{"title":"Three Teaching Strategies","authors":"Tony Michael","doi":"10.1558/RSTH.38716","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1558/RSTH.38716","url":null,"abstract":"These are three teaching strategies that have worked for me; maybe they will work for others.","PeriodicalId":40579,"journal":{"name":"Religious Studies and Theology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-05-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46916034","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Balancing Dichotomies, Opening Conversations: A Reflection on Michel Desjardins’ Contribution to the Study of Religion in the Classroom and Beyond","authors":"P. Tite","doi":"10.1558/RSTH.38708","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1558/RSTH.38708","url":null,"abstract":"Having known Michel since the first stages of his career, when he was engaged in the study of early Christianity, I have seen him exemplify the role of teacher-scholar for those of us who have attempted to follow in his footsteps. His approach has been to empower students by creating conversations, to balance opposing positions and to allow students to come to their own conclusions (rather than arriving at the “right answer”). This approach not only occurs in the classroom, but also within the academy. Indeed, I propose that Michel’s role as a researcher is largely an extension of his role as a teacher, or co-learner. In this paper, I explore some of the pedagogical implications and lessons that I have learned from Michel’s example as a teacher-scholar. Specifically, I discuss attachment theory, student empowerment, and collaborative pedagogy.","PeriodicalId":40579,"journal":{"name":"Religious Studies and Theology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-05-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46348681","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Messing Around with Introductory Religion Courses in Canada","authors":"Ken Derry","doi":"10.1558/RSTH.38815","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1558/RSTH.38815","url":null,"abstract":"This is a story about the challenges and virtues of messiness for scholarship and teaching in academia generally, and Religious Studies in particular. It begins when I was first hired to teach Introduction to the Study of Religion at the University of Toronto Mississauga. It continues with a discussion of research into how introductory religion courses are taught in Canada, and reflection on that research – which includes examples of student learning from a world religions summer course I have taught in Hong Kong since 2012. It ends with a consideration of the ways in which messiness has been a key component of Michel Desjardins’ own scholarship and teaching.","PeriodicalId":40579,"journal":{"name":"Religious Studies and Theology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-04-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45615277","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Reflections on Learning with Michel Desjardins","authors":"Meena Sharify-Funk, Elysia Guzik","doi":"10.1558/RSTH.38711","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1558/RSTH.38711","url":null,"abstract":"This paper highlights Michel Desjardins' creative and critical approach to teaching religion and culture (often through experiments and experiences of travel, gardening, and food) through former students' reflections on learning with Michel. By organizing a collection of former students' insights into Michel's persona, pedagogy, and influence, this paper celebrates his career as a professor who enriched the lives of many students, and inspires readers to think deeply about how they teach and learn about religion and culture.","PeriodicalId":40579,"journal":{"name":"Religious Studies and Theology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-04-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42009151","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Changing the World without Doing Harm: Critical Pedagogy, Participatory Action Research and the Insider Student Researcher","authors":"Mark L. Chapman","doi":"10.1558/RSTH.38715","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1558/RSTH.38715","url":null,"abstract":"Some parts of Canada may be moving towards an \"open secularism\" where matters of faith are less likely to be excluded from public discourse. In such a context, students may become more open about their own faith commitments, more willing to speak out against religious actions they disagree with, and more likely to attempt to change their own traditions. In a confessional context where students are often both leaders and researchers in their own communities it is tempting to use field research as a tool to accomplish pre-defined agendas. Using Paulo Freire's Critical Pedagogy and its application in Participatory Action Research this paper explores how field research can be taught to activist-oriented insider student researchers in a way that contributes to social change and avoids making research only a platform for their personal agendas.","PeriodicalId":40579,"journal":{"name":"Religious Studies and Theology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-04-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41997950","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Thinking About Transformative Aspects of Gnostic Writing Pedagogy","authors":"M. Kaler","doi":"10.1558/RSTH.38705","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1558/RSTH.38705","url":null,"abstract":"This article discusses some of the ways in which our understanding of gnosticism could be expanded if we looked at gnostic texts as means to create new selves for their readers, rather than imparting doctrinal knowledge or giving evidence regarding the power struggles and self-definitions at play in early Christian communities. Drawing on both the work of Pierre Hadot and modern understandings of writing pedagogy, the article argues that it would be useful to be able to read these texts as means by which the reader could create a gnostic sense of self, with specific content seen as a means to that end. This need not be the only perspective taken on gnosticism; rather, it is presented as a useful tool to add to our interpretive toolkit.","PeriodicalId":40579,"journal":{"name":"Religious Studies and Theology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-04-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47390216","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Edmund Pries, J. Rennick, B. Sharpe, Meena Sharify-Funk, Patrice C. Brodeur
{"title":"Remarks given on the Occasion of the Celebration for Michel Desjardins Steckle Heritage Farm, Kitchener, Ontario June 21, 2017","authors":"Edmund Pries, J. Rennick, B. Sharpe, Meena Sharify-Funk, Patrice C. Brodeur","doi":"10.1558/RSTH.38712","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1558/RSTH.38712","url":null,"abstract":"The remarks below were compiled from speakers who attended the June 21, 2017 celebration at Steckle Heritage Farm on the occasion of Michel Desjardins' retirement.","PeriodicalId":40579,"journal":{"name":"Religious Studies and Theology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-04-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42326630","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Learning and Teaching as Emergent, Standardized, and Radical Concepts","authors":"J. Rennick","doi":"10.1558/RSTH.38260","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1558/RSTH.38260","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":40579,"journal":{"name":"Religious Studies and Theology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-04-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41661910","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Drawing on the Board","authors":"M. Ostling","doi":"10.1558/RSTH.38285","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1558/RSTH.38285","url":null,"abstract":"Students and teachers alike tend to think of drawing on the board as an old-fashioned teaching technology, and to prefer electronically mediated pedagogies even in the face-to-face classroom. In this article, I celebrate the chalkboard and whiteboard as potential sites of collaborative and open-ended teaching and learning. Arguing that technological choices are always also political choices, I suggest that the problematizing, slow-paced, and inconclusive teaching style encouraged by board-work is a style worth fighting for - especially in the Religious Studies classroom.","PeriodicalId":40579,"journal":{"name":"Religious Studies and Theology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-04-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41585885","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Gnostic Imagery in Disney’s Pinocchio","authors":"T. Burke","doi":"10.1558/RSTH.38251","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1558/RSTH.38251","url":null,"abstract":"The right film can work wonders for helping students understand difficult concepts in religion. Disney’s Pinocchio at once provides a visual metaphor for the gnostic version of the creation of humanity and conveys the anxiety that must have been felt by prospective Gnostics as they came to the realization that their well-known and beloved traditions could yield such disconcerting interpretations. But to what extent are the apparent gnostic elements in the film intended? And do they naturally emerge from the sources (Carlo Collodi’s 1881–1883 series of short stories) used to make the film? The same questions can be applied to the sources of gnostic texts and thus open up avenues of discussion about the creation, transmission, and interpretation of ancient Christian literature.","PeriodicalId":40579,"journal":{"name":"Religious Studies and Theology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-03-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49575636","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}