Teaching About Religion, Faith, and Spirituality in Secular Studies Classes

Religion, faith, spirituality, and worldview factor heavily into personal identity, diversity, life experiences, values, and decision-making processes—all things that a lot of students are developing or coming to terms with as they maneuver through their college education.

The prospect of addressing the personal and potentially volatile topics of religion and faith in courses can seem daunting for teachers whose scholarship falls outside these areas. But these are important subjects that, when discussed carefully and objectively in secular studies classes, can help open up a larger conversation about diversity, privilege, and oppression.

You’ll gain a fuller understanding of the means of discussing religion and spirituality in classes regardless of your own beliefs and practices, and explore rationales for including these among course topics, resources for supporting instruction, and tools for responding to challenges in teaching about these vital yet heated subjects.

What are the learning goals?

• Determine educational imperatives for addressing religion and faith in secular studies courses
• Identify resources of credible scholarly content to facilitate discussions about religious topics
• Create classroom environments that promote academic discussions of faith as a form of personal identity, diversity, belief, motivation, culture-community, privilege, and oppression
• Begin to generate lesson plans on these subjects

Here’s what we’ll cover!

• The intersection of religion with disciplines across the academy and current world events
• Benefits of student religious literacy
• Student perspectives on including faith in the context of secular studies classes
• Ways of addressing common faculty concerns regarding discussing faith in secular studies classes
• Resources available for supporting faculty who are addressing faith in courses outside religious studies
• Sample lesson plan formats that incorporate religious identity and diversity, beliefs, and faith-based practices into other subjects
• Strategies for dealing with challenging classroom dynamics that may arise in teaching faith-based subjects

Who should attend?

This seminar will benefit:

• Instructors
• Department Chairs
• Service-Learning Coordinators
• Residence Life Coordinators
• Resident Assistants
• Faculty Developers

Why you don’t want to miss this!

This seminar will prepare you to address the needs of a diverse student body and explore options for responding to classroom dynamics around the subjects of religion and spirituality. By identifying resources, considering a variety of lesson ideas, and exploring options for responding to classroom dynamics around the topics of religion, faith, spirituality, and worldview, you’ll come away better prepared to discuss these sensitive subjects in secular studies courses, while also cultivating a larger conversation about inclusivity and diversity. Register for this topical seminar today!

What’s included?

Your seminar registration includes the following:

• On-demand access
• Downloadable PowerPoint presentations from the speaker
• Written transcript
• Supplemental materials
• 100% satisfaction guarantee

There is no limit to how many times the seminar is accessed while available on-demand.

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Product Code: PC18LA