Undergraduate Learning and Interreligious Understanding
What knowledge do undergraduates have of diverse religious traditions? How open are they to engaging with the religious traditions of others? And how does the undergraduate experience—inside and outside the classroom—shape patterns of interreligious understanding over time?
Two research centers at Georgetown University—the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs and the Center for New Designs in Learning and Scholarship (CNDLS)—have begun a four-year longitudinal study to address these basic questions. As a Catholic and Jesuit institution open to other religious traditions, Georgetown University seeks to promote knowledge of and dialogue among diverse faith communities.
This multi-year study will deepen our knowledge about connections between undergraduate learning and interreligious understanding—knowledge that will help faculty and administrators design curricula and structure student life more effectively. The study will also contribute to a wider societal debate about education and education policy in an era of growing religious and cultural pluralism, both nationally and internationally.
To establish a baseline, we developed a survey to evaluate incoming undergraduates’ religious profiles and attitudes toward other religions. In Fall 2007, CNDLS administered the survey online to the incoming first-year class, receiving some 460 responses. A detailed analysis of our findings can be found in the Undergraduate Learning and Interreligious Understanding: Report of the Fall 2007 Survey of First-years.
In order to document this cohort’s transitions in interreligious understanding as they progress through their undergraduate experience at Georgetown, over the next four years we will gather supplementary data from a variety of qualitative approaches, including focus groups, interviews, and students’ written reflections. This data will be used to triangulate and illuminate responses from the initial and follow-up surveys.