“Practice,” as the winning proposal describes, “denotes both the work that we do, and the preparatory process by which we approach mastery. It can be both infuriatingly repetitive and comfortably habitual. It also unites religion, pedagogy, and thought in uncertain, sometimes uncomfortable, yet ultimately generative ways. PRACTICE lingers on the craft of teaching, thinking, and learning. Whether in research or teaching, we are always engaged in practice as much as thought. And yet, in spite of these connections, speaking about practice in the context of the study of religious studies remains a particularly fraught subject. We teach (about) practice to publics that may or may not be themselves practicing, in some religious or other sense. But further, do we practice what we teach? Our students often want to know. Rather than dismiss the question as meddlesome curiosity, through this TRiP series we look forward to investigating the care—attention and concern—that might lie behind the question.”
Specific sessions will focus on Politics of Practice, Practice as Pedagogy, Practices of Knowledge, and Autopraxis. Readings for the first session will include the introduction to Eli Meyerhoff’s Beyond Education: Radical Studying for Another World, and Professor Sullivan’s “Teaching religion: Refusing the Schempp myth of origins.”