Does an Adjunct Union Threated a Roman Catholic College’s Religious Heritage?

Inside Higher Ed’s Scott Jaschik offers a detailed look at the controversy brewing at Manhattan College, a Roman Catholic Institution, on whether the formation of a union for adjunct professors would compromise the religious tradition of the college. Much of the debate hangs on the interpretation of various court decisions regarding the unionization of faculty members at private institutions. But both sides in the dispute are also invoking Catholic tradition and social teachings.

Newark, NJ, archbishop objects to Seton Hall course on gay marriage

John J. Myers, Archbishop of Newark, chair of Seton Hall’s board of trustees, and president of the school’s board of regents has asked the University’s governing board to cancel a course on gay marriage on the grounds that the class conflicts with the teachings of the Catholic Church.

In a statement, the archbishop said the church teaches that marriage should only be between a man and a woman.

"This proposed course seeks to promote as legitimate a train of thought that is contrary to what the Church teaches. As a result, the course is not in synch with Catholic teaching," Myers said. "Consequently, the board of trustees of Seton Hall have asked the board of regents to investigate the matter of this proposed course and to take whatever action is required under the law to protect the Catholicity of this university."

The course had been approved by both the political science department and the dean’s office.

"The initial review at the departmental level and at the dean’s level suggests that the course is not an advocacy course … but a ‘special topics’ course to objectively examine a significant current public policy issue," [vice provost Larry] Robinson said. "Thus, we fully anticipate that the Catholic position on same-sex marriage will be explored."

The instructor, W. King Mott, associate professor of political science, is gay and has clashed with the church and university officials before. The Star-Ledger article has details.

[New Jersey’s The Star-Ledger via Inside Higher Ed]

Noted evangelical scholar of the Old Testament fired for endorsing evolution

Inside Higher Ed’s Scott Jaschik reports on the firing of Bruce K. Waltke, an evangelical scholar of the Old Testament at the Reformed Theological Seminary, for a video he made for BioLogos Foundation in which he endorsed evolution and warned that when evangelical Christianity denies evolution it makes itself look foolish to the rest of the world.

"If the data is overwhelmingly in favor of evolution, to deny that reality will make us a cult … some odd group that is not really interacting with the world. And rightly so, because we are not using our gifts and trusting God’s Providence that brought us to this point of our awareness," he says, according to several accounts by those who have seen the video.

Jaschik’s report offers different perspectives from the participants, including a joint statement issued by Waltke and BioLogos (see also an earlier statement), and comments from the Michael Milton, president of the Reformed Theological Seminary’s Charlotte campus and interim president of its Orlando campus, where Waltke taught. Jaschik also offers a useful overview of some the reaction to the firing. His article could serve to tee-off a faculty discussion on the issues of academic freedom and institutional identity.

Francisco Ayala Wins Templeton Prize

Francisco J. Ayala  has been awarded the 2010 Templeton Prize. According to the Templeton press release on the award, Ayala is the Donald Bren Professor of Biological Sciences at the University of California, Irvine, and known professionally for research into parasitic protozoa that may lead to cures for malaria and other diseases.

The Templeton announcement stresses Ayala’s efforts to opposed “the entanglement of science and religion while also calling for mutual respect between the two.” It adds:

…[Ayala] has equated efforts to block religious intrusions into science with “the survival of rationality in this country.” To that end, in 1981 he served as an expert witness in a pivotal U.S. federal court challenge that led to the overturning of an Arkansas law mandating the teaching of creationism alongside evolution. In 2001, George W. Bush awarded him the National Medal of Science.

Even as he has warned against religion’s intrusion into science, Ayala, a former Dominican priest, also champions faith as a unique and important window to understanding matters of purpose, values and the meaning of life.

[Templeton Foundation  via Inside Higher Ed]

Church study of Erskine College has faculty worried

Inside Higher Ed’s Scott Jaschik reports on a study of Erskine College, a liberal arts college in Due West, S.C., commissioned by its sponsoring denomination, the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church or ARP. ARP is a small denomination that  describes itself as  conservative and evangelical.

The report says that the college is hurt by "irreconcilable and competing visions." With a presidential search going on, the report says that the church "must speak clearly" on its interests in the direction of the college, that the board must operate more independently of the administration, and that there must no longer be doubt about the church running the college.

The report has some faculty worried:

While the report has a polite tone, and praises the dedication of the college’s leaders and faculty, its repeated references to the "irreconcilable" philosophical views about Erskine and the "untenable situation" in which the college finds itself have many faculty members worried that hard-liners are aiming for a purge.

Jaschik, who has obtained a draft of the report, also provides important background including interviews of several of the key actors involved in the dispute. Recommended reading!

Sociologists may be studying religion more, treating it as an independent variable

Inside Higher Ed’s Scott Jaschik reports on a new study that suggests the sociology of religion has been getting more attention recently, and, particular, more attention as an independent variable:

The new study on sociology arrives as a working paper of the Social Science Research Council, based on analysis of 587 sociology journal articles on religion, published between 1978 and 2007. The paper — by David Smilde, a professor of sociology, and Matthew May, a graduate student, both at the University of Georgia — finds much that would encourage scholars who want to see more research on religion. But the paper also raises questions about whether American sociologists may be too narrowly focused on some religious groups over others, and over the impact of outside funding, which is growing.

Jaschik provides background, a helpful summary, and some reaction from scholars in the field.

This article could provide the basis for a faculty conversation on changes in academic interest in religion and the (problematic?) role that outside funding may play in these changes.

The Canadian Association of University Teachers criticizes University for required faith statement, may investigate others

The National Post report that the Canadian Association of University Teachers has issued a report criticizing Trinity Western University for requiring its faculty sign a statement of Christian faith. The Association concluded that this requirement violated academic freedom. It also announced that it will investigate three other Christian institutions. See the article for detail and background to the dispute.

[The National Post via The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, Religion News]

Criticism, Censorship, and Wheaton College

Scott Jaschik at Inside Higher Ed has another fine article, this one on a generally sympathetic but occasionally critical article on Wheaton College that was approved by its editor for publication in Books & Culture but then killed by the president of Christianity Today International. Books & Culture is, as Jaschik rightly puts it, “a highly respected publication … something like a Christian New York Review of Books.” Christianity Today International owns Books & Culture.

More on this later, but for now take a look at Jaschik’s detailed piece and associated links. Many things there to discuss with faculty colleagues.

Does the English Department Have a Jewish Problem?

Inside Higher Ed’s Scott Jaschik has written another fine article, this one reporting on a panel discussion at the Modern Language Association on the relative paucity of experts teaching Jewish literature. The panel was entitled “Does the English Department Have a Jewish Problem?”

The underlying premise of the panel was that English departments that would never allow themselves to be without experts in the literatures of many racial and ethnic groups in the United States don’t think twice about failing to have a knowledge base in American Jewish literature. Further, the view of many here is that discussions about multicultural literature that ought to include Jewish writers simply don’t.

Jaschik’s detailed overview of the panel discussion could well serve as the starting point for a faculty conversation on how different religious and ethnic traditions are treated in today’s literature, history, and cultural studies departments.

Washington University establishes John C. Danforth Center on Religion & Politics

With a $30 million gift, the Danforth foundation has created the John C. Danforth Center on Religion & Politics at Washington University in St. Louis. On 16 December Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton announced the new center at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.:

“The establishment of the John C. Danforth Center on Religion & Politics reflects the legacy of Jack Danforth and his belief in the importance of a civil discourse that treats differences with respect,” Wrighton said in making the announcement Dec. 16 at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.

“The center will serve as an ideologically neutral place that will foster rigorous, unbiased scholarship and encourage conversations between diverse and even conflicting points of view,” Wrighton said.

“Knowing that religious values and beliefs can either encourage or undermine civility, the center and its educational programs and scholarly research can provide a bridge between religious and political communities and will inform new kinds of academic explorations focusing on the relationships between the two. We think that’s a worthy goal.”

The gift also creates five new endowed professorships. The new center is scheduled to open in January 2010.