What We're Learning About Learning: Religious and Spiritual Diversity in the Classroom

Season 2 Episode 7

Religious and Spiritual Diversity in the Classroom

Call to mind an occasion when you felt out of your depth or unsure what to do in an encounter or engagement with religious or spiritual diversity inside or outside the classroom. What did you do in that situation? What do you wish you had done in that situation? We asked these same questions of three clergy from Georgetown University’s Campus Ministry. In this episode of What We're Learning About Learning, Rabbi Rachel Gartner, Imam Yahya Hendi, and Brahmachari Sharan talk about the good and bad experiences students regularly share with them, and how faculty can listen, reflect, and grow to better serve students.

: : Transcript

Bios

Interviewed for this episode:

• Rabbi Rachel Gartner, most recent Director for Jewish Life
• Imam Yahya Hendi, the Director for Muslim Life
• Brahmachari Sharan, the Director for Dharmic Life and Hindu Spiritual Advisor for Campus Ministry
• David Ebenbach, Professor of the Practice at CNDLS and the Center for Jewish Civilization

Resources

Georgetown Resources

• Campus Ministry
• Your Guide to Religious Services at Georgetown University
• Center for New Designs in Learning and Scholarship (CNDLS)
• Georgetown’s Student Outreach and Support (SOS Care Team)
• Georgetown’s Mission and Information about Cura Personalis
• The Doyle Engaging Difference Program
• The Prospect blog

Additional Research

• Cuyjet, M. J., Howard-Hamilton, M. F., Cooper, D. L., & Linder, C. (Eds.). (2016). “Religious and Spiritual Diversity Among College Students” in Multiculturalism on campus : Theory, models, and practices for understanding diversity and creating inclusion. Stylus Publishing, LLC.
• Jacobsen, R., & Jacobsen, D. (2012). No Longer Invisible: Religion in University Education. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 11 Jul. 2022, from https://oxford.universitypressscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199844739.001.0001/acprof-9780199844739.
• Redden, Elizabeth. (2020, August 24). Religious Literacy. Inside Higher Ed. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/08/24/survey-finds-many-college-students-lacking-knowledge-religious-traditions-and.
• Truing, Debbie. (2019, June 15). “To fight hate and stereotypes, students and parents turn to textbooks.” The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/to-combat-hate-and-stereotypes-students-and-parents-turn-to-textbooks/2019/06/15/1cf4ba9a-6d00-11e9-a66d-a82d3f3d96d5_story.html.
• Uhlmann, Eric Luis. and Geoffrey L. Cohen. (2007). “‘I think it, therefore it's true'’: Effects of Self-perceived Objectivity on Hiring Discrimination.” Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 104.
• University of Denver. (2022). Spiritual and Religious Diversity. Office of Teaching and Learning, Inclusive Teaching Practices. https://operations.du.edu/inclusive-teaching/spiritual-and-religious-diversity#what.

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