These brief essays by Mary Hess, Eugene Gallagher, and Katherine Turpin are solicited responses from three different contexts to the provocative book by Douglas Thomas and John Seely Brown, "The New Culture of Learning" (2011). Mary Hess writes from a seminary context, providing a critical summary of the authors' major concepts and…

Twitter offers an engaging way to introduce students to reader-oriented interpretation of the Bible. The exercise described here introduces students to the idea that the reader has a role in the production of a text's meaning, which thus varies from reader to reader. Twitter enables us to capture the real-time thoughts of a variety of…

This discussion of the goals and methods of teaching biblical literature is an edited transcription of a panel recorded at the 2010 Society for Biblical Literature conference. The panelists were asked to reflect on William Placher's recently published theological commentary on Mark as an example or test case of how one might use a biblical…

Although the study of the Synoptic Problem has been the focus of scholarly attention for over two hundred years, the social learning theory known as Communities of Practice is a relatively recent phenomenon. This article describes a communities of practice approach to the study of the Synoptic Problem in an upper-division undergraduate course at a…

What is the role of biblical studies in a liberal arts curriculum? At the 2009 North American Society of Biblical Literature conference, a panel of seven Bible scholars provided brief analyses and arguments about the appropriate goals of teaching biblical studies in undergraduate contexts in this historical moment. They consider and critique the…

What is the relationship between the academic knowledge of the guild and the formation of students in the classroom? This Forum gathers four essays originally presented at a Special Topics Session at the 2009 conference of the American Academy of Religion (Atlanta, Georgia), with a brief introductory essay by Fred Glennon explaining the genesis of…

What is contemplative pedagogy and how is it practiced in Religious Studies classrooms? Contemplative pedagogy cultivates inner awareness through first-person investigations, often called "contemplative practices." Contemplative teaching practices range widely: silent sitting meditation, compassion practices, walking meditation, deep listening,…

Teaching a required introductory Bible course to non-majors at a church-related college presents a number of pedagogical challenges. When considering how to teach such a course in the context of concerns common to the liberal arts, I find myself reflecting on authority. My thoughts on the teaching of this course in my own context are organized…

The student dramatic performance is an effective way for undergraduates to learn biblical studies. In this article I will give an example of a dramatic performance assignment that I developed over a number of courses and used most recently and most successfully in an undergraduate course in the Hebrew Bible at a small liberal arts college in the…

This essay explores intersections among Jesuit, Quaker, and feminist theologies and pedagogies of social justice education in order to propose and elaborate an innovative theoretical and theological framework for experiential learning in religious studies that prioritizes relationality, called erotic education. This essay then applies the…

This manuscript is an edited transcript of a panel discussion held at a Society of Biblical Literature conference (Boston, Massachusetts, November 22 to 24, 2008). Alice Hunt begins the discussion by summarizing the content and significance of a new book by Dale Martin, "The Pedagogy of The Bible" (Westminster John Knox Press, 2008) in which he…

This article addresses the epistemological disarray and secularizing trends in American culture, while also suggesting a way for Catholic institutions to meet their responsibilities under "Ex Corde Ecclesiae". It employs Bernard Lonergan's work to establish a theoretical foundation for education and outlines two specific liberal arts courses,…

This classroom note describes the lessons I learned from the use of formal debates during the two semesters I taught "Paul and Early Christianity" to undergraduates at a liberal arts college in Ohio. The purpose of the course was primarily to give students the exegetical skills to understand Paul in his own context. The secondary purpose was to…

This note from the classroom explores teaching new or alternative religions within the context of a Roman Catholic Liberal Arts College. The essay will specifically focus on a section of a course entitled "Modern Religious Movements" in which students were asked to consider different methodological approaches to the teaching and study of…

As the number of people of South Asian heritage in America has greatly increased over recent decades, the study and teaching of Hinduism has come under ever greater scrutiny. During this time, the number of students of Indian background has vastly increased in some schools in some parts of the United States. This increased presence and scrutiny…