Spirituality among students has risen, but professors' willingness to discuss religious convictions in class has not, a recent study by the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA has found.
"College students have deeply-felt values and interests in spirituality and religion, yet most colleges haven't recognized the importance of supporting these interests and how to do so," said Alexander Astin, the institute's director and a main investigator for the project.
The results of the study indicated that 73 percent of students said their religious beliefs helped develop their identity and 76 percent said they are searching for meaning in life, but 62 percent said their professors never encourage discussions of religions or spiritual issues.
Dartmouth appears to be no exception. Susan Ackerman, a professor in the religion department, said the courses in a religion department at an academic institution are deliberately secular.
"The world of the academy is a world that depends on data, depends on evidence and depends on analysis of data and evidence," Ackerman said. "Some beliefs transcend those categories and are not appropriate for the classroom."
Most professors are uncomfortable in dealing with issues of spirituality and religion because they deem them too personal, said Richard Crocker, the College chaplain. Crocker theorized that professors do not generally start discussions of spirituality because they worry that students would be uncomfortable or that they are not qualified to discuss these issues.
Ackerman offered a different reason for the lack of discussion. She said students know that there is a difference between academia and spirituality and the difference is respected. A liberal arts college is an environment where anyone can learn, whether they are religious or not, Ackerman said.
Professors vary in their approach to religion, Alex Barsamian '04 said.
In some courses, Barsamian said, professors have been interested or excited about questions of spirituality and tests of faith, but in others, the discussion was purely secular in focus.
"It is a weird dichotomy because I think they go hand-in-hand," Barsamian said.
Ronald Green, a religion professor, agreed with the limited integration of spirituality and academia and said that the discussion groups included in Religion 1 were meant to open up the class for personal discussion.
"We don't intend it to be a 100-percent academic discussion," Green said.
The UCLA study -- conducted as the beginning of a larger project, entitled "Spirituality in Higher Education: A National Study of College Students' Search for Meaning and Purpose" -- used data collected in an 2003 electronic survey of 3,680 college juniors at 46 colleges.
