ERIC Number: EJ1222495
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2019-Jul
Pages: 15
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1368-4868
EISSN: N/A
Forum on Teaching Asian Religions in the American South
Mikles, Natasha L.; Esaki, Brett J.; Battaglia, Lisa
Teaching Theology & Religion, v22 n3 p208-222 Jul 2019
This series of three essays by educators from Georgia, Texas, and Alabama examines teaching Asian Religions in the American South. Through reflection on individual experience, each essay offers concrete strategies for the classroom that can be utilized by fellow educators working in the American South, but can also inform pedagogy in other North American regions. Introducing the idea of the "imagined student," Esaki discusses teaching African American students and tailoring Asian religions courses towards their interests by producing positive buy-in, while also acknowledging their potential isolation from White peers interested in similar topics. Mikles builds on Esaki's idea of the imagined student to discuss her own experience teaching Mexican and Vietnamese American students in Texas, while presenting specific strategies to overcome preconceived educator bias about students in Southern classrooms. Battaglia closes out the series by suggesting the use of a phenomenological approach for students to sympathetically enter into an Asian religious worldview. She offers specific exercises that can help students unpack their own assumptions -- their "invisible backpack" -- and approach Asian religions on their own terms.
Descriptors: Asian Culture, Religious Education, Geographic Regions, Teaching Methods, African American Students, Religion, Student Interests, Social Isolation, White Students, Mexican Americans, Vietnamese People, Asian Americans, Racial Bias, World Views, Foreign Countries, Phenomenology
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: N/A
Audience: Teachers
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Vietnam; Georgia; Alabama
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A