Week 8 - Jane Kwak

In Riyad A. Shahjahan’s “Spiritually in the academy: Reclaiming from the margins and evoking a transformative way of knowing the world,” he explains to his Dada Bhai that people who are atheist or agnostic explain everyday phenomena using a different religion called Science instead of a divine reality.  This conversation with his Dada Bhai made him want to understand why spirituality is not taught in the academy.

I believe spirituality is not taught in educational institutions because it is not something that is tangible and because is usually entails believing in a higher being.  People who have never been exposed to different types of spirituality are fearful of the unknown.  Though some aspects of science are not tangible, people believe in it because it is thought to be labeled by man and is used to explain phenomenon in the world.  Science is taught universally, which causes people to believe in it without question.  There is also a sense of control for humankind.  Man want to believe that they were the ones to discover and create in this world.  Also, spirituality provides different views between people.  Had different aspects of spirituality been taught in school at a young age, there would be differences between people, which could cause tension between communities.  Even without differences in opinions pertaining to spirituality, there are people who strongly disagree with each concerning other topics.  Teaching spirituality in academy may cause people who are strongly opposed to this topic to lash out.  Though the teachings of spirituality in academies could provide students and faculty with a sense of understanding, it could also cause harm.

Question:

How can faculty and students encourage the teachings of spirituality in academia? How could faculty and students prevent tension if it were to arise because of these topics?

Reference:

Shahnjahan, Riyad Ahmed. “Spiritually in the academy: Reclaiming from the margins and evoking a transformative way of knowing the world.” International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education. Dec. 2005.

Visual:

https://www.theodysseyonline.com/the-importance-of-teaching-styles