University of Tulsa - Kendallabrum (Tulsa, OK)

Page 28 text:

K .ae IH ' e H8 E fl U or e cuty - re Aug s ef itK- vous inxn ans- Irsmd u sd 5P con ns,. 1 L it 'i .che I be hot ore ll urch: iend- engf hyt nchl dee es ' th '1Ib- PINS xt fi P , S J,b he, b 'I M ex P as- b .B B t H I IV if t I I Y ' I x I I A n , . ruff' L, ff ,X ,V ,WI QQ., -Q I 1,1 - J. li as Q, 1 in I6 'W . I H, I-'IN 5' ' l 75n 1 B- an 'T ,H 'fff'P , 1, FQ n Y. iw tml I .ZX LVN! 'U 'Q V fl' I M, mdk! W IE I Q 'GE' III :Fig WIQ 3541. I- 37 I , 4 .Q J QQ I 'T uf f' L3 I .k.. K 2 M A .4 I A+ if it rd I , Q I Ir 3 1 Q., K V I 3 1 I I - Q ,X x 7 L7 . f ' x ' A 2 V ri,i.f5.Q,g- ,J

Page 27 text:

The Roots O Culture Who wants to settle for blissful ignorance? by john Schaberg He knows he's late for his first class at The University of Tulsa. The nervous freshman rushes up the stairs of the new Oliphant Hall, but he walks with some hesitation to a desk on the side of the room, almost in the back. There are only a few students in the class, though, and he grows even more apprehensive. The title of the course had been enough to scare him: What Religion ls and Does. He didn't want to take the course, he didn't need any evan- gelizing. He was there only because his parents told him to take a religion course. Doggone parents, he thought, they were still thinking TU required a course in religion. The had graduated in 1973. The requirement was dropped in 1974 - almost thirty years ago. That freshman of the future will have nothing to worry about. Christianity will not be forced on him. lt really had not been since the 1920's. In 1975 the religion depart- ment worked out a new curriculum. In 1976 the faculty began teaching under this new program. This was the year religion studies matured at TU. This is the first year of the new program which, according to Dr. Harold Hill, chairman and professor of the program in religion, delves into every aspect of homo sapiens development. Courses offered include What Religion ls and Does, Origins of Western Religious Tradition, Religions of the Orient, and studies of Judeo-Christian phenomena. Emphasis is on the socio-cultural aspects of religion fthe phenomenology as Hill explainsi and in- cludes studies of all major religions. The aim of this program is to break the barriers of igno- rance about the teaching of religion at the University, explains Hill. These barriers, such as the fear of evangeliz- ing that tardy freshman felt, exist at all levels in the Univer- sity, because of lack of sophistication. However, Hill con- tinues, When the students see what religion education is, interest in it will increase, if we deal with it in a sophisti- cated fashion. Hill believes, looking at experience of other schools, that this new program will cause a resurgence of general student interest in the field and a subsequent overcoming of the barriers. Sophistication is vital to the expansion of the department. The goal is to treat religion as an academic discipline like history or chemistry, according to Hill. Treating religion as a special area by requiring courses in it for graduation, though, was not the sophistication de- sired. In that sense, dropping the requirement catalyzed the growth of the department. The catalyst was more than idealistic or theoretical: drop- ping the requirement also solved practical problems. As Dr. john Dowgray, vice-president for academic affairs, explains it, This freed the department to develop a broader or more interesting curriculum. indeed, Hill points out that student interest lies in the comparative religion and phenomenology of religion, these are also the areas in which the faculty have special- ized. It appears that the faculty is pleased with the new pro- gram. But in the final analysis, the success of any educa- tional program should be measured in terms of student response. ln 1976 total enrollment in this department was estimated by Hill at 120 students - not good, if a casual observer were to compare that with several hundred more only a few years before - even worse, if he heard Hill optimistically call this a levelling out, not a low point. A less casual observer would see this criterion as too superficial, though. Dowgray feels that the value of any department to the University cannot be measured totally by the quantity. The important student response will be qualitative. The students who do take these courses will be volun- teers, and thus will get more out of it, he said. As with all other departments, the total importance of the depart- ment is related to what students feel about the impor- tance of the subject. Presently that student feeling is low, our observer would say. To correct him, though, Hill sees the students' pre- sent rejection towards the department indicative of a general trend in education today. Students in times of recession want to be trained for work, said Hill, and reli- gion education doesn't offer this. Interest is bottoming out, awaiting a booming economy. Hill thinks that students will soon see they are becoming machines in human form. That will lead to an openness to religion education, which make the new program more important and effective. Other criteria besides numbers and interest must be con- sidered, too. The department is valuable to the University because of the kind of students it serves - the best. We get a high quality of student because we demand a lot of them, Hill stresses. He estimates his department as one of the toughest scholastically in the College of Arts and Sciences, perhaps in the University. That quality of student is rising, too, he adds. When you see we give no advantage to anyone but satisfaction of an intellectual curiosity, you can see why this is so. Satisfying this curiosity, though, requires both fuller cur- riculum and more faculty. Hill ensures the new program will not become static, but will meet this need by experi- mentation. Sometimes we'll fall flat on our face, and icontinued on page 241

Page 29 text:

en, WTSEIPSCW mi. ,. . lem J' Q35 17 is f-S,-.gh Q Q, A is 'F sk -wgfm S . FMF e nn.. LR 3 Q yi? 3 Y1 5? .fi qw