I chose two articles from the SoN publication on Faith. The first was something that I really related too, Bridget Crutchfield’s photographs about women and faith. I wanted to read more from her to find out about her work, and if being a black woman talking about faith has any additional bearing on her views. This photo above, is very powerful. I think it’s because at first glance it could be something else, a mother and child, and also she is holding his arm – holding in place or pushing away, it’s not clear.

The second article, the interview with Saffron Mustafa about growing up as a white muslim, was interesting to me as her experience is so far from my own, growing up as an atheist. She talks about the assumptions that people made about her family because they didn’t fit their idea of what a muslim should be, and also about her own spirituality. I feel it’s hard to relate faith to my area of work except to acknowledge my own positionality – an often sceptical atheist about organised religion, but also, I hope, an open and compassionate person about a person’s individual beliefs. This case study was a useful reminder that everyone is an individual and not to make assumptions.

With the Reith lecture, the main thing that stood out for me was the focus on the practice of religion. He describes 3 dimensions, 1. Practice, 2. Community and 3. Belief. I found this a helpful way to think about the cultural and spiritual aspects of religion. He also says, ‘Once you think of creedable identities in terms of mutable practices and community… religion becomes more verb than a noun…’ and I find this idea of a movable, flexible set of practices and beliefs a helpful and might enable me to acknowledge and avoid some of the negativity I sometimes feel about organised religion.

In reading and writing this blog, I haven’t been sure how I could bring any of this material into my work, except in the context of inclusivity. However, in the Religion in Britain texts, I realised my error, as Calhoun writes about religion:

‘It is an issue because it shapes the relations of students
to each other. It is an issue because many students make religion important to
their personal lives and wellbeing on campuses. It is an issue because it either is
or isn’t well-represented in what we teach.

Modood, T. and Calhoun, C. (2015)

I don’t know how I didn’t see this at the start, but of course, religion is important to people and must also be a subject for students’ creative work. I see the need for more attention to be paid to it, rather than assuming it is something external to learning and to create space for discussion and exploration without focussing solely on the common, divisive elements.

I also thought the observation about ‘The vaguely Christian UK’ (p.14) is interesting. The idea that somehow ‘we’ in Britain are Christian, when in fact this both hides many other mainstream religions but also ‘others’ people who subscribe to those religions.

My question would be, can we hear from some women please? Ideally about their experience of how their religion has impacted, or otherwise, their experience of Higher Education.

References:

Appiah K. A. (2016) The Reith Lectures Episode 1 Creed – BBC Radio 4, 18 October. Available at https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/b07z43ds (Accessed: 29 May 2023)

Modood T. and Calhoun C. (2015) Religion in Britain: Challenges for Higher Education – Stimulus paper. Leadership Foundation for Higher Education

Shades of Noir Journal Higher Power: Religion, Faith, Spirituality and Belief. Available at: https://shadesofnoir.org.uk/journals/higher-power-religion-faith-spirituality-belief/ (Accessed: 29 May 2023), n.d.