Supporting Cultural and Religious Diversity in Higher Education Dr Emma Tomalin and Dr Simon Smith Subject Centre for Philosophical and Religious Studies

Project rationale… The PRS Subject Centre is working with other subject centres to explore the implications of cultural and religious issues in higher education. For example, how does cultural and religious diversity impact upon teaching style, content, assessment and student support? The project was set up in response to interest from the academic community as they find themselves working with an increasingly diverse student population.

New legislation… The Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations 2003 were introduced in response to the EU’s Employment Directive. Outlaws discrimination on grounds of religion or belief in employment and vocational training. Associated legislation, but outside of the immediate remit of this project, includes anti-racism legislation and the proposed anti-religious hatred laws.

The project so far…. Design and dissemination of questionnaire to individuals working in higher education. Developing an on-line search engine to assist individuals in answering specific questions relating to cultural and religious diversity in their work environments.

In this presentation I will… Give a summary of key findings of questionnaires so far - suggestions for future direction of project. Discuss the web-based resources we will include in our on-line search engine.

Main focus of questionnaire Asked respondents to tell us about situations when they felt it was necessary to make adjustments to accommodate student’s cultural and religious needs. Asked for suggestions about how LTSN/Higher Education Academy subject centres could support staff in the future in similar situations.

75 respondents so far… psychology - 8 respondents student counseling/welfare, education - 3 respondents engineering, business, biology/ecology, law,geography, nursing - 2 respondents languages, health and hospital management, medicine, librarianship/ICT, international student support, equalities training officer, corporate services, literature and languages of SE asia, physiology, fine art, sociology and social policy, religious education, organisational development, archaeology and museum studies, physiotherapy, religious studies, complementary therapy, tourism, library -1respondents

Key findings 1: situations Religious festivals and holy days Course content Teaching styles Student participation

Key findings 2: adjusting to cultural and religious diversity

Key findings 3:what hindered you?

Key findings 4: what helped you?

Key findings 5: staff issues.

Key findings 6: how can the LTSN/Higher Education Academy subject centres support you?

Aims of this project…

Aim of on-line search engine… To provide people working within higher education with a resource that will enable them to answer specific questions relating to cultural and religious diversity issues (e.g. dates of religious festivals, reasons for types of cultural dress, the basics of different religious beliefs etc…); To enable people working within higher education to develop the skills and knowledge to avoid cultural stereotyping through ‘religious and cultural literacy’

Web-based resources on cultural and religious diversity… Religion and culture are not necessarily the same thing although they do often intersect (http://www.camcnty.gov.uk/sub/cominfo/ethnic/) At this stage our research has focused upon religious websites

Problems with religion and the web Information overload Quality and reliability of sites Sectarian issues Despite these caveats the web is an excellent resource for information about religion PRS LTSN has capacity to design search engine that avoids these issues as much as is possible

Types of religious resource The majority of websites have been developed by religious organisations or individuals (e.g. www.buddhanet.net/ Website of the Buddha Dharma Education Association in Sydney. Non-sectarian). There are also plenty of websites that have been put together by academics and other ‘informed’/concerned individuals to educate people about different religious traditions(e.g. http://religiousmovements.lib.virginia.edu/)

Cross-cutting themes In addition to websites that deal with particular religious traditions we have targeted resources that give information on ‘cross-cutting themes’ as suggested by the questionnaire responses e.g. statistics on religious adherence, festivals and holy days, religious freedom, racial equality and human rights, age, cultural diversity, gender, ethics, food and alcohol, dress, rights of passage, migration…..

In very near future we will begin to link sites to a search engine so that colleagues can begin to use this resource. We will collect case studies from individuals that have made offers and make these available on the website. Complete our annotated bibliography.

http://www.eprarthana.com/virtual/vpooja.asp