Transitioning to Graduate Studies in Religion: Roles, Approaches and Objectivity

选自：Margot Northey, Bradford A. Anderson, Joel N. Lohr. Making Sense: A Student's Guide to Research and Writing in Religious Studies (2nd Edition). Oxford University Press, 2015, Chapters 1-2.

---

Religion in its various forms is one of the most enduring features of humanity. Not surprisingly, it has become a popular and crucial field of critical enquiry. This is particularly the case in higher education, where religious studies is flourishing. This book is meant to serve as a practical guide for those who find themselves joining this conversation.

This volume retains the core elements that mark the Making Sense series: clear, concise, and readable guidelines that will help you do well in all aspects of your studies. This book is different from other practical guides on writing essays and conducting research in religion in that our aim is to go beyond research and writing to offer guidance on how you can succeed in other areas of your religious studies education as well. As such, we've included a variety of topics that we feel are important dimensions of your education, including learning time management, studying for and taking examinations, giving oral presentations, processing feedback from your professors, and, of course, researching and writing various types of essays. We've also focused on several areas that are vital to religious studies in particular: using religious and sacred texts, doing comparative research, and learning foreign languages, to name a few. Our hope is that this guide will help you in both the big-picture aspects of higher education, as well as the subject-specific issues related to religious studies.

This book need not be read front to back; it was purposely designed so that you can consult the chapter you need, when you need it. However, we do recommend that you read the first two chapters before anything else, as these introduce religious studies and higher education more generally. Further, because we build upon it later in the book, we recommend reading Chapter 5, on general essay writing, before reading those that follow.

A Note to the Instructor

Depending on the needs of your course, you may find it useful to assign students to read the chapters in this book in sequence, or you may wish to assign the chapters in an order of your own choosing. As we mentioned in our Note to the Student, the first two chapters are designed to introduce religious studies and higher education in a general way, so you may find that these chapters are most beneficial to students near the beginning of the course. Also, throughout this book you will find various sample documents such as grading rubrics and essay proposal forms (see, for example, pages 59–60, 66–68, 78–79, and 159). Should you wish to use these or adapt them for your classroom, they can be downloaded in Word document or PDF format from the OUP website (www.oupcanada.com/NortheyReligion). Finally, we have deeply valued your feedback on the first edition and are pleased that so many of you have found this to be a helpful resource. Should you have further suggestions for future editions, please send them to us at makingsense.religion@gmail.com.

Making the Most of Your Time in Higher Education

Objectives

• Understanding post-secondary education

• Comprehending research in the humanities

• Learning about learning environments

- Coming to terms with time management and life balance

• Exploring technology as part of learning and research

• Examining part-time versus full-time education

Understanding Post-Secondary Education

Going to university or college can be an amazing yet sometimes challenging experience. In many ways, higher education has become a rite of passage in our culture, a step into adulthood and a move toward independence. Your time here will bring about enduring friendships, vocational training for the future, and a host of other life-changing experiences. These are all worthwhile and important dimensions of your university years. However, we believe that one of the most significant aspects of your time at university (and one that is perhaps undervalued in our current culture) is the way in which your thinking will be shaped and challenged. This is one of the most noticeable differences between high school and post-secondary education; thus, we will begin our exploration by looking at critical thinking at the post-secondary level as well as how you can make the most of your university experience. In Chapter 2, we will look specifically at the nature of religious studies.

To begin, let's do some "thinking about thinking."1 It is useful to recognize that "thinking" happens in a variety of ways. For example, there are lower-level thinking skills, such as knowledge and comprehension, which involve remembering and understanding information. This is the kind of thinking that is often expected in high school education. There are also higher levels of thinking that entail making use of the information you have acquired.

These thinking processes include analysis, synthesis, evaluation, and application. Here our thinking requires more from us, as we are asked to interact with the information we have obtained. You will need to engage these “critical” thinking skills in your post-secondary studies. Critical thinking is a term widely used at the university level to mean persistent, analytical, “thoughtful” thinking about issues; it doesn’t mean just criticizing or dismissing ideas.

These two different modes of thinking have been helpfully described as “having” versus “being” modes of study:

The “having” mode of study is evident whenever we see study as something permanent to “have.” All we need to discover is how to “have” and own it. . . . To a certain extent, we all want to hold on to knowledge as statements and information. The trouble with this is that new ideas can be particularly threatening. If we see our lecture notes as fixed statements or information to be memorized, the last thing we want to happen is that someone comes along to change them. A further difficulty in the having mode is that ideas which cannot easily be written down as statements can be rather frightening because they are out of our control. $^{2}$

This stands in contrast to the “being” mode of study:

In the being mode, what we hear stimulates our own thought processes, giving rise to new ideas and change. We are active participants in learning because we are trying to understand concepts and issues, rather than to possess knowledge.... In the being mode, our concern is rather different from [collecting information]. We are trying to penetrate statements and information to raise issues, analyze and test assumptions for ourselves. We are trying to dwell in ideas and understand them. $^{3}$

This is not to suggest that the “having” mode of learning is not important in higher education; we all need to remember information for exams and find ways to organize data so we can write effective essays. But what happens when exams call for more than merely remembering information? What if you are asked to interact with material and analyze or evaluate it? This calls for an entirely different set of skills, what we like to call engaged learning. When using these skills, you are doing more than simply recalling information. You are engaging with it. For many people this seems daunting, and you may feel that you have never learned this way in the past. However, we want to make clear that engaged learning is not something you need to fear. In fact, that is this book's aim: to assist you as you begin your academic journey by helping you learn how to tackle various challenges in higher education.

What Is Research?

One way that post-secondary education will encourage you to be an engaged learner is through research. In many ways, a culture of research shapes university life and the same holds true for religious studies. But what exactly is research? At its most basic level, research is the collecting, organizing, and presenting of data. In the sciences, research often follows the scientific method, where experiments are undertaken, results collected, and conclusions drawn. In religious studies, and the humanities more generally, research may appear more conceptual or abstract, as it often includes investigating historical developments, interpreting texts, or examining the history of ideas within an established tradition. For example, in religious studies you may be asked to research the historical development of Hinduism, analyze the practices of an established community, make sense of a particular Jewish scriptural text, interpret a religious concept in film or literature, or examine a contemporary religious conflict.

All of these require research on your part, whether it's through the collection of historical data; first-hand observation of, or interaction with, a group of people; the study of a language or written text; or reflection on the relationship between culture and religion. As you can imagine, answers to questions like these will not appear out of thin air; this type of research requires an active and engaged mind and an openness to learning. This includes, among other things, a willingness to approach these various topics as objectively as possible, an awareness of your presuppositions, and a good dose of intellectual curiosity. These characteristics have an obvious relationship to your experience as an engaged learner. When you investigate a problem, interact with material, and come to a conclusion on your own, you are more likely to remember, assimilate, and apply that information at a later time than if you are simply given the conclusion up front. So the mindset with which you approach your studies in general, and your research in particular, will go a long way toward determining how engaged your learning experience is.

Research in religious studies can take other forms such as fieldwork, which can include interviewing individuals, surveying groups of people, or visiting religious sites in order to obtain first-hand experience of a particular religious tradition or the intersection of more than one. This sort of information gathering is similar to interacting with written primary sources, something we discuss later in the book. This primary information will need to be analyzed, compared, and brought into discussion with secondary literature that already exists on the same, or allied, topics. Again, the main thing to remember at this point is that this sort of research at the university level requires more than simple “fact-finding” or information gathering. Research of this kind involves interacting with, analyzing, and at times evaluating the data you have collected.

It's important to keep in mind that the research you undertake will not simply be for the purpose of writing essays; it also will play an important role in your examinations, in participating in dialogue and discussion, and in making presentations. In the chapters that follow we will explore some of the more practical aspects of research, from finding and using sources, to writing essays, to studying for and taking examinations.

Finding the Balance: Making the Most of Higher Education

During your first few weeks at university or college, you may feel like you are doing more surviving than thriving. It probably seems hard enough to find all of your classes and to show up on time, let alone to take in and analyze everything being presented in class. What you should remember, however, is that your post-secondary education is truly a unique experience, and it is something you will want to capitalize on as much as possible. Right now you are surrounded by amazing resources, expert teachers, and thoughtful peers who can significantly add to your learning experience, if you allow them to do so. Here are a few tips for being an “engaged learner” in your new learning environments.

Learning environments

Let's start with the classroom, which is what many of us first picture when we think about education. Your time in the classroom is indeed one of the most important aspects of your post-secondary experience. The classroom dynamics will vary depending on the number of students in your classes; there may be small group discussion as well as interaction between the instructor and the students. The form most associated with classroom delivery, however, is the lecture, where the instructor spends most of his or her time addressing the class.

The lecture is especially prominent in lower-level courses that tend to have larger numbers of students. How can you make the most of lectures?

To begin with, it is vitally important that you attend lectures. After all, your instructor is the one who will assess your work, or who will set the guidelines for graders to follow; if you want to know what your instructor wants you to learn, as well as why it is important, the lectures will give you the best idea. Moreover, you need to know whether your instructor or institution has an attendance policy. If your class attendance and participation contribute to your overall grade, showing up can be an easy way to bolster your marks, while skipping class may mean needlessly losing valuable percentage points.

You should also think about a few things that might seem trivial at first, starting with where you sit in the classroom. It may be helpful to avoid sitting near the door, where you might be distracted by outside noises or by students slipping in late, or close to peers who talk during the lecture. Where you sit in your first few classes can set a pattern for the rest of the semester, so choose your seat carefully. Also, in today's world of wireless Internet access and mobile communication devices, it is easy to be distracted by email, instant messaging, social networking websites, or online games. Some instructors encourage students to turn off all wireless devices or wireless access to their computers to ensure they get the most out of the lecture. Both out of respect for your instructor and to optimize your own learning experiences, you should consider turning off distractions during your lectures.

What about in the lecture itself? Whether you make the most of lectures will depend on how you interact with the information being delivered. Perhaps the most obvious thing to do is to take notes. There are, however, many different ways to take notes, some more beneficial than others. For instance, you have probably been in class with a fellow student who is feverishly attempting to write down every word the instructor utters, or every detail that appears onscreen. We don't believe this is helpful, as note-taking is more than simply recording every piece of information presented to you. In fact, it may be that trying to record every word is actually counterproductive to your overall learning experience. Instead of thinking about and interacting with the information being delivered, you are focusing on many small details that may not be relevant. Word-for-word note-taking does not lead to engaged learning. An easy and more effective way of interacting with your lectures is to put your notes in your own words. Summarize what is being said, and focus on the big picture. $^{4}$

6 : Making Sense

More and more instructors are providing notes for their students, whether in class or via electronic formats. When this is the case, rather than taking too many notes, you might be tempted to do the opposite: because you are being given the information in written form, you may think you can sit back and listen to the information, without making any of your own notes. Notes from instructors are indeed a valuable resource; however, if you are trying to be an engaged learner, then you will want to interact with the material so that you are truly absorbing and understanding the information being given. We suggest taking your own notes alongside those provided or adding additional comments to those provided by your instructor. This might include making summary statements or highlighting key words, as well as noting any questions for further reflection that might arise.

Inevitably there will be times in the classroom when something is unclear, or when you are unable to follow what is being discussed. How should you respond in this situation? It is important to remember that your instructors really do want to be understood, and want you to engage with the subject they are teaching you. So, if there are things that you feel need clarification or further explanation, feel free to ask your instructor. There are various contexts where this may be most appropriate (see Chapter 14 for more on this). Sometimes there is room for this during or at the end of the class itself, depending on how much time your instructor allows for interaction. Other times it may be more appropriate to talk to your instructor after class or to set up an appointment with him or her during office hours. Regardless, remember that your instructors are here to help you, so make the most of this valuable resource.

Outside of class, there are other ways to ensure that you are fully engaging with the course material. For instance, some students find it helpful to look over and summarize their class notes within 24 to 48 hours of the lecture. Others highlight key words and phrases, creating a list of important terms and topics that they need to keep in mind. You may also find it helpful to compare notes with other students and, if possible, discuss what they understood as the key points of the lecture (for example by outlining the three main ideas from the lecture). All of these are simple ways of helping you to engage with the material in an active way. Several of these issues will be dealt with again in Chapter 12, on examinations.

But there is more to your post-secondary experience than just the classroom. Another learning environment you will find yourself in is the seminar, or small group discussion (also referred to as a tutorial). These gatherings allow students a more intimate setting within which they can talk about their subject matter. (This is also the case for small class or lecture settings, which often allow for or even demand greater interaction on the part of the student than the larger lecture format. In these cases, the class often functions as both the place for information delivery and for student discussion.) Smaller group settings are very important, especially if your lectures are not geared toward interaction. Again, be aware that you will take from these sessions what you invest in them. With this in mind, it is important that you take discussion times seriously, and adequately prepare for them. This might entail reading, taking notes, or engaging with class material online. Whatever the case may be, your preparation is important as it allows you to engage in and contribute to your seminar discussions. We understand that some people will thrive in these settings, while others will find them difficult. If you are an extrovert, your input can be very helpful in this context. However, be aware of the group as a whole, and do your best not to dominate the conversation. For those who are more introverted, you should see your seminar as a safe place to interact, ask for clarification, and so on. You may need to push yourself to take part, but the rewards will be well worth the risk.

Finally, there are a host of other learning environments at your institution of which you can take advantage. Libraries, for instance, hold more than just books on shelves; there are journals, electronic documents and databases, computer facilities, and knowledgeable staff who want to help you succeed (we will discuss the library in more detail in Chapter 4). In the same way, your religious studies department will often hold guest lectures, seminars, and tutorials that you can attend; it is also home to expert faculty members more than willing to give you guidance. In summary, your college or university is an amazing resource. But it is up to you to take advantage of the opportunities that are put before you, whether in the classroom, in seminars, or at the library. We encourage you to dive in and make the most of these opportunities.

Beyond the physical environments we've highlighted here, another learning environment that you will need to become familiar with is the virtual world of technology. It is to that world that we turn next.

Making the most of technology in higher education

Technology will be an ever-present part of your life in higher education. From registering for classes, to submitting assignments, to receiving feedback on your work (not to mention communicating with friends!), you will need to be able to utilize various forms of technology during your time at college or university. For many, this will not pose any problems. For others, this use of technology might seem daunting. If you find yourself worried about any of these issues, don't be afraid to seek out help. We all have different levels of "digital literacy," and it's better to deal with areas of concern up front rather than fall behind early in your studies.

A good place to begin is by exploring what technology-related services your institution has to offer. There is a good chance that your college or university has a wide range of computers and printers available to use in computer rooms, as well as programs and applications that can enhance your studies. Many of these will be free to use as a student. (Even if you have your own computer, you never know when you might need one, or a printer, as the result of an untimely breakdown.) Products might include Microsoft Office programs for writing essays and making PowerPoint presentations, or software that can help you manage your sources and citations when writing longer research essays. Colleges and universities also frequently offer short courses or seminars that help you learn to navigate particular technologies or programs. These types of offerings can be very helpful and save you time in the long run. Keep an eye open for these opportunities and take advantage of them.

It is also vital that you acquaint yourself with the “online world” that your college or university affords you. Your institution will most likely provide you with an institutional email address and will expect you to check this frequently. There may also be an intranet available to you and staff members, and you should familiarize yourself at an early stage with its available features. Very often the resources you need as well as answers to questions you have can be found on these online platforms.

Another important tool is your college's Virtual Learning Environment. These are often referred to as VLEs (or LMSs—Learning Management Systems), and common examples include Moodle, Blackboard, or Sakai. Such systems are increasingly important for all students because they often function as the online hub for your classes. Thus, you may be required to access class notes or assignment details, submit an essay, or receive feedback on coursework all within the VLE.

Instructors are increasingly making use of such tools for learning purposes as well. The use of online tools and technology-enhanced learning is rapidly becoming the norm, even in traditional campus-based contexts (this is sometimes called blended learning). For example, you may be asked to take part in an online discussion forum, contribute to a collaborative wiki or group blog, take an online quiz or test, or submit a reflective learning journal online.

Again, all of these can take place within the VLE, so you will need to get comfortable navigating this arena.

Finally, it is important to note that one of the common misconceptions about online and technology-enhanced learning is that it is easier or takes less time than traditional face-to-face learning. It is true that online initiatives are helpful in terms of making education more flexible with relation to time and space, allowing the learning experience to move beyond the traditional classroom setting. However, online learning can actually be more intensive and require more of your time and attention than is the case in traditional learning contexts. Online learning today is not passive; it requires that you are engaged, involved, and part of a learning community—whether through online lectures or webinars, or by contributing to discussion forums and wikis. As such, you'll need to take seriously this dimension of your studies, and give it the appropriate time and attention it demands. If you have questions or concerns about these aspects of your studies, be proactive in asking for clarification.

Time management

Attending and making the most of lectures, seminars, and other university resources is a big part of your education. However, you will find that another key to success in your post-secondary experience is how you use your time outside of the classroom. Balancing work, family, and other obligations is difficult at the best of times. Now you have to add your academic life to the equation: finishing required reading, planning written projects, researching and writing essays, and studying for exams all require your attention and forethought. In this sense, engaged learning will require you to become an expert time manager.

In their Guide to Learning and Study Skills, authors Drew and Bingham offer some excellent tips and strategies for organizing your life as a student. For starters, in order to manage your time well, you have to understand how you currently use your time. To get a better picture of this, you could try filling out a schedule that outlines how you currently spend your waking hours. $^{5}$ You may wonder if this is really worth the time. However, we have found this to be a surprisingly fruitful exercise in our own lives. In analyzing how we spend our time, it became apparent that we were not as efficient with our own time as we had once thought. Once you have a better idea of where you are spending your time and energy, you can plan for your studies more effectively and realistically.

The next step is to prioritize the various aspects of your life. It is common to speak of tasks in the following ways:

1. Urgent and important—do it now.

2. Urgent but not important—do it if you can.

3. Important but not urgent—start it before it gets urgent.

4. Not important and not urgent—don't do it.

Once you have identified how urgent your various tasks may be, it is also important that you decide how much time you will dedicate to these different tasks. Phil Race, for example, suggests the following balance within this system:

Figure 1.1 Prioritizing your time as a student Source: Adapted from Phil Race, How to Get a Good Degree: Making the Most of Your Time at University, 2nd ed. (Berkshire: Open University Press, 2007), 41–3.

The key is to avoid the “tyranny of the urgent,” that is, not to allow the most urgent tasks to dominate your schedule. Race suggests that more than half your time should be spent on things that are important (those things that need to be done and may be a big part of your assessment) without letting them become urgent. $^{6}$ This approach allows you to feel in control of your studies because dealing with last-minute deadlines is not your only concern.

After you have analyzed how you currently use your time and have attempted to prioritize your commitments, you need to create a realistic schedule for yourself using the following principles of time management.

1. Avoid the “tyranny of the urgent” by making both an extended calendar that outlines your entire semester or term, as well as a more detailed, week-by-week calendar. Good scheduling requires the identification of targets and deadlines. This involves sitting down with all of your syllabi and making careful judgments about how much time you need to allot for each assignment. It is important that you identify what you need to get done (targets) and when it needs to be done (deadlines). Consider the sample chart below. Try to develop something similar for yourself and see how much it helps you organize your time: $^{7}$

Table 1.1 General assignment targets and deadlines

Main target	Deadline	Time needed
Reading for Islam	September 12	3 hours
Buddhism essay	October 28	6 weeks
Philosophy examination	December 18	4 weeks

Source: Adapted from Sue Drew and Rosie Bingham, The Student Skills Guide, 2nd ed. (Hampshire, UK: Gower Publishing, 2001), 26–8.

Within a plan like this, you may have sub-tasks for each main target:

Table 1.2 Specific assignment targets and deadlines

Main target	Deadline	Time needed
Buddhism essay	October 28	6 weeks
Sub-tasks
Essay proposal	September 23	1 week
Research for essay	October 14	3 weeks
First draft	October 21	1 week
Final editing	October 26	1 week

Source: Adapted from Sue Drew and Rosie Bingham, The Student Skills Guide, 2nd ed. (Hampshire, UK: Gower Publishing, 2001), 26–8.

For each main target or task it is also helpful to identify what tools you will need and work these into your plan. For instance, how many books and articles will you need to do research for your essay? What resources will you need when studying for an exam? The more detail you put in when planning, the better off you will be in the end. (If this seems overwhelming at this stage, be aware that we will deal with specific issues regarding research, essay writing, and exams later in the book.)

2. Monitor and revise your targets and plans. When you are doing this, keep in mind that things can go wrong, and they inevitably will. A resource will be unavailable, your computer will crash, or an unforeseen emergency will eat into your time (hopefully not all in the same week!). If you are not keeping up with your tasks, try to readjust your schedule instead of becoming frustrated or despondent. This may mean re-prioritizing some of your work as you go along.

3. Avoid time wasters. First, you have to identify things that distract you from your work. Perhaps turning off your phone or not checking your email during your study time would be helpful. Or, you may need to work in a location where you know your family or friends won't interrupt you, or in a place away from a television or Internet connection. It can also be beneficial to identify what helps you study effectively. What time of day are you most alert for study? How long can you go before you need a break? What circumstances help you study? Effective study also includes looking after yourself: if you are losing concentration, take a short coffee break or a walk, or perhaps reward yourself for reaching certain goals. These issues may seem small, but taking time to think about them can greatly increase your productivity and, in turn, your ability to succeed in higher education.

Part-time and distance-education students

Managing your time as a student is always a challenge. For those who are part-time or distance-education students, this issue is even more acute. For instance, when should you study? Some people opt for evenings; however, this can be difficult after the strain of a long day at work and is complicated by the many familial, social, or other obligations you may have. Others choose weekends as their time of study; yet this can often lead to bitterness at having to give up precious free time. There are other issues as well. Studying can cause a financial strain: the cost of courses may be quite high, yet many part-time students must cut down on their work hours to concentrate on their studies. Motivation is another issue, as you do not always have lecturers or fellow students by your side pushing and prodding you to work hard. There are no easy answers in these situations, but it is best to be aware of them so that you can deal with them in an effective manner. Here are some helpful guidelines for part-time and distance-education students. $^{8}$

1. Try to find ways to connect your studies with your interests and non-academic life. Perhaps you have a personal interest in how Buddhists view life after death, or perhaps you would like to know what Christians of various denominations think about capital punishment. If you can connect your study to your interests, the valuable time you spend in study will not simply be for the degree given at the end (though this is a benefit), but will enrich your vocation and personal life along the way. Moreover, it is important to realize that you bring a unique perspective to your classes, as you may be approaching your studies from a different vantage point than many traditional students. In fact, instructors often value the input of part-time, mature, and other non-traditional students precisely because of this input.

2. Make a contract with yourself regarding the time you will spend on your studies—then try your best to stay on track. This cannot be stated strongly enough: you rarely feel motivated to study in your free time. Further, it is important that you protect your leisure time to maintain a balanced life. Interestingly, studies show that spending time outdoors, away from technology, and even if only for short spurts, can assist you in concentration and mental acuity. $^{9}$ It is vital that you carefully timetable both your academic obligations and personal life, and that you revise your schedule as circumstances change or needs arise. It may help you to share your personal contract with a family member or friend, and have them keep you accountable.

3. Make use of the learning environments available to you. This is as important an issue for part-time or distance-education students as it is for full-time students—if not more so. Stay in contact with your instructors, and do not be afraid to ask them for direction in your work. If possible, connect with others in your geographical area who may be studying similar disciplines, so you can study together or talk about the subjects you're studying, just as you would if you were attending class in person.

In summary, whether you are a full-time, part-time, or distance-education student, how you manage your time is vital to your ability to make the most of your educational experience.

Conclusion: Taking Responsibility for Your Education

Without doubt, your time at college or university will be a life-changing experience. However, the extent to which it affects you depends in large part on how you invest yourself in it. We have suggested that adopting a mindset of “engaged learning” will help in this regard. Instead of seeing your education simply as a means to an end—an exercise that will result in a degree—we hope you will view the entire process as a chance to be an active learner who is engaging with subjects that matter and making a difference in the world. As an engaged learner undertaking research, you will have the opportunity not only to investigate and understand the subjects you are studying, but also to contribute in new and meaningful ways to the world around you.

You may have already noticed that if you are going to be an engaged learner, it will require that you take responsibility for and ownership of your education. This is true, and there is no getting around it: you are the determining factor in how rewarding your education will be. As the Chinese proverb states, “Teachers open the door, but you must enter by yourself.”

Endnotes

1. Benjamin Bloom was a pioneer in this field, and this section roughly follows his findings. See B.S. Bloom, Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, Handbook I: The Cognitive Domain (New York: David McKay, 1956).

2. Rob Barnes, Successful Study for Degrees, 2nd ed. (London: Routledge, 1995), 10–11. Barnes' work is based on the earlier study by E. Fromm, To Have or To Be?, 2nd ed. (London: Sphere Books, 1979).

3. Barnes, Successful Study, 11–12.

4. Further guidance on note-taking can be found in Sue Drew and Rosie Bingham, The Guide to Learning and Study Skills: For Higher Education and at Work (Surrey, UK: Gower Publishing, 2010), 187–204.

5. Drew and Bingham (Guide to Learning and Study Skills, 347–9) offer an example; there are also many such timetables available online.

6. Phil Race, How to Get a Good Degree: Making the Most of Your Time at University, 2nd ed. (Berkshire: Open University Press, 2007), 41–3.

7. Adapted from Drew and Bingham, Student Skills, 26–8.

8. Drawn from Estelle M. Phillips and D.S. Pugh, How to Get a PhD: A Handbook for Students and Their Supervisors, 5th ed. (Berkshire: Open University Press, 2010), 145–7.

9. For an accessible introduction to these ideas, see Richard Louv, The Nature Principle: Reconnecting with Life in a Virtual Age (Chapel Hill: Algonquin, 2012).

Objectives

• Getting to know the diverse subjects covered in religious studies

- Thinking about the diversity of approaches and methods in the study of religion

- Reflecting on the issues of commitments and perspectives in religious studies

Religious studies is an academic field that falls into the humanities (sometimes called the arts) and social sciences. You'll soon discover, though, that the field of religious studies is vast, and when we say "religious studies," it can mean a lot of things to different people. In fact, the shape and scope of religious studies is different everywhere it is taught. Nevertheless, there are four important aspects of religious studies that, if understood, will aid your transition into the subject area:

1. the importance and pervasiveness of religion;

2. the diversity of areas studied;

3. the variety of approaches and methods used in religious studies; and

4. the complex issue of commitments and perspectives in the study of religion.

The Importance and Pervasiveness of Religion

In spite of the difficulty of defining religion, it is clear that religious thought and practice affect our lives in significant ways, regardless of our religious views. Consider the following examples:

- disagreements over the teaching of evolution in American elementary schools;

- the banning of headscarves and other symbols of Muslim religious expression in some European countries;

• worldwide debates over gay marriage;

• immigration policies in the European Union;

• Supreme Court rulings on polygamy in Canada; and

• ongoing peace talks in the Middle East.

In one way or another, these are all related to religion. But religion goes much deeper. It affects more than just these larger, at times external, issues; it saturates the fabric of everyday life in our world—from the way economies function, to the way justice is understood and administered, to the very days of the week that most people work. And these facets of life are often linked to the religious worldviews of the people who founded our countries. Is it hard to believe that women could not vote in Quebec until 1940 or that African-Americans did not have equal rights in the USA until as late as the mid-1960s? Does it matter that much of the debate surrounding these issues is related to religious viewpoints? It may also surprise you that the governing structure of most countries is based on particular religious views, whether the system is democratic, monarchical, communist, or theocratic. Even in democratic countries where the separation of religion and politics is a vital tenet, many people vote based upon deeply held religious views and a candidate's congruence with them.

But this is not the place to survey religion, or even to define it. Many excellent textbooks do just that, and you will undoubtedly engage with this issue in your journey into religious studies. Nevertheless, to engage with religious studies is to recognize both how religion has shaped the world in the past as well as how it continues to influence the world in which we now live. In this respect alone, religious studies is as important as any subject being taught in colleges and universities today.

Religious Studies: Diversity in Subjects and Content

Many people think of religious studies as the study of contemporary, mainstream religions—that upon finishing a degree in religious studies they will have learned a lot of facts about religions like Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, and Christianity. While partly true, this definition is too limited. In reality, the fact that religion is so pervasive and touches so many aspects of our world has a direct impact on the study of religion, where a wide diversity of subjects is covered. Thus, courses in religious studies look at a broad and seemingly disparate range of topics, from nature spirituality, to the psychology of belief, to film and religion, to analysis of the very concept of “religion.” Religious studies can also cover so-called dead religions, those that no longer have adherents; by no means, therefore, are topics limited only to those religions that have practising members today.

Your religious studies education will very likely include forays into history, literature, linguistics, philosophy, psychology, art, sociology, and other disciplines. This is why a professor in your religious studies department might be an expert in Egyptian hieroglyphs or Hittite inscriptions while another might be an expert in Pacific Christianity or Buddhism, religious art and icons, or even death rituals and funerary rites. Others might teach in more than one department, perhaps philosophy, classics, anthropology, art, or even English. Thus, probably more than any other subject taught at colleges and universities, religious studies is a diverse and interdisciplinary enterprise. By “interdisciplinary,” we mean that it draws from a wide variety of ‘academic fields and subject areas to investigate the many and varied aspects of religion. This leads to a related issue: the variety of ways in which people study religion and religious traditions.

Methods and Approaches in the Study of Religion.

There are numerous approaches to the academic study of religion in religious studies departments today. Some of these approaches overlap with one another, and some may be considered subsections within broader fields of study. Below are some of the approaches you may encounter. Companion volumes on religious studies are a good place to start if you are interested in more detail on any of these subjects. See, for instance, Robert A. Segal (ed.), The Blackwell Companion to the Study of Religion (Oxford: Blackwell, 2006).

- Comparative studies: the analysis of similarities and differences, most often in relation to two or more religious traditions, practices, or ideas

- Cultural and media studies: the impact and intersection of religion and culture in general, or more specifically religion and particular types of media (such as literature, film, or television)

- Environmental studies: the relationship between the environment, ecology, and ethics and religion or religious traditions

- Ethnic studies: the investigation of religion and religious traditions from the vantage point of specific races or ethnicities

- Ethnography: the study of particular peoples or communities in relation to their religious beliefs and practices based on fieldwork; common in anthropology

- Gender and sexuality studies: the exploration of religion and particular religious traditions from the perspective of gender and sexuality; investigates how gender and sexuality are shaped by religion, as well as how religion in turn shapes these dimensions of life; examples include feminist studies, women's studies, and queer theory

- Historical studies: the study of events, people, and processes that have shaped particular ideas and traditions

- New literary criticism: the practice of close readings of texts as they now stand, apart from their historical development or the original intention of the author; commonly used with poetry and sacred texts

- Post-colonialism: the analysis of religious ideas, traditions, and texts in light of colonialism and its effects

- Psychology: the attempt to understand religion and belief through the science of psychology

- Textual and linguistic studies: the close study of particular written texts and the original languages in which they were written, as well as the history of their development; often used in relation to ancient or sacred texts

Every religion department is different because professors are unique in their interests, areas of expertise, and approaches. The department at your university will therefore be different from others in your city or country, and depending on its size may have particular strengths or weaknesses. Whatever the case, as we discuss below, a unifying principle is that all departments of religion approach their diverse subjects critically, through a variety of methods and approaches (for more on methods used in relation to interpreting sacred texts, see page 89).

Diversity in Commitments and Perspectives

As you can see, religious studies is diverse in its content as well as in the approaches you can take to study its many aspects. As mentioned above, the people studying and teaching religious studies are just as diverse, because they have a variety of interests, commitments, and reasons for engaging in their studies. This can be seen quite readily in looking at where the study of religion is situated in the world of higher education and, more specifically, at your own college or university. For instance, many institutions have religious studies departments that stand on their own with no religious affiliations or obligations. Yet other institutions have theological departments, religious colleges, or seminaries that are linked to religious groups or denominations. To make matters more complicated, these theologically oriented schools can, at times, operate in conjunction with, or as a subsection of, religious studies departments, and some faculty members may teach in both. What is one to make of all this?

To begin with, theological departments or seminaries and religious studies departments often offer similar courses of study. For example, you'll often find courses on historical examinations of traditions, philosophical investigations of religious concepts, and ancient languages needed to better understand sacred texts in both settings. So there is bound to be some overlap in what is studied, and in fact much of this handbook will apply to both. Broadly speaking, however, theological departments and seminaries choose to approach their subject matter from within a particular religious tradition or perspective. Sometimes it is said that they are “confessional” in their approach. The term confessional derives from Christian terminology, and is not entirely helpful even if often used. It derives from the idea of someone publicly “confessing to” or declaring their faith (not the confession of sins!). Here, it implies that those involved are insiders or adherents to a particular faith or tradition, and they are investigating issues related to religion from this perspective. Religious studies, meanwhile, is generally concerned with describing and understanding all things related to religion from a critical perspective, one that attempts to approach the topic freely and without commitments to any one religion or faith (more on this below). The question of commitments and perspectives in religious studies is a complex matter, and we are not able to deal with every aspect of it here. However, you should be aware that it is a key issue, and if you continue in religious studies you will deal with this relationship in more detail.¹ The most relevant issue for you at this stage is to understand the philosophy and perspective of your particular institution or department, as these will shape expectations about how the subject is studied in your context. If you are unsure on these matters, it might be wise to schedule an appointment with the head of your department or a faculty member in order to gain a better understanding of what your department is all about.

Objectivity in religious studies

This leads us to one final issue related to religious studies: the question of religious presuppositions and objectivity. Some 81 per cent of Americans self-identify with a particular religious tradition (with some 78 per cent of that total identifying as Christian), and in other countries religions such as Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism likewise condition the outlook of the vast majority of the student population. Canadian percentages, for example, are generally lower, though not so much so that the challenges discussed here are irrelevant. An estimated 6 billion people are directly involved in or identify with the world's major religious traditions, and thus North American figures are not out of step with those of the rest of the world. $^{2}$

Given this, we often face difficulties in pursuing the subject of religion objectively, that is, from a critical distance, with self-awareness of biases, and without religious partiality. At the same time, it is also misleading to think that “non-religious” persons will automatically be objective in their study of religion, for at times those who identify as non-religious or atheist have strong views about religion as well.

In some ways the problem is not entirely unique, as other fields (political science, anthropology, and psychology, to name a few) face similar difficulties when students come to their studies with strong, already formed views about the subject matter. However, problems of partiality are particularly accentuated in religious studies. It is unlikely that someone will come to geography, biology, nursing, or English with views about the subject as strong as a student might have about religion. It is also true that a person's views or opinions about religion are often long-held ones, and are identified with family, religious adherence, and personal or community identity. As such, religious views are not easily negotiated or reconfigured, and often people feel threatened when others disagree with or challenge their views about God, Allah, the Buddha, or whatever is significant in their religion. The challenges here are great and many, and they confront not only students, but instructors as well. How do students ensure that their study and writing in this subject will not be inappropriately influenced by preconceived ideas about religion, a divine being, or what is right and wrong?

Clearly, it is impossible to “bracket off” one’s personal beliefs completely in the study of religion. Perfect objectivity, or a purely neutral approach to any subject, is simply not possible. With this in mind, we need to acknowledge that any positions or views that we hold, including religious, economic, ethnic, and political, will contribute to how we think about and approach a subject. However, even if we cannot fully remove these points of bias in our studies, an important part of being an engaged learner in the study of religion involves recognizing these presuppositions and attempting to limit their influence in order to engage with a subject more fully.

This does not mean that you must cease to be religious or give up your faith if you have one in order to partake in religious studies; it does mean that it is necessary to be aware of your presuppositions. All of us need to be careful not to allow preconceived views or opinions about religion to influence our studies without due reflection. As Cunningham and Kelsay observe, “If we begin with the premise that we possess all religious truth and everything that cannot fit in our worldview is wrong, sympathetic understanding will be impossible.” $^{3}$ Someone who constantly refutes or dismisses new ideas that he or she encounters is less likely to learn about a particular religion to the fullest or be balanced in describing and analyzing a subject. For you, this issue may not pose a great problem. However, for some students it does. We would encourage you, as you begin your studies, to take some time to reflect on your own perspective and presuppositions, and how these might affect your ability to engage with the subjects you will be exploring in religious studies.

It is clear that the religious views people hold affect our world and will influence the study of any subject. The key is having awareness of one's views and potential biases, and recognizing that openness to learning and critical inquiry sits at the heart of all academic study. And, like a scientist who needs to readjust a long-held theory based on newly discovered evidence, we may need to adjust our judgments and understanding in light of the new evidence that emerges from our study. For this reason, an openness to further learning and ongoing processes of evaluation will be a vital part of your development and success as a student.

Conclusion

Taken together, we can see that religious studies is indeed a diverse field. This diversity ranges from the content studied, to the methods and approaches used, to the religious commitments and motivations of those involved. This diversity is what makes religious studies complex and challenging, while at the same time such a rewarding field of study. Further, understanding these various contours and dimensions of religious studies, and the way in which they play out in your specific context, will help you acclimate to your studies and engage with your classes more fully.

Endnotes

1. For an introduction to and survey of these and related issues, see The Insider/Outsider Debate in the Study of Religion: A Reader, edited by Russell T. McCutcheon (London: Continuum, 1999).

2. The figures in this section are drawn from the CIA's World Factbook, 2013 (available in print or online at www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook).

3. Lawrence S. Cunningham and John Kelsay, The Sacred Quest: An Invitation to the Study of Religion, 5th ed. (Boston: Prentice Hall, 2010), 7.

Objectives

• Thinking about initial strategies in writing

• Considering general guidelines for writing

• Learning to find the right tone and style in writing

• Reflecting on bias-free language

In Chapter 1 we outlined several issues you need to be aware of as you delve into religious studies at the post-secondary level. We stressed the importance of “thinking” throughout the chapter, and we encouraged you to be an engaged learner in your studies. Before we explore some of the more practical aspects of writing essays, we want to spend a little more time looking at the relationship between how you think and what you write.

To begin with, you are not likely to produce clear writing unless you have first done some clear thinking, and thinking can't be hurried. It follows that the most important step you can take before beginning to write is to leave yourself enough time to think. Psychologists have shown that you can't always solve a difficult problem by "putting your mind to it"—by determined reasoning alone. Sometimes when you're stuck it's best to take a break, sleep on it, and let the subconscious or creative part of your brain take over for a while. Very often a period of relaxation will produce a new approach or solution (starting an essay a day or two before it's due will not allow you this chance to relax). Just remember that leaving time for creative reflection is not the same thing as sitting around listening to music, hoping inspiration will strike out of the blue.

Initial Strategies

Writing is about making choices: choices about what ideas you want to present and how you want to present them. Practice makes this kind of decision-making easier, but no matter how fluent you become, with each piece of writing you will still have to make choices. You can narrow the field of choice from the start if you realize that you are not writing for just anybody, anywhere, for no particular reason. With any writing you do, it's always a sound strategy to ask yourself two basic questions:

• What is the purpose of this piece of writing?

• Who is the reader or audience?

Your first reaction may be, “Well, I’m writing for my instructor to satisfy a course requirement,” but that’s not specific enough in an academic sense. To be useful, your answers have to be precise.

Think about the purpose

Depending on the assignment, your purpose in writing an essay may be any one (or more) of the following:

• to demonstrate your knowledge of a topic or text;

• to show that you understand certain terms or theories;

• to show that you can do independent research;

• to demonstrate that you can apply a specific theory to new material;

• to demonstrate your ability to evaluate secondary sources; and

• to show that you can think critically or creatively.

An assignment designed to see if you have read and understood specific material requires a different approach from one that is meant to test your critical thinking. In the first case, your approach will tend to be descriptive, with the emphasis on presenting facts. In the second case, you will probably want to structure your essay around a particular argument or assertion that other people might dispute. Your aim in this kind of argumentative or persuasive essay is to bring your reader around to your point of view.

Think about the reader

Thinking about the reader does not mean playing up to the instructor. To convince a particular person that your own views are sound means that you have to consider his or her way of thinking. If you are writing a paper on the effects of immigration on the religious landscape of Canada for your religious studies professor, your analysis will be different than it would be if you were writing about immigration in Canada for an economics professor. You will have to make specific decisions about the terms you should use or explain, the background information you should supply, the sources you should use, and the details you will need in order to convince that particular reader. In the same way, if you plan to write a paper defending the use of sharia law in modern society, you will have to anticipate any arguments that your reader or audience may raise so that you can address them. If you do not know who will be reading your paper—your professor, your tutorial leader, or a grader—just imagine someone intelligent and interested, skeptical enough to question your ideas but flexible enough to accept them if your evidence is convincing.

Think about the length

Before you start writing (or researching), you will also need to think about the length of your assignment in relation to the time you can spend on it. If your professor has assigned a particular topic and a particular length, it should be fairly easy for you to assess the level of detail required and the amount of research you will need to do. If only the length is prescribed, that restriction will help you decide how broad or how narrow the topic you choose should be. You should also keep in mind how much the assignment is worth. A paper that is worth 50 per cent of your final grade will merit more of your time and effort than one that is worth only 10 per cent.

Think about the tone

In everyday writing to friends, including emails and texts, you probably adopt a casual tone, but academic writing is usually more formal. Just how formal you need to be will depend on the kind of assignment and the instructions you have been given. In some cases—for example, if your professor asks you to visit a religious service and report back on your impressions of it—you may be able to use an informal style. Essays and reports, however, usually require a more formal tone. What kind of style is too informal for most academic work? Here are the main pitfalls to avoid:

Use of slang

Although the occasional slang word or phrase may be useful for special effect, in general the use of slang is not acceptable in academic writing because slang expressions are usually regional and short-lived. They may mean different things to different groups at different times. (Just think of how widely the meanings of hot and cool can vary, depending on the circumstances.) In a formal essay, where clarity of expression is important, it is better to use words with well-established meanings that will be understood by the greatest number of readers.

Excessive use of first-person pronouns

Since a formal essay is not a personal outpouring, you want to keep it from becoming I-centred. There is no need to begin every sentence with “I think” or “In my view” when the facts or arguments speak for themselves. In fact, starting a sentence with “I think” makes what follows seem like an opinion and not a fact that can stand up on its own. It is certainly acceptable to use the occasional first-person pronoun if the assignment calls for your point of view—as long as your opinions are backed by evidence. Also, if the choice is between using I and creating a tangle of passive constructions (for example, “It is hoped that it can reasonably be concluded, based on the evidence that has been presented, that . . .”), it is almost always better to choose I. (A hint: when you do use I, it will be less noticeable if you place it in the middle of the sentence rather than at the beginning. This advice is especially useful when writing resumés as well as essays.) Here are some examples of ways to avoid both I-centred and unnecessarily passive sentences:

× Having analyzed the new doctrinal statement, I believe it is illogical.

✗ The new doctrinal statement, having been analyzed, appears to me to be illogical.

√ When analyzed, the new doctrinal statement seems illogical.

In this essay, Smart's views on phenomenology will be set out, and they will be examined in light of several recent critiques of this approach.

√ In this essay, I will investigate Smart's views on phenomenology and examine them in light of several recent critiques of this approach.

√ This essay will investigate Smart's views on phenomenology and examine them in light of several recent critiques of this approach.

Many departments in colleges and universities have developed their own policies regarding use of the first person, so make sure you know what your institution or individual instructors expect.

Use of contractions

Generally speaking, contractions (such as can't, isn't, and it's) are not suitable for academic writing, although they may be fine for letters or other informal kinds of writing—for example, this handbook. While avoiding contractions may initially make you feel that your writing has become stilted or unnatural, virtually all formal academic writings in religious studies avoid contractions, and students are encouraged to adopt this practice. If you feel that you must use a few contractions, use them very sparingly, since excessive use of contractions makes formal writing sound chatty and informal. Further, using contractions may result in the loss of valuable marks from your grader.

Also be aware of going too far in the other direction. Finding a suitable tone for academic writing can be a challenge. The problem with trying to avoid excessive informality is that you may be tempted to go to the other extreme. If your writing sounds stiff or pompous, you may be using too many inflated phrases, long words, or passive constructions. For example, it is more fitting to write about “religious practices” than “contextualized ritualistic manifestations.” When in doubt, remember that a more formal style is the best option.