It was great to be directed to the Religion, belief and faith identities in learning and teaching UAL site. I have never come across it before, and it is a great collection or resources which I will keep referring back to. There is so much I want to read!
The two articles around depictions of religion in art captured my attention. As a young child I spent many an hour staring at religious effigies and wondering. I was also drawn to these because this is a topic that is sometimes taken on by our performance students, particularly the Hair, Make-Up and Prosthetics students. Both articles ‘The Ground Breaking Artists Challenging Religion Through Art’ and ‘Does Modern Art Hate Religion?’ discuss they ways in which religion has been perceived and handled by modern artists. They explain there has been a tendency from artists to lean away from embracing the church and work that depicts a favourable view of religious imagery. Instead there has been a trend of making critical work around religion in a sometimes “disrespectful and subversive fashion” (Sooke, 2014). It made me reflect on some of the student’s work I have seen in the making (as technicians we do not have input into design from a conceptual manner, we facilitate the making side once this has been agreed with by a tutor) and their feelings of a need to be provocative, controversial, challenging or critical with regards to many subjects, religion being one of them- which is also often the case in the art world out with the university too. There is a friction in this kind of exploration, and a definite challenge in HE, freedom of speech/censorship against the rights of those to whom offence may be caused because of their belief systems. To me it highlights a need for awareness of other perspectives in both staff and students, which can be easily missed in a so called ‘liberal arts’ setting where everyone does not share the same views. It also highlights a need for the creation and instigation of safe spaces that promote respectful conversations around religion. I believe there needs to be more of an onus put on the makers of the work to think about the wider context of the work and its place in the world. This would also include the encouragement of the use of trigger warnings embedded in University Practice, something I have yet to see out with the IT&L Unit.
In both articles it was satisfying to see the other side of religion and the art world being represented- “less critical art” (Sooke, 2014) which challenges not their own views, but other assumptions of their faith they have encountered. For example Soorya Grahams ‘Bra’ or Giulia Marchis ‘Call her Fatima’.
I was thinking of how I could facilitate the student voice more and consider resources with regards to faith. I sometimes find this challenging, as technicians we do not have much input on the critical thinking conceptual side of the course. However, I found the Pen Portraits case study a useful idea to think about. As teaching staff we need to find ways to make students comfortable to explore all intersectional areas of their being, including discussion on their backgrounds and belief systems (if they want to), and when they do they will be met with support and encouragement. I liked the idea of the drawing ice breaker and suggested questions, which could be used at various points throughout the year. It is good to be mindful of the types of questions posed around this, and the need to respect protected characteristics. It also highlights the intersectionality of faith and how a binary approach cannot be taken to it. We will deal with faith and other aspects of identity in a more progressive way and treat it as something that belongs in education, as opposed to something that is independent of education.
The case study series on Faith from SoN again re-enforced the importance of creating and facilitating safe learning spaces. I must be mindful that when discussions around faith do occur they are happening respectfully and any discriminatory behaviour is confronted and dealt with appropriately. I found the ‘Options’ in the case study book particularly useful. I think that the ‘Set Rules at Induction’ should be something that the whole performance department adheres to and I am not sure that it is currently embedded? It has made me re-think the technical inductions that we do for Yr1 students, and how and where we could fit this in. What students’ display of their work and how they display it in the studios for example could also be addressed.
In Religion in Britian, Religion as a Public Good Calhoun discusses, as Modood expresses, that religion is not only a private matter but a public one too. They believe supressing religion to a private matter is fundamentally restrictive. With the growing popularity of ‘secularism’ many persist in thinking that religion should be a separate, private matter. But Calhoun argues that remnants of Christian public symbolism are everywhere, and that Britain allows more space for some religions over others, and separation of state and church is selectively applied.
“In a pluralist society, public religious engagement could support the exploration of major issues, as indeed it does to some extent in the UK with regard to the nature of contemporary capitalism and the legitimacy of extreme inequality” (Calhoun, 2015)
I can see now how the intersection of religion is not simply a private matter, it completely permeates society, and a secular state, or university, does not exist and cannot exist. Even within ‘secularism’ there is not an agreed form of ‘secularism’ that fits all.
This followed nicely onto Religion and Knowledge of Religion in the UK where Calhoun talks about universities needing ‘religious literacy’ meaning that staff and students should have a better understanding of the way religion has figured in the history of Britain (and the world) and how it relates to the current social climate and policies, and knowledge of different religions. I wondered what the university is doing about this? I realise the resources that we have been pointed to on this course goes some way towards this but not everyone in the university is engaging with this. How can the University do more? There are also the University Chaplains, but it made me wonder are the diverse religious voices represented in other ways, and do the students find the support and connection they need?
“Even when delivered in entirely secular ways, this (engagement in student’s extracurricular lives) is still often termed ‘pastoral care’ in UK universities, chaplains are important to it, and academics offer less than they once did.”
I agree and disagree with this. While there is more pressure on everyone due to increasing numbers, technical staff seem to always be missed out of facts and figures or not considered at all, only ‘academic’ staff. Although we do not officially provide pastoral care, but because we do spend so much time with students and get to know them well, they do confide in us and we are constantly unofficially giving pastoral care, it takes over a large part of our work, and this is never taken into consideration. We are advised to pass students onto course leaders, but it does not always feel comfortable doing this as I am not always satisfied the situation will be resolved in doing so. How can the university do more?
Kwame Anthony Appiah’s lecture on Creed was an interesting listen. He puts forward the case that religious identity, has relatively little to do with creed, and hence scripture, for people who belong to a faith, real substance comes from the art of practicing that belief- how they enact those beliefs and who they do it with. He suggests that the interpretation is important, and religion is transformed through history, it is how it survives- it becomes re-interpreted in re-understood for what is relevant to present day. He gives the example of the contested place of women in Islam, and how sometimes the interpretation of this faith does restrict women’s freedom and power but other interpretations do not- Bangladesh and Pakistan have had more female prime ministers, and a larger percentage of women in their legislatures than the US. This really hit home for me the importance of not making any assumptions around religion or faith, even when people identify as ‘secular’ as everything is so open to one’s own interpretation…a little bit like the subjective nature of one’s own art practice.
I would say I do not have an assigned religion (although I was brought up as a catholic), but do practice some of my own spiritual rituals, not necessarily connected to any particular faith. I read an interesting article called ‘Do humans have a religion instinct?’ about how religion/faith emerged from an evolutionary process out of necessity for us to become more social beings, and that many of the rituals associated with religion (song, dance, bending in prayer etc.) are activators of the endorphin system- which I felt reflected nicely what Calhoun was saying about religion for the public good, and how society and it cannot be separated. Appiah’s lecture on Creed got me thinking about the history and future of religion and I will read ‘Tomorrows Gods: What is the Future of Religion?’
Bibliography
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07z43ds
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20190801-tomorrows-gods-what-is-the-future-of-religion
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20190529-do-humans-have-a-religion-instinct
Hi Lauren,
I agree with a lot of things you mentioned in your blog. I particularly resonate with the point you made of contemporary art being controversial and the clash between freedom of speech and inclusivity. I always find it a problem that tutors are unwilling to challenge students making controversial or offensive work. Academic staff either lacks the training to deal with the situation or is unwilling to deal with it as it might “upset” the situation. Realizing how the work sits in the wider world is very important I think. Another point you made about technical staff has limited influence on students’ work, but you also mentioned you could impact how the students can display the work and where. It really made me think about what impacts each role has and what changes we could make with little decision.
Hi Lauren,
I really enjoyed reading your blog post, and, like Serena, I agree that as tutors we find ourselves in a difficult predicament with regards to provocative work students may make. I have always erred on the side of free speech however, having taken part in the ITLHE unit, I realise how nuanced this conversation is and how difficult, if not impossible, it is to be provocative and respectful at the same time.
It would seem to me that for a long period both the art world and academia, in Western society, denigrated faith, religion and spirituality of any form. I guess that would be as a result of the Western rationalist tradition. Reading bell hooks ‘Teaching to Transgress’, I appreciated how she writes about the importance of spiritual well-being and care of the soul, which is not something academia has been noted for. It was also interesting to read in Calhoun’s text, that a large percentage of young people in the UK believe in the soul.
I found Kwame Anthony Appiah’s lecture on creed really expanded my thinking around religious identity, that it is not simply a matter of belief but a practice. I had also never considered how open to interpretation the various scriptures are, as he says ‘scriptures do not speak with a singular voice’.
Hi Lauren,
It’s been good to read your blog on Faith. I feel I can almost hear your voice through your written words, and can image why students would warm to you and feel comfortable to share with you. I’m a course leader, and have had so many situations where I have felt a student (who I know needs pastoral support) just hasn’t warmed to me enough to talk openly. I get it, because In the past when I’ve been told to ‘talk’ to a specific person about a specific issue, it just hasn’t worked. I believe students should be able to talk to anyone that wants to listen.