Purpose: This essay-conversation brings together two literacy scholars who have worked with religious literacies: Suresh Canagarajah and Anne Elrod Whitney. They discuss not only the importance of religious literacies research but also their own experiences conducting such research as people of faith themselves. Design/methodology/approach: The…

My remarks will outline, from a philosopher's perspective, challenges and opportunities that I see for a science of virtue. I will touch on three topics: (1) ensuring that the studies are philosophically useful; (2) grappling with issues of measurement; and (3) next steps in moving a science of virtue forward. I approach (1) and (2) through…

In this response paper, we continue and further expand upon Elizabeth Watts' discussion on Buddhism and science, in the context of teachers' searching for the pedagogical "means to increasing student receptivity to science." While we share Watts' concern over the detrimental consequences of creationism in schools, we also offer an…

Virtue theorists commonly assert that significant moral change, such as the cultivation of a virtue or the elimination of a vice, can only occur over a prolonged period of time. Many scholars who make this claim also accept the comparison between virtues and skills. In this article I argue that if one accepts the comparison between virtues and…

The Library of Congress has acquired the Omar ibn Said Collection, including an exceptional artifact, the autobiography of Omar ibn Said, written in ancient Arabic by an African enslaved man. In this article, I analytically examine the role of literacy in Omar ibn Said's life as informed by African cultures, ethnicities, histories, languages, and…

This study presents a qualitative data driven account of highly personalized and transformative experiences that Bryan Schroeder reflects on, draws meaning from, and summarizes the professional value of how he was called, encountered, and changed by God as he pursued to know and love Jesus Christ wholeheartedly while growing in servant leadership…

This article is focused on the relevance between Christianity and happiness from a perspective of higher education. To discuss the article systematically, three research questions are addressed. First, what is happiness in the Bible? Second, what are relations between Christianity and happiness from the Biblical standpoint? Last, what is the…

This forum essay offers reflections on the theme of the 2021 annual meeting of the Religious Education Association--"Gender, Sexuality, and Wholeness: Religious Education for Confrontation and Healing." Pondering the melancholy of violence inflicted upon racialized, sexualized, and queer bodies in the United States, the author invites…

This article discusses the extent to which middle-class Christians, many of whom were progressive liberals, involved themselves in the Moral Instruction League (MIL) to intervene in 'improving' the moral character of the English working class. It considers how they reconciled their motivations and underlying theology with secular goals that sought…

This article responds to Chris Higgins' (2010) claim that perpetuating the myth of altruism is a factor that leads to teacher burnout, thus making "flourishing teacher" an oxymoron. It does so by exploring various views of the Christian concepts of agape, kenosis, and desire, debunking some persistent definitions that linger in Christian…

"Catechesis of the Good Shepherd" and "Godly Play" are the two best known variants of Montessori style Religious Education programmes. While they have much in common, there are also obvious differences. This article offers a brief outline of the distinctive features of each programme, including some analysis of their…

In "Democratic Foundations of Spiritually Responsive Pedagogy," Lingley worried that talk of spirituality is taboo in U.S. public school classrooms. Lingley pointed out that the dominant narrative demands silence on the topic. She wanted to make the case for spiritually responsive pedagogy as vital to an inclusive democracy. I begin this…

Those who are oppressed often find themselves internalizing voices that limit their ability. This article focuses on a population that falls on the non-hegemonic side of the intersection of race, class, gender, and age: Black girls from poor and working-class backgrounds. From my work with youth, I have noticed that internalizing these limiting…

New religious diversity of the late 20th and early 21st centuries requires Americans to move from the idea of a Judeo-Christian America to that of an Interfaith America. This article notes that a big part of America's current problem is how it has sacralized its tribal divide, with tribalism in today's America taking a particularly dangerous turn.…

This conversation between Peter McLaren and Petar Jandric brings about some of the most recent and deepest of McLaren's insights into the relationship between revolutionary critical pedagogy and liberation theology, and outlines the main directions of development of McLaren's thought during and after "Pedagogy of Insurrection." In the…