The curriculum delineated in this guide is aimed at multiple settings, outlining units on current affairs, globalization, religious and cultural identities, women and gender roles, social theory and social analysis, discrimination, and resistance to commodification. It is adaptable for age groups ranging from middle school through college. The…

Provides guidelines for successful classroom teaching about religion. Contends that teachers must be free of advocacy and that teachers should not solicit information about students religious affiliation. Encourages teachers to avoid the pitfalls of relativism and reductionism when discussing religion. (DB)

Describes the overall organization of a yeshiva library in Israel, including information about the geographical area in which it is located, its early history, the building, special collections, and classification and cataloging systems. (AEF)

Describes a teacher educator's experience at offering a course for graduate education majors called "Religion and the Public Schools." Classroom discussions were free-ranging, and students expressed views and insights concerning course materials in journals. Many students questioned whether religious studies could be taught…

Suggests ways of teaching about religion in a historically honest way on the precollege level. Urges making students objectively aware of religion to reduce susceptibility to cults. Encourages in-depth study of religions unfamiliar to students. Suggests role playing to help students understand other religions and religious conflicts. (DK)

Provides a reference guide on religious materials in the public school library. Argues that social studies teachers can integrate references on religion into their teaching while respecting the freedom of conscience of their students. Identifies documents, fiction, nonfiction, periodicals, and the appropriate section of the Dewey Decimal…

Argues that the California History Social Science Framework brings challenges to elementary teachers. Reviews five of these challenges and recommends solutions. Contends that staff development is the key to successful implementation of the Framework. (CFR)

Presents a strategy for teaching students about Islam from a geographic perspective. Explains that information about the history and spread of Islam is conceptualized as a study of religious spatial diffusion. Suggests that students be kept actively involved in the learning process by study of the carriers of and barriers to the spread of…

Presents a classroom lesson based on the walls of old Jerusalem. Maintains that cooperative-learning techniques used to build a model of the wall helped students understand the meaning of the original wall and the division of modern-day Jerusalem. (CFR)

Many school districts in the South have been quietly teaching the Bible for years. A court case in Fort Myers, Florida, ended up splitting the community along religious and political lines. The Freedom Forum First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt University has sponsored seminars on how to address religion in public school classrooms. (MLF)

The author used an attachment theory framework to explore relationships between early attachment to parents and seminarians' later self-representations and relationship with God. Attachment to mother was a key variable in predicting seminarians' level of self-esteem and internalized shame as well as the quality of their relationship with God. This…

This article revisits the pedagogical dilemma of maintaining neutrality in the religious studies/theology classroom. I argue that if the boundary between teaching about religion and actually teaching spirituality seems to be vanishing, it is because the boundary was inappropriately constructed in the first place. To the extent that the religious…

Is it effective or even possible to teach an introductory course in religious studies that not only provides first-year university students with the fundamental vocabulary, concepts, and critical tools of religious inquiry but also invites and stimulates the transformation of the religious imagination? In what kind of teaching and learning method…

Though religion continues to enjoy a global significance for humankind, any justification of the compulsory status of religious education must be made on the basis of reason rather than public consensus. We live in a pluralistic world in which contrasting world views, grounded in radically conflicting ontological assumptions, vie for our…

When U.S. citizens travel to Indonesia, it is hard for the majority of them to understand the country's culture and people. This project outlines some of the major fallacies individuals have when in Indonesia, and how they can avoid them by studying ahead of time. The project begins by requiring the individuals to plan their trip properly, know…