News: Spotlight on Teaching. May. http://rsnonline.org/index8c4d-2.html?option=com_content&view=article&id=1117:-experiential-education-pedagogy-across-the-spectrum&catid=84:spot-light-on-teaching&Itemid=1233
Hughes, Aaron W., ed. 2017a. Theory in a Time of Excess: Beyond Reflection and Explanation in Religious Studies Scholarship. Sheffield: Equinox.
———. 2017b. “Whence, Whither, and Wherefore the Academic Study of Religion in Canada? A Prolegomenon.” Studies in Religion / Sciences religieuses 46(2): 309–321. https://doi.org/10.1177/0008429817694119
Locklin, Reid B., Tracy Tiemeier, and Johann M. Vento. 2012. “Teaching World Religions without Teaching ‘World Religions.’” Teaching Theology and Religion 15: 159–181. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9647.2012.00784.x
Masuzawa, Tomoko. 2005. The Invention of World Religions: Or, How European Universalism was Preserved in the Language of Pluralism. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. https://doi.org/10.1086/511373
McCutcheon, Russell. 1997. Manufacturing Religion: The Discourse on Sui Generis Religion and the Politics of Nostalgia. Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1177/000842980002900315
———. 1998. “Redescribing ‘Religion and . . .’ Film: Teaching the Insider/Outsider Problem.” Teaching Theology and Religion 1(2): 99–110. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9647.00019
———. 2014. “This Modern Life.” Practicum: Critical Theory, Religion, and Pedagogy. May 30. http://practicumreligionblog.blogspot.com/2014/05/this-modern-life_30.html.
———. 2017. “Rethinking Classic Texts/Theorists: Huston Smith: Textbook as Artifact.” Practicum: Critical Theory, Religion, and Pedagogy. November 21. http://practicumreligionblog.blogspot.com/2017/11/rethinking-classic-textstheorists.html.
———. 2018. “A Question Still Worth Asking about The Religions of Man.” In Fabricating Religion: Fanfare for the Common e.g., by Russell McCutcheon, 43–53. Berlin: de Gruyter. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110560831-004
Neufeldt, Ronald W. 1983. Religious Studies in Alberta: A State-of-the-Art Review. Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier University Press. https://doi.org/10.1177/000842988301200319
Owen, Suzanne. 2011. “The World Religions Paradigm: Time for a Change.” Arts & Humanities in Higher Education 10(3): 253–268. https://doi.org/10.1177/1474022211408038
Patterson, Barbara A. B. 2000. “Experiential Learning: Pedagogy for Life.” Religious Studies News: Spotlight on Teaching. May. http://rsnonline.org/indexf848.html?option=com_content&view=article&id=1113:experiential-learning-pedagogy-for-life&catid=84:spotlight-on-teaching&Item-id=1229
Patterson, Barbara A. B. 2003. “Ethnography as Pedagogy: Learning and Teaching in a Religion Department Internship Class.” Teaching Theology and Religion 6(1): 24–34. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9647.00150
Patton, Laurie L., and Vernon K. Robbins, with Gordon D. Newby. 2009. “Comparative Sacred Texts and Interactive Interpretation: Another Alternative to the ‘World Religions’ Class.” Teaching Theology and Religion 12(1): 37–49. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9647.2008.00479.x
Potok, Chaim. 1985. Davita’s Harp. New York: Fawcett.
Remus, Harold. 1999. “Religious Studies in Ontario, 1992 to 1999: State-of-the-Art Update.” Studies in Religion/Sciences religieuses 28(2): 197–208. https://doi.org/10.1177/000842989902800204
Remus, Harold, Daniel Fraikin, and William Closson James. 1992. Religious Studies in Ontario: A State-of-the-Art Review. Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier University Press. https://doi.org/10.1177/000842989402300409
Rousseau, Louis, and Michel Despland. 1988. Les sciences religieuses au Québec depuis 1972. Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier University Press. https://doi.org/10.7202/056512ar
Smith, Jonathan Z. 1978. Map Is Not Territory: Studies in the History of Religion. Leiden: Brill.
———. 2008. Interview with Supriya Sinhababu. The Chicago Maroon. June 2. https://www.chicagomaroon.com/2008/06/02/full-j-z-smith-interview.
Southard, Naomi, and Richard Payne. 1998. “Teaching the Introduction to Religion: Religious Pluralism in a Post-Colonial Age.” Teaching Theology and Religion 1(1): 51–57. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9647.00012
Taira, Teemu. 2016. “Doing Things with ‘Religion’: A Discursive Approach in Rethinking the World Religions Paradigm.” In After ‘World Religions’: Reconstructing the Introductory Course in Religious Studies, edited by Christopher R. Cotter and David G. Robertson, 75–91. Abingdon: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.1163/15685276-12341522
Thomases, Drew. 2018. “Writing on Religion, Beyond the Site Visit.” Teaching Theology and Religion 21: 140. https://doi.org/10.1111/teth.12433
Tite, Philip. 2019. “Balancing Dichotomies, Opening Conversations: A Reflection on Michel Desjardins’ Contribution to the Study of Religion in the Classroom and Beyond.” Religious Studies and Theology 38(1–2): 12–26. https://doi.org/10.1558/rsth.38708
Welch, Claude. 1971. Graduate Education in Religion: A Critical Appraisal. Missoula, MT: University of Montana Press.
