In this engaging interview, John D. Inazu identifies confident pluralism as the way for us to thrive in connection even when divided by deep differences. Since our differences are not just going to go away, we need to learn to live with others with whom we do not agree. Inazu explains that tolerance, humility, and patience are the foundational…

This article addresses the topic of teaching and how graduate students in higher education, as future faculty members and other types of educators, learn to support the faith identities of their future students. Through a series of guest teaching opportunities at different institutional types, the author shared her understandings of the spiritual…

This article is an invited response to "Toward a Learning Environment That Supports Diversity and Difference: A Response to Dessel, Bolen, and Shepardson," by David R. Hodge ("Journal of Social Work Education," 47(2), pp. 235-251). The authors agree with a number of Hodge's recommendations. First, they support Hodge's recommendation to use common…

Historian of religions Charles Long uses the term "American cultural language" to identify discursive challenges to democracy and social justice in the Unites States. The American cultural language, Long says, is the "misinterpretation" of humanness and freedom conveyed when the term "American"--used to signify…

Echoing conflicts in society, some observers argue social work education should exclude religious students while others argue social work education should exclude gay students. Instead of perpetuating this conflict, I suggest educators should transcend it and affirm the voices of both religious believers and lesbians and gay men. After noting…

In this essay, Bruce Maxwell, David Waddington, Kevin McDonough, Andree-Anne Cormier, and Marina Schwimmer compare two competing approaches to social integration policy, Multiculturalism and Interculturalism, from the perspective of the issue of the state funding and regulation of conservative religious schools. After identifying the key…

Recognition is the main word attached to multicultural perspectives. The multicultural call for recognition, the one calling for the recognition of cultural minorities and identities, the one now voiced by liberal states all over and also in Israel was a more difficult one. It took the author some time to realize that calling for the recognition…

Although he shares many of Professor Roger Trigg's views about the logical character and human significance of religion and religious discourse, including the view that religious claims are matters for rational understanding and appraisal, the author expresses difficulties with key points in Trigg's diagnosis and critique of what he takes to be…

In September 1999, Donald J. and Catherine Willower established the Willower Family Lecture Series as a way to add to the intellectual climate of the University at Buffalo-State University of New York (UB), while enhancing the reputation of its Graduate School of Education (GSE). This lecture series resides in UB's Department of Educational…

Whether one calls it G*d-talk, religious discourse, or spiritual musings, conversations speaking to the divine, spirit, mystery, religion, and G*d are increasingly prevalent in educational studies. Whether it is the recurring discussions of church/state distinctions, exploration of the relationship between moral development and religion, or an…

The parallels between South Africa and the United States run deep. For the United States, that moment of transition, at least as far as education is concerned, was the landmark ruling of 1954, described in the shorthand, "Brown v. Board of Education"; for South Africa, that moment came 40 years later when every citizen could, for the…

In his critique of academic writing about and public consumption of government policy and law, Jonathan Jansen uses his argument of the symbolic functions of education law and education policy as a basis for explaining the lack of progress in achieving equity and justice under "Brown v. Board of Education" (1954) in the United States and…