Religious identity is important to people, and most importantly our students. The 3 headings I chose from ‘Religion in Britain: Challenges for Higher Education.’ specifically focus on personal identity, public identities and then the impact on universities – I thought these 3 articles would be an interesting combination and also I am specifically interested in the private/public religious identities and how these play out in universities. Therefore I chose the following chapters/headings to read and reflect upon; ‘Minority Identities’, ‘Religion as a public good’ and ‘Religion and knowledge of religion in UK universities’. Similarly to the Reith lecture the articles focus on practices and processes as belief, rather than focusing on theory or scripture. The articles state Britain has moved from a country of personal and private faith, to one of personal, identifiable and practice-based faith, primarily due to post-immigration minorities and therefore universities must reflect this significant shift and reflect upon the implications for the public and educational spheres. The articles focus on dress and visibility, and the implication is made that people place religion above race in the public view. This made me recall texts by social anthropologists Roxanne Varzi and Lila Abu-Lughod, both of whom are women of colour, who write about how muslim women are perceived by the public and the performative aspects of faith (Abu-Lughod, 2002 & Varzi, 2006). Both women note the political implications of how muslim women dress (Abu-Lughod, 2002 & Varzi, 2006), Varzi notes how young women in Iran are using their dress to protest and Abu-Lughod focuses on the public’s obsession with the veil. The last two articles stress the importance of space, and making spaces for conversations between both people of the same faith and separate spaces for interfaith conversations. The article stated that minority religions ‘are objects of public anxiety’, and this provoked questions in me around what could I do in the classroom to dissipate or prevent this ‘public anxiety’ (Calhoun & Modood, 2015:18), as it is the media which focuses on Islam, could a media based project be a way to interrogate why and the discourse around this. From the texts it is clear ‘the burden of integration falls disproportionately on the minorities’ (Calhoun & Modood, 2015:19), and etymology of the word integration aside, how could I as a facilitator take some of this burden or remove it. There are several creative projects centred around identity, values and faith that I have researched which could be integrated into a resource list for my students including Azeema (https://www.azeemamag.com/about) that identifies as a ‘magazine, online platform, community and creative agency’ and books such as ‘Looking Good: A Visual Guide to the Nun’s Habit’ (2016) by Veronica Bennett.
In the Reith lecture, Kwame Anthony Appiah discusses how you can know a lot about a religion but your belief is lacking if you do not practice and have the community. He discusses the importance of practice and community over religious theory and scripture. The scripture and theories are unclear, through practice and community you can understand faith. Traditionally doctrine drove practice; this is called ‘scripture determinism’, however he argues scripture is outdated and ignores evidence, ignores contemporary laws and recent history. Scriptures endure, and this is due to interpretation. He claims religion is a process.
(In reference to belief…) “It’s a verb, not a noun.” – Kwame Anthony Appiah
“We do not simply follow traditions, we create them. Count that as a burden or a blessing.” – Kwame Anthony Appiah
He coins the term “Conversation across difference.” and states, “Conversation requires consenting adults – people open to conversation and toleration.” – Kwame Anthony Appiah
When asked about people who will not converse and not engage he replies – “I’m a good listener,” “I will ask them about what they believe”. – Kwame Anthony Appiah
A woman in the audience asks Kwame Anthony Appiah a question and she argues the scripture is a foundation or pillar or guiding light. He counters this by talking about certainty and the dangers of it, he believes there is strength and faith in doubt. There is another discussion with a woman who asks about the necessity of “one truth”. He counters, “I think reasonable people can come to a very wide range of different pictures of the world..”, he then quotes Richard Francis Burton (the first Christain who got into Mekkah) – “Truth is the shattered mirror strown in myriad bits; while each believes his little piece the whole to own.”.
This highlights how important discussions around religious identities are, as according to Kwame Anthony Appiah, religion and belief is continually in the process of being re-made through practice and community. Therefore the students themselves are contributing to the making and development of their own religion, therefore they are the expert on their own belief and religion – so learning about religion from a top down approach is pointless and outdated, instead we should be learning from and with our students – and focusing on the importance of community(s). Building collaboration and community creation into the course through discussions around religious identity is incredibly important.
Kwame Anthony Appiah’s theories strongly relate to the article I chose from the SoN terms of reference around Faith. I chose an article that felt incredibly personal, in contrast to the other readings I have done for this blog post that come from an academic or institutional perspective/origin. I felt it was important to select a personal reading, to reflect upon the position the student themselves might be coming from. ‘Guru Nanak and The Realm of Chlorophyll Cathedrals’ by Raman Mundair, is a personal reflection on their Sikh upbringing and relationship to their faith over their lifetime from a child in the family home to student and then young professional. Mundair when reflecting on their Sikh upbringing as a child supports Appiah’s claims of the importance of practice over scripture by stating, ‘I may not have understood or processed the detail but I enjoyed the spectacle and felt its deep rooted connection to culture and homeland’ (Mundair, 2017:47). Mundair goes on to interrogate their values, and ruminates on how life had taken them away from their traditional Sikh values, but through reflection they rediscovered them; ‘Values that have never left me and I have come to realise are an important part of my identity’ (Mundair, 2017:48).
At this point I feel I should state my positionality on religion. My parents are not religious, they are however ‘traditional’. I have a Godmother who belongs to the Church of England and took her role very seriously. I went to a CofE primary school and before the age of 15 would go to church regularly. I was a server in church and went through the process of confirmation classes – however pulled out of actually being confirmed. I do not identify as having any religion now. However I have a respect for all religions which has caused me to come up against some heated discussions with verdant non-believers who (much like the texts I read for this blog post) can be very aggressive in their non-belief (which always comes as a surprise).
Reading, listening and reflecting upon all these sources has made me consider how I can seek out and partner with the Chaplaincy at UAL and discover more about the interfaith spaces at the university. Perhaps there could be a collaborative project brief with the Chaplaincy, to encourage supported and structured discussions around faith through the lens/perspective of ‘identity’ and ‘values’. Taking a student centred approach to reflect the consistent change of religious identities (both public and person). I understand that in order for this to happen successfully I have to also make a concerted effort and take steps to create a space of trust, collaboration and conversation between the student cohort; building an inviting space to explore personal identities within.
Reference list
Abu-Lughod, L. (2002). Do Muslim Women Really Need Saving? Anthropological Reflections on Cultural Relativism and Its Others. American Anthropologist, 104(3), pp.783–790. doi:10.1525/aa.2002.104.3.783.
Advance HE (2018). Religion and Belief: supporting inclusion of staff and students in higher education and colleges. Advance HE.
Modood, T. and Calhoun, C. (2015). Religion in Britain: Challenges for Higher Education. Leadership Foundation For Higher Education.
Shades of Noir (2017). Higher Power: Religion, Belief, Spirituality & Belief. Shades of Noir.
The Reith Lectures: Creed, Kwame Anthony Appiah – Mistaken Identities, (2016). BBC Radio 4.
Varzi, R. (2006). Warring Souls : youth, media, and martyrdom in post-revolution Iran. Durham: Duke University Press.
Throughout this blog post the thing that makes the biggest impression is the care you have for your students; you obviously have some great existing reference material that you share with them as part of your teaching, and propose ways in which you could be more active in countering religious discrimination, specifically through a project brief on media-representations of faith and religion. It recalls Grimonprez’s ‘Dial H-I-S-T-O-R-Y’ and John Akomfrah’s ‘The Unfinished Conversation’. This idea of belief as a practice that comes to be through a process of interpretation and action recalls some of bell hook’s writings about social practice and intersubjectivities. In ‘All About Love’, she talks about love as verb rather than a noun – as something you have to actively do – if it is purely abstract, then it is just a word that we say and it has no real meaning. Audre Lorde’s chapter from Sister Outsider, ‘Transformation of Silence into Language and Action’ is also relevant here in thinking about how we support and enable diverse voices, knowledges and perspectives to become co-producers of teaching and learning spaces.
Thank you Joey! The references sound amazing, I’ll definitely look them up. Bell Hook’s ‘All about Love’ is a wonderful resource.