Applied Religious Studies at GSU

Students in RELS 3270, “Religious Traditions of the World,” partnered with Fred Armon Toomer Elementary‘s International Baccalaureate Program Director to support teaching about world religions in public schools. The students read the AAR’s Guidelines for Teaching about Religions in K-12 Public Schools and publications by experts on religion and education. Then they worked in nine small groups to identify a K-2 appropriate book about a cultural celebration. They researched the cultural celebration and its religious contexts, and wrote essays on each. These essays, along with an annotated bibliography, will support kindergarten teachers providing instruction on religious celebrations, like Christmas, Yule, Kwanzaa, and Hanukkah, among others. We concluded the project with a field trip. In December 2019, we visited the school and GSU students read to FATE kindergarteners.

In Dr. Bassett’s Fall 2020 offering of RELS 3270, the pandemic precluded in-person work with public school students and teachers. Instead of developing a resource for a specific community partner, students in the class engaged in a public scholarship project by writing their own version of Religion in 5 Minutes. After reading many of the chapters in Religion in 5 Minutes as they learned about the religious traditions of the world, each student wrote their own question. With the help of our Writing Across the Curriculum consultant Nathan Springer (Religious Studies, M.A. 2022), the class produced a forthcoming book full of their own questions and answers. To answer the questions they crafted, students conducted research with the support of our subject area librarian, Dr. Jill Anderson. The class book will be a resource for the students and their friends and families.

Dr. David McConeghy, co-editor of The Religious Studies Project, interviewed Dr. Molly Bassett about our program’s applied approach and future directions. The podcast was published on December 16, 2019.

The Teaching Religion Unit and the Applied Religious Studies Committee co-hosted a conversation about how programs navigate teaching the study of religions while integrating applied objectives (e.g. NACE career readiness competencies) into undergraduate and graduate curriculums. The session invited faculty in programs with an applied focus or in departments considering an applied approach to discuss program origins, faculty development, curriculum, student outcomes, benefits and challenges.

Panelists:
Sabina Ali, Georgia State University
Molly Bassett, Georgia State University
Kevin Minister, Shenandoah University
Paul A. Williams, the University of Nebraska at Omaha
Thomas Pearson, Wabash Center (Presider)

Sunday, November 24, 2019 – 3:30 PM-5:00 PM

In the fall of 2018, students in Dr. Molly Bassett’s graduate seminar worked in partnership with Compassion House for Living and Dying to create online orientations for Compassion House’s volunteer death doulas. The students assessed their own strengths before organizing themselves into four small groups. Each group selected a focus from the topics our community partners suggested: Buddhism in America, Islam, and “Spiritual, but not Religious” (SBNR). The enterprising fourth group suggested adding Religious Literacy to the mix.

Over the course of the semester, the class worked with our community partner, area scholars, and experts from our Center for Excellence in Teaching, Learning & Online Education and the University Library to create online orientations. Students in the course became subject-area experts in their group’s topic, and they acquired or practiced a variety of skills related to teaching online, including course design, researching and writing presentations, and crafting assessment.

Take a peek at the introductory video for the unit on Islam, see images from the finished modules below, and read more about the project on The Immanent Frame.