The University Gets Religion: Religious Studies in American Higher Education - Hardcover

Hart, Professor D. G.

9780801862106: The University Gets Religion: Religious Studies in American Higher Education

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0801862108 ISBN 13: 9780801862106

Publisher: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1999

In The University Gets Religion: Religious Studies in American Higher Education, historian D. G. Hart examines the rise of religion to its current place as one of the largest academic disciplines in contemporary higher education. Protestant ministers and faculty, arguing for the importance of religion to a truly "liberal" education, were especially influential in staffing departments and designing curricula to reflect their own assumptions about the value of religion not just for higher education but for American culture in general.

But the success of mainstream Protestantism in fostering the academic study of religion has become the field's greatest burden. Religion scholars have distanced themselves from traditional Protestant orientations while looking for topics better suited to America's cultural diversity. As a result, religion is in the awkward position of being one of the largest scholarly disciplines while simultaneously lacking a solid academic justification. It may be time, Hart argues, for academics to stop trying to secure a religion-friendly university.

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About the Author:

D. G. Hart is an associate professor of church history and theological bibliography at Westminster Theological Seminary.

Review:

"[An] excellent and insightful study... His book significantly increases our understanding of a neglected aspect of American religious history." -- Gardiner H. Shattuck, Jr., Anglican Theological Review

"Hart contributes a first-rate piece of intellectual and institutional history to this discussion... For those who wish to think seriously about the relationship between religion and religious studies and to understand how we have arrived at our current situation, this book is indispensable." -- David D. Hall, Teaching Theology and Religion

"Hart should be commended for pulling together the history of this issue and for the careful reflection he offers about the current status of the discipline." -- Kathy J. Pulley, Journal of American History

"The book he has given us offers richness of information, astute analysis, and provocative interpretation." -- Philip Gleason, First Things

"This book is provocative, to say the least. It constitutes another voice in the discussion over the place of religion in secondary and higher education." -- Barry Hankins, Journal of Church and State

"This eloquently written study makes a significant contribution to the history of American higher education." -- P.C. Kemeny, Journal of Presbyterian History

"Hart jumps right into the recent fray over the secularization of the academy, paying special attention to developments in religious studies." -- Douglas A. Sweeney, Books and Culture

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