ScholarWorks@GVSU

Religion and Worldview Development: The Ignored Piece of Student Identity

Loosemore Auditorium

PURPOSE: Religion and worldview development is often ignored within higher education. Whether inside of the classroom or in initiatives towards diversity, equity, and inclusions, religion and worldviews are kept out. This project looks at why this is the case and uses the Interfaith Triangle as a theoretical framework to provide a possible solution to this problem. PROCEDURES: This project was completed in three chapters. The first provides an introduction into why religion and worldview development are left out of higher education and how this project will address this issue. The second is a literature review that uses the Interfaith Triangle to address the reasons for the lack of religion and worldview development in higher education. The third is a solution created by the author and designed from the literature. OUTCOME: This solution is a six-week professional development course for student affairs professionals. Each week of the course is centered around one of the themes that was found among the literature. The professionals taking the course will engage in discussions, reflections, case studies, and other activities to understand how and why to engage students in religion and worldview development. IMPACT: The literature shows how religion and worldview development is feared within higher education due to many misconceptions by faculty and staff. This project provides a course that educates professionals away from those misconceptions and provides concrete takeaways that can be applied to one’s current practice.