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Teaching South Asian Religious Traditions Workshop

Mary Hayward

A Brief Report on the Seminar/Workshop held on 18 May 2001

The seminar was organised by the Religion and Education Group of CASAS (Centre for applied South Asian Studies) in the University of Manchester. It was sponsored by the University of Manchester and by the PRS Subject Centre. The seminar invited participation from those teaching South Asian religious traditions in HE - whether in RS or other departments - and brought together around 30 people, in the main from the University sector.

Context

Whilst focusing on South Asian traditions, the seminar's roots lie also in the changing nature of Religious Studies: as one group put it during the seminar, the meta-theory is the crisis in phenomenology. This is expressed in a distrust of essentialism; a questioning of the religious boundaries suggested by '-isms' - especially by those engaged in empirical research; a recognition of diversity and complexity within and across traditions. Additionally the interrelation of religion and culture, the social and political context of religion, the politicisation of religion itself and the contexts within which we teach inside and outside the academy call for reflection on what it is we are about in Religious Studies.

Key sessions

  1. The programme opened with a presentation by Dr Roger Ballard which served two key purposes. First, it raised a wide range of questions about the study of religious traditions, especially concerning the assumptions which may be brought to the study of South Asian traditions; 'religion' as a conceptual category; the focus of teaching and the challenges of ethnographic studies. Second, a power-point presentation of popular religion in the Punjab and Pakistan drawing on Roger Ballard's own fieldwork as an anthropologist, challenged those paradigms which stress the boundaries between traditions and pointed to a disparity between popular religion and 'essentialist' reform movements.
    1. The presentation led into a choice of workshops on Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam and Sikhism - this division was perhaps inimical to the concerns of the day, but reflects divisions which still largely operate in teaching. Workshops were invited to consider the teaching of the tradition under three broad headings: analytical issues; pedagogical issues; political issues.
    2. A terse reporting back session via flipchart followed, with an attempt to bring together common concerns; these emerged broadly as
      • the concepts and categories employed in teaching/studying religious traditions
      • discussion of content and the criteria employed in its selection
      • clientele - students, their cultural background, expectations, experience; their goal orientation
      • the context in which teaching takes place: that of the institution; of society - socially, politically
      • the capacities which students are to develop in/ through study of religious traditions
  3. A second set of workshops on pedagogical issues aimed to facilitate the sharing of successful practice and resources. There were three workshops: teaching about texts; teaching across religious traditions; teaching via the web.
    1. I attended that on teaching cross traditions: there was considerable variation in how this was understood within the group! David Waines (Lancaster) outlined a course offered in RS to students: Traditions and Transformations. This draws on three traditions - Judaism, Christianity and Islam and is organised around concepts of Community; Authority; Self; Gender. The difficulty of resourcing this kind of course was noted; Lancaster had had to address this themselves and have a book forthcoming (Summer 2001) We may wish to look at this for review in Discourse when I receive the details. Teaching across traditions also prompted discussion of the place (and critique) of essentialist studies in a student's learning. Perhaps these are areas the PRS Subject Centre may pursue.
    2. Brief reports from the three groups led into a general discussion which included the following issues:
      • 'essentialising' of first year courses: problems seen re. static and fixed picture such an approach offered and re. its European perspective/basis. Perhaps an 'Essentialising religion' module might make these matters transparent! Might we speak of a 'stategic essentialism'?
      • dangers in viewing other approaches as less dangerous than essentialist; a sole focus on the present carried its own problems
      • tribal religions of South Asia had not been included in the programme; what of the marginalised in RS?
      • absence of historical approaches in the day's discussions; might such approaches resolve some of the problems we face in addressing religious traditions contextually?
      • need for resources which would serve such studies of religious traditions
      • using the web as a multi sensory resource; as one which provides contrasting viewpoints on contentious issues
      • the web as providing an opportunity for the development of students' methodological skills; questions re. how to prepare students to encounter different kinds of sources and place them in context - and read them critically
      • · issues in the handling of texts: who has the authority to interpret a text and on whose terms? Importance of not losing sight of multiple contexts; recognition that a text has a life beyond itself
  4. Future action: proposals/ideas included
    • that the seminar should become an annual event, but with formal papers circulated prior to the event (agreed); attention needed to be given to theoretical discussion which would inform the classroom
    • sharing of resource lists; this might be done via John Zavos and the CSAS web-site
    • making available of a CD-Rom of Roger Ballard's material on Punjab
    • book on methodology of studying religion which is not 'compartmentalised'
    Applied Matters
    • need for 'authentic' resource material for schools; links with AREAIC (Association of RE Advisers and Inspectors)
    • need for resource for teachers, especially primary, to sensitise them to the cultural/religious traditions/lives of children in school; how might schools with appropriate and rich experience in this respect share this?
    • interface of new AS/A levels and university programmes

Postscript

It was appropriate for the PRS Subject Centre to have supported this venture; this was very much an initial consciousness- raising event for the Religion and Education group of CASAS. Its concern for a treatment of 'religion', at both HE level and in education more broadly, which is truer to the realities which are encountered 'on the ground' has far reaching implications for teaching and learning. Whilst recognising that the CASAS is developing its own web-site, I did indicate the PRS Subject Centre's willingness to collaborate/ provide a forum for discussion where it was felt to be appropriate.

CASAS web-site: http://www.casas.org.uk

This page was originally on the website of The Subject Centre for Philosophical and Religious Studies. It was transfered here following the closure of the Subject Centre at the end of 2011.

 

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The British Association for the Study of Religions
The Religious Studies Project