The teaching of religions has long relied on the World Religions paradigm to guide curricula throughout education, which has led to a widening gap, on the one hand, between what is taught in schools and in universities and, on the other, between research and teaching. While the World Religions paradigm has allowed the inclusion of non-Christian religions in education, it has also remodelled them according to liberal Western Christian values, influencing the conception of ‘religion’ beyond educational contexts. This article argues (...) that it is time to discard the World Religions paradigm altogether in favour of a more critical approach to the study of religion, as a constructed category, as well as a study of religions in their contexts. (shrink)

In an era in which the imperatives of global economic competition prompt institutions of higher education to promote vocational practicality and efficiency over all else, advocates of the humanities have struggled to articulate the distinctive value and contribution of our disciplines. This article seeks to develop an argument directed not at fellow academics, but at friends and parents who ask incredulously, ‘What are you going to do with a degree in that?’ After discussing the historical shifts that have led to (...) the present-day predicament in which majoring in English, philosophy, religion, art or a foreign language seems supremely impractical, I argue that the most important resource necessary to succeed in today’s competitive marketplace is a clear, eloquent, impassioned voice. The learning exercises at the foundation of excellent humanities-based education may appear to lack any utilitarian benefit, but their long-term effect is the development of each student’s individual voice, which is priceless. (shrink)