REL Toolbox — What will you build?

If you’re working in the study of religion at a college or university, we have to have the talk. Brick by brick, our wing of academia is eroding away. Faculty line by faculty line…the scholar’s study we so often discuss is disappearing. And though the circumstances in which a program or departments is shut down feels like a wrecking ball, we know that each elimination is a data point for trend decades in the making.

There’s no way you are unaware that this is happening. The better question is how far are you from it and what are you doing to not only to brace for what’s around the way, but also to build a resilient program from where you are.

Okay that’s a couple of questions.

The good thing is that people are mobilizing. They’re posting on social media about the challenges they’re facing. Chairs and program directors are calling each other to exchange notes. And the American Academy of Religion’s Academic Relations Committee has been hosting WebinAARs to organize and stratgeize, yes for resistance, but also resilience.

I keep hitting home this term “resilience” because I don’t think we should let what’s happening around us erase the wins and successes we are having in our programs. Good things are happening in your classes. Your publications are helping to advance our field. You are making a difference. We have to build the platform where that important work can continue to be promoted and carried out.

If you’re looking how you can do your part, spend some time over at the REL Toolbox. This is a great resource put together by the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Alabama and the American Academy of Religion to help go into the struggle equipped. The site has entries that break down how institutions work and don’t work while also gathering the wisdom of colleagues from all sorts of institutions (privates, publics, SLACs, HBCUs, joint-programs).

Grab a mug, a notepad and your favorite web browser and check it out. Then call a friend and make an appointment to grab a hot beverage and discuss what you’ve learned (and you will learn something). I’m telling you. You won’t regret it. And you know I’m always down to scheme about how we make REL work in our time.