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On Teaching Postsecular Theory as Postsecular Practice
“Do you consider yourself postsecular?” That was the last writing prompt I crafted for students of my graduate course on postsecular theory this semester. The responses were creative and frequently moving, as I expected they would be. More on those responses, including my own, below. First, let me provide some backdrop for those who may be less familiar with postsecularism or its contexts. Postsecularity broadly names a renewed interest in religion, spirituality, or some combination thereof. This is an academic field, and it designates a body of theory – a field defined by a densely secular history – so it should surprise no one to learn that postsecularity is characterized by wide diversity of opinion and approach, much of it ambivalent. Some scholars in the field are devoutly religious and welcome the prospect of addressing religion and religious experience – in language that is, or is almost, religious – in academic work. A greater number are not religious, at least not overtly so, but express fatigue with the hegemonic “hermeneutics of suspicion” and delight in a resurgent cultural poetics of wonder. Still others embrace the postsecular as part of an unfolding, global project of enlightenment, contending that “we moderns” must make a space for religious cultures in the public sphere lest we betray our secular ideals by becoming as dogmatic as they. And then there are those who, affecting a kind of world-weary wisdom, argue that it might be nice if we could actually invest faith in religious nonsense, given how important it is to our history and all that, but alas … pass the vodka. The end of that last paragraph grows a bit glib, but actually, I...
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Why Experiential Learning?
This post was written by Greg Thompson, Spanish and Portuguese, HC Faculty Fellow A lab coat, a lab coat! My kingdom for a lab coat! When President Worthen first announced the university’s new focus on inspiring learning, I was initially slightly saddened by the fact that our teaching had not been “inspiring” during BYU’s 140 years+ history and required an initiative in order to get faculty and students inspired. However, I was relieved and quite elated to realize that President Worthen was not referring to some lack in focus by students and faculty but to an increase in the incorporation of experiential learning into our classes and programs. The reason for my elation is that I have studied, researched, and published extensively on service learning, a sub-field of experiential learning, and I was pleased to see that BYU was prompting this type of instruction and learning. This announcement and subsequent announcements have been accompanied by a video of a wide range of students and faculty working together through different types of experiential learning. I was made aware in a Humanities Center Colloquium titled, “Test Tubes, Book Spines, and Broken Contracts” by Brian Croxall of Digital Humanities, that it seemed that this inspiring learning necessitated either a fishing boat on a distant body of water, travel to some exotic tropical location, or a white lab coat. Giving my slightly sensitive stomach to travels on large bodies of distant water and my lack of affinity for the dissection of marine life as well as limited travel funds, I, like my colleague in Digital Humanities, will focus on white lab coats (available in the BYU Store for only $19.95). I have thought...
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The Fruits of Failure
“It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all—in which case, you fail by default” J.K. Rowling, Harvard Commencement address (2008) My friend shared her experience in a small town piano recital. Most of the judges felt that giving a child anything less than a perfect grade (superior) was going to be detrimental to that child’s self-esteem. “But they worked so hard,” “She is shy,” “He did his best,” etc. As a result, all except one judge (my friend’s mom, a Piano Guild-certified instructor), gave superior ratings despite the child’s actual performance, which was often times subpar. My friend’s mom, however, wasn’t afraid to give lower ratings, and she received a lot of flak for it around the community. I think the “everyone is a winner” mentality encourages an unhealthy perception of success and self-worth. When we tell anyone, especially children, that they win even when they lose, or that they performed well on a musical number that they bombed, are we not teaching them that failure is shameful, something to be avoided? But how can we possibly avoid failure? The truth of the matter is that failure is the best teacher. Failure will be the best thing that ever happened to you because it forces you to clarify what you want and then to work harder/more efficiently for that thing. Failure is what pushes you to be better, to improve, and to change. I think we need to be more honest about failure and to allow it into our lives as a teacher—not as a disciplinarian or as a form of punishment—but a...
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The Human Contradiction
This post was written by Hannah Leavitt, HC Student Fellow The first time I read Anna Karenina, I was quick to pick sides. As I continued to read, I recognized that despite their major flaws and mistakes, each character acted authentically. Reflecting on this experience, I realized that, like each of Tolstoy’s characters, I am similarly contradictory. While sometimes I am objective in my decisions, other times, I knowingly make biased decisions. In one way or another, we all are contradictory. Contradiction is one trait that all humans share. Despite our best intentions, none of us can escape conflict in our feelings, beliefs, and desires. Though mainstream media often creates stories focused around a “good guy” battling against a “bad guy,” it is hard for anyone to actually be completely good or completely bad. Doesn’t the “good guy” also make poor decisions and choices that hurt the people they love? Often, isn’t the “bad guy” someone we would, in a different setting, try to understand? In contemplating the many ways in which I am contradictory, I cannot help but feel that allowing others their contradictions would enable me to also accept others. Maybe, by recognizing the opposites that exist in each of us, we can realize the similarities we have with those who seem foreign to us. In the end, we all are just humans making choices. Accepting our own contradictions gives each of us an added measure of power. Maya Angelou expresses this thought eloquently in her poem “A Brave and Startling Truth:” We, this people, on this small and drifting planet Whose hands can strike with such abandon That in a twinkling, life is sapped from...
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Events
Faith & Imagination: Andrew Prevot
When: Friday, Apr 13, 2018
Where: JFSB B192
more event details ->
Colloquium: Roger Macfarlane
When: Thursday, May 17, 2018
Where: 4010 JFSB
more event details ->
Colloquium: Sara Phenix
When: Thursday, May 31, 2018
Where: 4010 JFSB
more event details ->
Humanities Center Blog
On Teaching Postsecular Theory as Postsecular Practice
“Do you consider yourself postsecular?”
That was the last writing prompt I crafted for students of my graduate course on postsecular theory this semester. The responses were creative and frequently moving, as I expected they would ...
continue reading ->
Why Experiential Learning?
This post was written by Greg Thompson, Spanish and Portuguese, HC Faculty Fellow
A lab coat, a lab coat! My kingdom for a lab coat!
When President Worthen first announced the university’s new focus on inspiring learning, ...
continue reading ->
The Fruits of Failure
“It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all—in which case, you fail by default” J.K. Rowling, Harvard Commencement address ...
continue reading ->
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