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When the twain meet
Redefining ‘British’ Religions
through Student Encounters with
Religious Communities
Denise Cush and Catherine
Robinson
Bath Spa University
Religions of South Asian Origin
• Hinduism
• Buddhism
• Sikhism
• Jainism
• Studied in different academic
settings (see Sharpe, 2005:31)
Teaching in British Universities
• Nineteenth century beginnings
• University of Manchester 1904
(Sharpe, 1975: 131-133)
• University of Lancaster 1967
Reasons for Curriculum Change
• Secularisation (Jackson, 2004: 1-5)
• Immigration (Jackson, 2004: 1-5)
• Social liberalism
• Liberal Protestant theology (Bates,
1994; 1996)
• Second Vatican Council (Sharpe,
2005:39)
Late 1960s Counterculture
• youth culture
interest in
‘Eastern’ religions
• 40th anniversary of
ISKCON in London
Hippies, from ‘Carnaby Street’ by Tom Salter,
1970, colour lithograph, Malcolm English,
twentieth century, Private Collection,
Bridgeman Art Library.
QuickTime™ and a decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Recent Trends• Feminism
• Other liberationist approaches
• Critiques of phenomenology and
orientalism
• Other forms of religion and
spirituality
Current Practice
• Of 37 British universities offering
undergraduate TRS degrees
– Hinduism 27 (Sanskrit 6)
– Buddhism 26 (Pali 3)
– Sikhism 10
– Jainism 3
(see AUDTRS handbook and University
websites)
Current Practice
• Texts in original languages
• Texts in translation
• Textbooks and more specialised
sources
• Fieldwork
Living Religion Project
• One-week community placement
• Students as ethnographers in
communities with beliefs,
values and customs other than
their own
Bath Spa Placements
• Of 23 placement communities
– 14 are religions of South Asian
origin
• 10 Buddhist
• 3 Hindu
• 1 Sikh
Diaspora
• Definition as dispersion
• Origins in Septuagint (OED, 2010)
• Original Jewish usage (Bauman,
2000: 317)
• Wider application (Tololyan,
1996:8)
Diaspora
• Types of Diaspora
– Victim
– Labour
– Imperial
– Trade
– Deterritorialized
(Cohen, 2008: 18)
Diaspora
• Characteristics
– Displacement from homeland
– Allegiance to homeland
– Shared ethnic identity
– Relationship with host societies
(Cohen, 2008: 17)
Religion and Diaspora
• Cohen on religion and diaspora
– Privileges ethnicity and homeland
– ‘[Religions] do not constitute
diasporas in and of themselves’
(Cohen, 1997: 189)
Religion and Diaspora
• Hinnells on religion and diaspora
– Concentrates on religion
– ‘[D]iaspora religion’ indicates a religion
practised by a minority group, conscious
of living in a culturally and religiously
different, possibly hostile, environment,
away from the old country of the religion’
(Hinnells, 1997: 686)
Religion and Diaspora
• Vertovec on religion and diaspora
– Stress on ethnicity and homeland
(Vertovec, 2000a:2)
– Critical of application of concept
of diaspora to multi-ethnic and
proselytising religions
(Vertovec,2000b: 11)
Religion and Diaspora
• McLoughlin on religion and
diaspora
– Differentiation between ‘ethnic’ and
‘universal ‘religions’
– Endorses application of concept of
diaspora to ‘ethnic’ religions
(McLoughlin, 2005: 541)
Sikhism and Diaspora
• Sikhism as clearest case of
diaspora as Sikhs compared to
Jews in being an ethnic and
religious group who look to a
homeland (Cohen, 2008: 112, 116
cf. Tatla, 1999: 2,8)
Hinduism and Diaspora
• Analogy drawn with Judaism and
Sikhism as Hinduism is non-
proselytising and regards
India as sacred so satisfying
criteria of ethnicity and
homeland (Vertovec, 2000a: 2-4)
Buddhism and Diaspora
• Problematic to regard Buddhism
as diasporic because, as a
‘universal’ religion, it is
multiethnic with no one
homeland (McLoughlin, 2005:
541)
Contesting Diaspora
• Intention to challenge hegemonic
views of religions in the ‘old
country’ and ‘old times’
• Danger of reinscribing difference
from the principal manifestations of
the religions and from British
society
History of Sikhism in Britain
• Maharajah Duleep Singh in mid-
nineteenth century (Singh &
Tatla, 2006: 44)
• First gurdwara in Putney in
1911 (Knott, 1997: 758)
History of Hinduism in Britain
• Ram Mohan Roy in first half of
nineteenth century (Knott,
1997: 758)
• First temple in Coventry in
1967 (Vertovec, 2000a: 97)
History of Buddhism in Britain
• Allan Bennett in early
twentieth century (Oliver,
1979: 43-45)
• First monastic community
(Sinhalese) in London in 1928
(Oliver, 1979: 65)
Sikhism in Britain
• Presence of gora (white) Sikhs
• Role of Sikh Dharma of the
Western Hemisphere
(see Singh & Tatla, 2006;
Takhar, 2003)
Hinduism in Britain
• Existence of Western ‘Hindus’
• Movements such as
Transcendental Meditation and
the International Society for
Krishna Consciousness
(see Barrett, 2001; Cole, 2007)
Buddhism in Britain
• Western-dominated Buddhist
groups, often new movements
• Changed profile with migrant
Buddhists now in the majority
(see Bluck, 2006; Thanissaro,
2011)
Sikhism, Hinduism and Buddhism in Britain
• Multiethnic in composition
albeit to differing extents
• Thriving and creative
Conclusion
• Not necessary to focus solely
on South Asia or assume a South
Asian model
• Religions of South Asian origin
as authentic and innovative in
their British forms
Conclusion
• Combination of familiar with
unfamiliar
• More inclusive view of
religions and better
understanding of the West
• Part of students’ own heritage
Conclusion
• Value of first-hand encounters with
religions of South Asian origin in a
British context
– Relationship between religion, culture
and ethnicity
– Usefulness of diaspora as a concept
• The twain meet in Britain
Bibliography
• Association of University Departments of Theology and Religious Studies (2008) AUDTRS
Handbook. Leeds: Higher Education Academy Subject Centre for Philosophical and Religious
Studies.
• Barrett, D.V. (2001) The New Believers: Sects, ‘Cults’ and Alternative Religions.
London: Cassell.
• Bates, D. (1994) ‘Christianity, culture and other religions (Part 1): the origins of the
study of world religions in English education.’ British Journal of Religious Education,
17 (1), pp. 5-18.
• — (1996) ‘Christianity, culture and other religions (Part 2): F.H. Hilliard, Ninian
Smart, and the 1988 Education Reform Act.’ British Journal of Religious Education, 18
(2), pp. 85-102.
• Bauman, M. (2000) ‘Diaspora: Genealogies of Semantics and Transcultural Comparison.’
Numen, 47, pp. 313-337.
• Bluck, R. (2006) British Buddhism. London: Routledge.
• Cohen, R. (1997) Global Diasporas: An Introduction. London & New York: Routledge.
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Bibliography• Cole, R.J. (Radha Mohan Das) (2007) ‘Forty Years of Chanting: A Study of
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Bibliography• Oliver, I.P. (1979) Buddhism in Britain. London: Rider.
• Oxford English Dictionary (2010) ‘Diaspora.’ [Online] available from:
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