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| Click here to link to the Office of Religious & Spiritual Life at Wellesley College. |
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Here are suggested questions for discussion among students, faculty, administrators,
alumni, trustees, and religious advisors within the college and university
CAMPUS LIFE
- For whose benefit does the institution exist?
- Where is the "higher" in
higher education?
- What is the effect of religious pluralism on
dorm life?
- What do we do with Christian spaces we have and the
multi-faith communities we have?
- How is religious faith expressed
on your campus?
- Do staff/faculty/administrators see themselves
as learners or as "finished"?
- Is spirituality a necessary part
of a learning community?
- How do people come and go into the university-setting?
- Presidents: Given
expanding diversity, how can we afford to provide resources for
religious/spiritual life?
CAMPUS WIDE SERVICES
- How does religious observance enhance/clarify/embolden the educational
enterprise within institutions of higher education?
- What is your
role in the "transformative" dimension of educating?
- How does
the institution respond to civic needs, community building, and
ethical/moral responsibilities in its immediate context?
- What does
the institution promote by its structure?
- What are your experiences
of education as transformative? Is it happening? How? (personal
stories)
- Is spirituality part of the non-student world in the univeristy
or is it a student service?
- Long-term systems of protestant
colleges and chaplaincies. How/if to change?
- Would I give up my
job for a multi-faith vision on our campus?
CLASS WORK
- What is the goal of education -wisdom or information?
- Is religion necessary
for education? If so, why?
- If religious expression is part of a
faculty member's daily life, how and why is it not in the classroom?
(be specific to your college's
situation)
- Are we in a post-traditional era regarding educational
process?
- Does religious expression belong in the classroom? Why
or why not?
- Does a teacher's world-view have a place in the classroom?
- Who evaluates
you? (i.e. Who's your boss?)
- How is the connection made between
a student's aims/calling/ideals and their course of study?
- Where
does transformation occur? in the classroom? other places?
- How
important is the ability to teach? How is "teaching" done?
- How
often and by what standard do you measure your teaching?
- In your
own teaching, how far are you from your academic "first
love?"
- What investments does the institution
hold? Does this matter to you?
- Is philosophy/theology
important any longer for society? What place does it hold?
- What
are the trends in religious observance on campus and in your generation?
Is
this commensurate with your ideal
for education?
- What power do students have in the
institution (such as in registration
for courses,
petition for change, student activism,
etc.)?
DIVERSITY AND UNDERSTANDING
- Are religious people anti-intellectual?
- What is the relationship between
religious pluralism and multi-culturalism?
- What is the relationship
between religion and culture?
- Can you ever discuss multi-culturalism
without religion?
- How do religious traditions speak to the importance
of education? facilitate? hinder?
- Does teaching have a goal of
conversion? of evangelism? (or an element of it, i.e. changing
one's mind or way of
thinking?)
- Is spirituality part of liberal arts?
- Is spirituality a luxury or a
necessity?
- How important is it compared to career, jobs?
- What is gained/lost with
multi-faith, multi-cultural? What is scary, threatening, dangerous?
- (What questions are effective?)
- Why bother? Why are we here?
- Why would ________ be concerned with religious
pluralism?
(fill in the blank: the president; admissions;
financial aid; alumni affairs; etc)
- How
can religious pluralism be used to your advantage?
- Recruiting-What
are the advantages of a multi-faith campus?
- What are the practical,
fiscal, etc. reasons for supporting multi-faith,
religious pluralism?
- Who is your
boss?
- What are the trends for students
of religious practice?
- What
are the impediments to having a multi-faith program?
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