What Do We Compare When We Compare Religions?: Philosophical Remarks on the Psychology of Studying Comparative Religion Abroad
The issue of comparison is a vexing one in religious and theological studies, not least for teachers of comparative religion in study abroad settings. We try to make familiar ideas fresh and strange, in settings where students may find it hard not to take "fresh" and "strange" as...
| Published in: | Teaching theology and religion |
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| Main Author: | |
| Contributors: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Wiley-Blackwell
[2015]
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| In: |
Teaching theology and religion
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| RelBib Classification: | AG Religious life; material religion AH Religious education ZD Psychology |
| Further subjects: | B
Pedagogy
B experiential education B Oh event B Shame B Comparative Religion B Psychology of learning B Confucianism B Cross-cultural understanding B Existentialism |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (Verlag) Volltext (doi) |
| Summary: | The issue of comparison is a vexing one in religious and theological studies, not least for teachers of comparative religion in study abroad settings. We try to make familiar ideas fresh and strange, in settings where students may find it hard not to take "fresh" and "strange" as signs of existential threat. The author explores this delicate pedagogical situation, drawing on several years' experience directing a study abroad program and on the thought of figures from the Western existentialist tradition and Chinese Confucian philosophy. The article focuses particularly on "oh events" - defined as moments when one learns one has something to learn and something to unlearn. The author argues that the experience of shame that is typical of oh events can become a valuable resource for cross-cultural learning and personal transformation, if teachers assist students to reflect on the experience as a sign of differing, but potentially harmonizable, cultural expectations. This essay is published alongside of six other essays, including a response from John Barbour, comprising a special section of the journal (see Teaching Theology and Religion 18:1, January 2015). |
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| ISSN: | 1467-9647 |
| Reference: | Kritik in ""Oh Events" for the Professor (2015)"
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| Contains: | Enthalten in: Teaching theology and religion
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1111/teth.12262 |