A decade ago, the Pew Research Center conducted research called “The 2010 Religious Knowledge Survey.” The results showed a lack of religious literacy among Americans. For instance, more than half of Christians didn’t know that Genesis is the first book of the Old Testament. Few Americans knew that Vishnu and Shiva are figures in Hinduism. Most didn’t know that the Dalai Lama is a Buddhist spiritual leader.
In July of 2019, the Center released more research on this topic called “What Americans Know about Religion.” It reports,
“Most Americans are familiar with some of the basics of Christianity and the Bible, and even a few facts about Islam. But far fewer U.S. adults are able to correctly answer factual questions about Judaism, Buddhism and Hinduism, and most do not know what the U.S. Constitution says about religion as it relates to elected officials. In addition, large majorities of Americans are unsure (or incorrect) about the share of the U.S. public that is Muslim or Jewish….”
“What Americans Know About Religion,” Pew Research Center
At ACC there is a growing interest in religious literacy. Grant Potts, Department Chair of Philosophy, Religion and Humanities was tapped by the American Academy of Religion to help develop religious literacy guidelines which were released in fall 2019. Here is link to those guidelines. https://www.aarweb.org/aar-religious-literacy-guidelines
Last Summer Professor Farrah Keeler of ESOL attended Harvard University’s summer Institute on Religious Literacy. This week long Institute, started in 2015, focuses on how religions are internally diverse, evolve and change, and are embedded in all aspects of human experience. Farrah is incorporating religious literacy into the curriculum for her exit level ESOL Reading course. She is allowing me to attend some of her classes. We are reading and discussing the novel The Chosen by Chaim Potok about two young Jewish boys in New York City in the last years of World War II. We are also reading and discussing case studies supplied by the Institute which focus on Judaism and contemporary social and political issues.
The Institute is accepting applications for this summer by the deadline of March 16, 2020. The link to its homepage is https://rlp.hds.harvard.edu/for-educators/summer-institute
Last May Dean Matthew Daude Laurents and Grant Potts convened a group of like-minded teachers for a Religious Literacy Committee. This project has become one of the agenda items of the Liberal Arts Academic Master Plan. For the short term, the committee is trying to do the following:
- facilitate faculty attendance at the Institute
- recruit more members for the committee
- establish relationships with Student Life Religious organizations
- lay the groundwork for an ACC Center of Religious Literacy.
Since knowledge of religion can be useful in so many areas like History, Government, Sociology, Interdisciplinary Studies, Criminal Justice, Nursing, Travel and Tourism, and others, the committee is reaching out to teachers to join the committee. If you are interested, please get in touch with Professor Grant Potts at gpotts@austincc.edu.
post by guest blogger Frank Cronin