This interactive session will feature short presentations of specific "tactics" -- a single activity, lesson, or other piece -- for teaching religion. Each presenter will demonstrate their tactic, and then the audience will have time to discuss questions and possible applications in different types of classrooms/settings.
Teaching and Learning literature often underscores the value of inviting students to connect what they know to previous experiences as well as sociality and what Eyler (2018) calls "beautiful questions" as beneficial for learning (Rovai 2022, Cozolino 2013, Bandura 1977, Vygotsky 1980). This quick demonstration will introduce "dialogic moments" as a way of connecting students to course content and each other at the beginning of a class.
After opening the session with a dialogic question meant to demonstrate the approach, participants will be invited to think of one question appropriate for their context and field test it in small groups in the room.
As an introduction to the challenges of interpreting ancient primary texts, and especially letters, students are invited to analyze an image of a short personal letter between sisters written just over a decade ago. Students are not given any context for the letter, however, and are led through a process of identifying cultural information and analyzing the author’s apparent intentions in order to maximize understanding of the letter. The conversation posits explanations—with varying degrees of confidence—for some of the letter’s contents while leaving other references unexplained. This activity is designed as a segue into study of the Pauline letters, but it can be applied to other letters or primary sources.
In an recent contribution to Islamic studies pedagogy, Shahzad Bashir noted that “theological, nativist, and orientalist” modalities of teaching frequently persist, even in well-intentioned courses on Islam (A New Vision). Carl Ernst likewise articulates the need to destabilize stereotypes of Muslims as automatons, rotely applying scriptural texts (Not Just Academic!). In a recent course on “Islamic Law, Ethics, and Practice” these pedagogical interventions were pursued when students chose the roles of legal theorists (faqihs), oral advocates (wakils), and judges (qadis) and deployed the rational toolkit of Muslim legal thinkers. In the august setting of law school courtroom, student-jurists debated whether, based on analogical reasoning (qiyas) a Qur’anic injunction against wine rationally entailed a prohibition of kombucha, cigarettes, psilocybin, or caffeine. In reaching the divergent conclusions with the same sources and methods, students experienced firsthand the domain of Islamic law as an arena of spirited debate, rational disagreement, and nuanced analysis.
Using food, art, and role playing, students and professors throw a dinner party, inspired by Judy Chicago's installation art project "The Dinner Party."
Immersive Religion is a web-based, extended reality resource for teaching about religious practices. Joining 360-degree footage of diverse religious practices with translations, video interviews with scholars and religious professionals, interactive 3d objects, virtual tours of sacred spaces, and other explanatory elements, Immersive Religion offers an engaging and interactive resource for integration into a host of religious studies classes. This "Teaching Tactics" demonstration will introduce the resource and provide attendees with a sample lesson plan that models active, experiential classroom learning using Immersive Religion, adaptable to participants’ own courses.