Peter
Heinegg, longtime professor of English, says he can't think of a time when
there has been more interest in religious studies.
“Everyone
has an opinion about the fundamental human phenomenon known as religion – regardless
of whether they're alienated, passionate, or vaguely curious,” he says. “So why
not study it?”
Why
not, indeed. This year the College created an interdisciplinary Religious
Studies minor concentration, under Heinegg's direction.
He
credits Linda Patrik, of the philosophy department, as “the guiding spirit”
behind the program. Says she, “It is meant to open students up to world
religions and different ways of
thinking.”
Adds
Heinegg, “We're interested in exploring why people do the things they do. Religious
studies seem to cover every human behavior.”
One
impetus for the new program is a growing cultural diversity at the College,
which has brought more Muslims and Hindus to campus – and with that, an
awareness of how little most Westerners know about these cultures.
Heinegg
had his own eyes opened when he traveled to India last summer to teach Western
literature and classics, through a Union faculty exchange program. He suddenly
realized “how gigantic my ignorance of Hinduism was.”
“Most Hindus,” he explains, “don't study their religion – it's
part of their lives. This is a totally religious culture about which we know
almost nothing. Much religion is informally transmitted – through the family
rather than through studies. In the West, by contrast, we're more intellectual,
and religion is put out there and studied; often it's not something we get from
our parents.”
The
experience has spurred him to “hit the books hard.” Although he says he'll
never teach Hinduism, he is finding how much “it feeds into other things.
Hinduism is the matrix from which Buddhism arises.”
Union's
Religious Studies program was long in getting started. The program was approved
about fifteen years ago, but was never funded. “A minority were afraid it would
be proselytizing and propaganda, and would compromise the secular tradition of
Union College,” says Heinegg.
The
flame was rekindled when Patrik brought together a cluster of like-minded
friends and colleagues. “We began meeting at the turn of the millennium, and
the program began to take shape,” says Patrik. The group included Professors
Sigrid Kellenter (German), Steve Sargent (history), Diane McMullen (music),
Scott Scullion (classics), Peter Heinegg, Brad Lewis (economics), Mohammed Mafi
(civil engineering), and Seth Greenberg (psychology). Two of the college
chaplains – Viki Brooks-McDonald and George Forshey – also came. And a number
of other people expressed interest.”
The
group looked at courses already in the catalog to see if the raw materials for
a concentration existed and found close to twenty courses that fit. The
six-course minor is designed to enable students to gather insights from
philosophy, psychology, sociology, anthropology, history, and literature. The
minor consists of three core courses and any three other courses carrying
religious studies credit, one of which may be an independent study. Core
courses are Eastern philosophy (taught by Patrik), Religion in the Pagan World
(Scullion), Early History of the Jews (Steve Berk of history), The World of the
Bible (Heinegg), and Anthropology of Religion (Steve Leavitt of anthropology).
Other courses with Religious Studies credit are offered through the departments
of anthropology, English, history, performing arts, philosophy, and sociology.
A new
course has just been approved for the
spring term. Called “Seminar in the Psychology of Religion,” the course covers
such topics as theories of why people become religious and the question of
whether science and religion are compatible.
“We
have a solid background in Jewish and Christian history and culture, and a
modest opportunity to do Asian religion,” says Patrik. “Unfortunately, we have
no one on the faculty who is trained to teach Islam. We hope to fill in this
gap. We are also considering linking up with another small college, perhaps
making use of distance learning technology.”
Independent
study is the one truly new part of the program – the core faculty are willing
to create individual studies to suit the needs of the students. A number of
students have done their theses on relevant topics all along, such as the
student who wrote about the figure of Mary from a feminist perspective.
“We see
this as a start – a very limited attempt to meet a very large need,” Heinegg
says. “Although there's no special building, there's no sign on the door, no
champagne celebration, we are open for business.”
“With
all that has happened since the recent terrorist tragedies, it's clear that we
understand very little about Islam and the worldviews of people who criticize
us,” says Patrik. “My hope is that Union will continue to be a union of all
religions, and that this generation of students will know something about newer
religions that have been coming to these shores.”
It's
still early to determine how much interest there is among the students, but Heinegg
is optimistic. “Students are very curious about religion's role in their lives
and their parents lives – many would like to learn more. English literature is
unintelligible without the Bible.”