Sacred and Secular Tensions in Higher Education

Waggoner, Michael D.

doi:10.4324/9780203833834

Cited by 7 publications

(4 citation statements)

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“…Even the fully public colleges and universities founded through the Morrill Land Grant Act in the 1800s were infused with a Christian ethos (Marsden & Longfield, 1992). With the exception of those institutions founded specifically for Black students, higher education in the U.S. has been dominated and normalized by the experiences of white, formerly-European Christians (Waggoner, 2011).…”

Section: Foundations Of the Campus Worldview Climatementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Faculty should understand and value religion and spirituality as a social identity relevant to all students (Waggoner, 2011). discuss classroom management changes faculty could employ, including carefully planning their course calendar and reviewing their policies about missing class for a religious observance; the authors caution faculty that an accidental culture of penalty may exist for the religiously observant.…”

Section: Interfaith Innovations For Facultymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Worldview Climate and the International Student Experience: Internationalization Strategies Overlook Interfaith Necessities

Staples

Mayhew

Rockenbach

2019

JSPTE

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Aim/Purpose: The purpose of this study was to compare domestic and international students’ experiences of the campus worldview climate. Background: Internationalization efforts have continued to increase and more institutions are codifying internationalization into their mission statements or strategic plans. However, most international students are coming to the United States from countries that do not share a Christian-based worldview and most campuses are already underprepared for their students to engage across worldviews. Methodology: To explore the experiences of international students with the campus worldview climate, we used data from the Interfaith Diversity Experiences and Attitudes Longitudinal Survey (IDEALS) to examine differences between domestic and international students with regard to campus worldview climate perceptions, engagement in formal and informal interfaith opportunities, and changes in pluralism orientation during the first year of college. Contribution: This study advances our understanding of how international students perceive their campus worldview climates and how they engage in cross-worldview interactions. We offer these findings in hopes of providing an empirical roadmap for improving international students’ experiences with the worldview climate on campus, especially as internationalization strategies continue to grow and diversify our student populations. Findings: We found that international students do find their campuses less welcoming than their domestic peers. Additionally, international students reported engaging more often in formal cross-worldview interactions than their domestic peers. Recommendations for Practitioners: In light of these findings, we suggest three interfaith initiatives campuses can sponsor to better support their international students: 1) find a physical space for a multi-faith center and provide dedicated staff to support interfaith initiatives, 2) help faculty innovate their practice and the spaces they hold in the classroom to foster environments more inclusive of diverse worldviews, and 3) engage student affairs staff in reflection about their own worldviews and train them to create space for cross-worldview engagement among their students. Recommendation for Researchers: Our findings suggest that international students’ experiences of worldview climate differ from their domestic peers. Researchers should continue to explore worldview as a relevant component of the cross-cultural experience and design research that considers these divergent experiences. Impact on Society: Helping our students engage with diverse worldviews is imperative as part of higher education’s contribution to creating democratic societies across the globe. The results of this study point to ways administrators and campus leaders can align internationalization strategies with effective interfaith and worldview diversity practice. Future Research: Additional research efforts should focus on identifying components of the campus worldview climate international students are more likely to experience than their domestic peers. Also, researchers should consider how international students are exhibiting growth on outcomes like pluralism orientation in comparison to their domestic peers and how cross-worldview interactions affect this development.

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Section: Foundations Of the Campus Worldview Climatementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Interfaith Innovations For Facultymentioning

confidence: 99%

Worldview Climate and the International Student Experience: Internationalization Strategies Overlook Interfaith Necessities

Staples

Mayhew

Rockenbach

2019

JSPTE

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“…IJER notes 1. This article is adapted from chapter 1 and the afterword of Sacred and Secular Tensions in Higher Education: Connecting Parallel Universities (Waggoner, 2011). 2.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reforming U.S. Education for the Academic Study of Religion

Waggoner

2011

International Journal of Educational Reform

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Religion and spirituality are gaining renewed appreciation as key elements of the cultural milieu. Yet there has been an inattention to the academic study of religion and spirituality in U.S. education due to several contributing causes. Central to remediating this deficiency is an understanding of these causes and how the reform of key factors in higher education may play a part. This article outlines several conditions contributing to this “failure to engage” the ideas of religion and spirituality in the academy and notes some encouraging trends that may provide opportunities for progress.

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“…These ideas combined in a zeitgeist that seemed to enable an alternative vision for personal meaning and flourishing that could be found apart from religion (Waggoner, 2011).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Spirituality and Contemporary Higher Education

Waggoner

2016

Journal of College and Character

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Though religion played a central role in the founding of U.S. higher education, over the centuries, its influence was diluted by competing secular emphases. In recent decades, religion has seen a resurgence in academic and co-curricular attention on campuses. In addition, a spirituality not based on religion has gained increasing attention. The aim of this article is to provide an overview of the phenomenon of spirituality in contemporary higher education. The author discusses the recent appearance of spiritualty on campus, relates what research says about the potential benefits of and challenges in addressing spirituality in higher education, and examines some of the ways in which it is being addressed on U.S. college campuses.

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Sacred and Secular Tensions in Higher Education

Cited by 7 publications

References 0 publications

Worldview Climate and the International Student Experience: Internationalization Strategies Overlook Interfaith Necessities

Worldview Climate and the International Student Experience: Internationalization Strategies Overlook Interfaith Necessities

Reforming U.S. Education for the Academic Study of Religion

Spirituality and Contemporary Higher Education

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