A Community of Imagination: Constructing Young Adult Faith Through Religious Studies Open Access
Muir, Scott Shepard (2012)
Published
Abstract
A Community of Imagination:
Constructing Young Adult Faith Through Religious Studies
Through systematic analysis of in-depth semi-structured interviews
with 19 Emory
University religion majors and ethnographic observation of the
mandatory Senior
Symposium course entitled Religion 490: Insiders and
Outsiders, I seek to illustrate how
these religion majors appropriate the abundant resources provided
through the religion
major in the dynamic (re)construction of an increasingly complex,
adequate "faith" to
live by as emerging adults. I draw upon Sharon Parks' model of
faith development in
higher education to describe my subjects' progression through a
process which entails:
1) The overwhelming of students' conventional conceptions of
reality through
exposure to a wide variety of religious traditions, beliefs and
practices within
sustained critical dialogue among a diverse community of scholars,
creating a
need for expansion of their faith perspectives.
2) Exposure to a wide variety of religious representations of the
ideal from
which students adaptively reconstruct a more personally meaningful
and
comprehensive conception of "the ultimate conditions of existence"
with the
assistance of intentionally selected scholarly mentors.
3) The acquisition of life skills including analysis of complex
social-historical
phenomena and articulation and defense of controversial claims and
convictions
which empower students to proactively engage the challenges and
complexities
of their social worlds with courage and competence.
4) Struggle to reconcile their ideal identities, aspirations and
conceptions of the
"ultimate conditions of existence" with the actual social realities
students
confront and the compromises they require.
Though this process varies considerably in terms of degree and
particular content, I argue
that the general structural progression accurately represents the
diverse experiences of my
subjects. I seek to be sensitive to (though by no means
comprehensively address) the
dizzying array of interacting social, cultural, political,
intellectual, religious and psychic
factors at play in this process. I also strive to indicate,
explicitly and implicitly, some
wider ethical, political and existential implications of this
reality for professors, the
university, academic religious studies, confessional religious
institutions and our society
as a whole.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Introduction: Establishing My
Argument…………………………………………….........1
A. American Higher Education: A Uniquely Powerful Shaping
Institution……………..........1
B. The Religion Major at Emory: A Uniquely Formative College
Experience………….........4
C. My Argument in Three Minutes: An Exemplary
Case………………………………..................8
I. Crystallization of Research Question and Research
Design……………………….11
A. Personal Experience and
Positionality………………………………………………........................12
B. Emergence of Research
Question.....…………………………………………………......................14
C. How Does the Undergraduate Experience Impact Faith?: An
Empirical Review…......16
D. Research Design: An Interactive, Dialectical Process of
Induction and Deduction.....25
II. Context: Emory, The Department, 490, and Religious
Studies………………….28
A. The Institutional Positionality of Emory
University…...................................………....29
B. Emory's Department of Religion: Analyzing the Aims of the
Enterprise....................33
C. The Religious Studies Discourse: a Contested Cumulative
Tradition...............…….....36
1. W.C. Smith: Cumulative Tradition, Insider Faith, and Their
Dialectical Interaction.....37
2. McCutcheon: Religious Studies as Critical Deconstructive of
Social Formations.........41
3. Chesnek and the Search for a Middle
Path……………………………………………....................42
III. Conceptual Framework: Faith Development in College
Contextualized……45
A. Fowler's Conception of Faith: A Universal Dynamic Process of
Meaning-Making.......45
B. Young Adult Faith Formation within the Community of
Imagination………………..........48
I V. Interpretation: Faith Development Through Religious
Studies……………....52
A. Sample Characteristics, Identity and
Affiliation……………………………………....................52
B. Religious Background, Conventional Faith and onset of
Transition………………............55
C. Constructing Adult Faith Within the Community of
Imagination………………….............59
1. Locus of Authority: Embracing the Mentoring Community of
Imagination………….......61
2. Form of Cognition: Probing Commitment through Conscious
Conflict……………..........66
3. Form of Self: Cultivating Self-Awareness through
Pause……………………………..............70
4. Symbolic Function: Articulating the Ideal through
Image…………………………….............74
5. Form of World Coherence: Repatterning and Release toward World
Engagement.....77
6. Form of Community: Ideological Commitment and
Interpretation…………………..........79
V. Conclusion: Limitations, Implications and Future
Directions…………………...84
A.
Limitations....................................................................................................85
B.
Implications...................................................................................................87
C. Future
Directions............................................................................................89
References........................................................................................................90
Appendix A: Interview
Schedule...........................................................................92
Appendix B: Coding
System.................................................................................94
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