This paper explores the roles that "entheogens" have played in religions from early shaman times to contemporary indigenous and syncretic practices. The word "entheogen" was coined to denote pschyoactive chemicals and botanicals which engender the experience of God within (Ott, 1993). Part 1 of the paper points to three…

Southern fiction writer Flannery O'Connor once characterized the South as Christ-haunted, and having taught in the South for eight years now, I have come to appreciate O'Connor's evaluation. Most of the students I encounter understand one predominant way to practice Christian faith: assent to propositional theology. Most of them either accept this…

This paper offers an annotated bibliographical review of the preceding year's publications in the fields of social justice education. In this Year in Review for 2006, the authors present the work of three advanced Social Justice Education graduate students and the Editors of "Equity & Excellence in Education (EEE), who together have selected…

This paper discusses the scholarly volume, "I Sing for I Cannot Be Silent: The Feminization of American Hymnody, 1870-1920" (June Hadden Hobbs). The book is a multilayered representation and reflection of both a particular textual community and of that community's cultural notions of gender and power. The volume uses a rhetorical…

Offers a lesson plan for teaching students about religious leaders' views concerning poverty. Provides quotations from a rabbi, a Catholic bishop, and a Methodist minister concerning their approaches to dealing with the poor. Includes questions for students dealing with the quotations. (SG)

Examines the relationship between life history and religion and the relationship's implications for education. Argues that the topic is a traditional one for education. Describes research findings concerning the religious implications of autobiographical reflection and the development of meaning in life history. Concludes that religion remains a…

Examines the tactics evangelical Christian feminists use in reinterpreting scriptural texts to create an empowered role. Claims that a focus on interpretive communities can enable critics to consider both dominant ideologies and audience activities. (NH)

Identifies four characteristics needed for discipleship in the new millennium: having a solid foundation upon which to live, having a vision of life based on the Gospels, prizing community, and taking responsibility for decisions. (VWC)

In this paper, the author states that, as a religious educator, she has come to believe that insufficient attention has been given to the formative influence of religious studies as an academic discipline on the faith lives of undergraduates. She describes the activity of faith as that which brings together the interrelated dimensions of human…

Secularization, the idea that religion would gradually diminish over time, was once widely assumed to be true by scholars of religion, but the unexpected resurgence of religious traditions has called it into question. Related debates on the distinction between religion and the secular have destabilized religious studies further. What does the…

This paper explores the use of the educational pilgrimage as an active learning strategy in the introductory world religions course. As we study pilgrimages from different religious traditions throughout the semester using Victor Turner as our theoretical guide, students also plan their own campus pilgrimage, paying homage to sites that help them…

This article responds to the exponential growth in academic textbooks on Western or American Buddhism by arguing that popular trade books written by Buddhist teachers in the West make more effective tools for teaching and learning about the growth of Buddhism in western societies. The use of such texts in the classroom provides students with…

Can students learn religious history from movies? While using film as text is likely to attract students' interest, will such a course be able to negotiate the complex intertwining of film with religion and history to provide students with more than mere entertainment? Will students respond to a challenge to move beyond a movie's surface visual…

Thinking about teaching as an act of intellectual hospitality has the potential to shape productively how teachers conceive of their own roles in the classroom, their interactions with students, and their execution of crucial tasks. It also offers a path to helpful reflection about a persistent issue that arises particularly for the many faculty…

The Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning in Theology and Religion has its most direct influence on faculty members who teach in colleges, universities, and theological schools. These faculty members, in turn, have an impact upon churches through their leadership and teaching in local communities. Wabash workshops encourage faculty to continue…