Volume 12: Issue 2-April 2009
(ABSTRACTS)

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ARTICLES

"Reconstructing Christian Ethics: Exploring Constructivist Practices for Teaching Christian Ethics in the Masters of Divinity Curriculum"
William Danaher, Huron University College

Abstract. This article reflects on an effort to incorporate constructivist pedagogies (learner-centered, inquiry-guided, problem-based models of teaching) into an introductory class on Christian Ethics in an M.Div. curriculum. Although some students preferred more traditional pedagogies, the majority found that constructivist pedagogies better accommodated different life experiences, diverse learning styles, and other features of the M.Div. curriculum. Further, a qualitative assessment of one student exercise indicates that constructivist pedagogies have benefits over traditional pedagogies. Specifically, students’ work on a learning-group research project displayed creativity, depth, and breadth not found in individual research papers. Nonetheless, lukewarm student feedback also demonstrated the need to consider wider factors when attempting such innovations

"Sustained Experiential Learning: Modified Monasticism and Pilgrimage"
Jennifer Oldstone-Moore, Wittenberg University

Abstract: This article outlines a template for sustained experiential learning designed to provide a context for learning the affective and performative as well as intellectual power of religion. This approach was developed for a traditional academic framework, adapting pedagogies developed for experiential learning, aesthetic training, and study abroad, and draws on personal experiences of teaching East Asian religions. The approach integrates intellectual learning with out of class experience to stimulate and enrich the highly personal and often significant questions that may arise upon studying religion and encountering religious practices both in and out of the classroom.  

"Embodying Learning: Post-Cartesian Pedagogy and the Academic Study of Religion"
Michelle Mary Lelwica, Concordia College

Abstract: This paper explores the concept and practice of “embodied pedagogy” as an alternative to the Cartesian approach to knowledge that is tacitly embedded in traditional modes of teaching and learning about religion. My analysis highlights a class I teach that combines the study of Aikido (a Japanese martial art) with seminar-style discussions of texts that explore issues pertaining to embodiment in the context of diverse spiritual traditions. The physicality of Aikido training makes it an interesting “case study” of embodied pedagogy and the lessons it offers both teachers and students about the academic study of religion. Ultimately, the questions and insights this class generates illustrate how post-Cartesian pedagogies can expose, challenge, and correct epistemological assumptions that contribute to one-dimensional views of religion and that fail to address our students as whole persons. A final part of the paper considers other possible venues for embodying teaching and learning in the academic study of religion.

IN THE CLASSROOM

Using Media To Teach Theory

The Matrix as Sacred Canopy: Teaching Theory in Religion
James K. Wellman

Teaching Biblical Hermeneutics Through Salman Rushdie’s Haroun and the Sea of Stories
Michael J. Gilmour

Conversations

Should We Be Teaching the Historical Critical Method?
A.K.M. Adam
Richard S. Ascough
Sandra L. Gravett
Alice W. Hunt
Dale B. Martin
Edward P. Wimberly
Seung Ai Yang