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GVL / James Brien
Kevin Den Dulk headshot for religious studies.

GV explores adding religious studies major

By Anya Zentmeyer GVL Assistant News Editor
2/7/2010

"Religion dates back about 5,000 years," said Grand Valley State University student Joseph Jordan. "When has there been something nearly 5,000 years old that has never been studied?"

It is for this, and a slew of other reasons, professors and students alike have called on each other and the administration to create a religious studies major, something attempted before but never successfully carried out.

Professor Sheldon Kopperl attributed this lack of major to the inability to find a sound place in GVSU's structure to put the program, but said he thinks given the events of the past 10 years, the acknowledgement of others' religious traditions is more important than ever.

"As someone who is 51 percent assigned to the biomedical sciences department and 49 percent to the liberal studies department, I am as aware as anyone that there is great opportunity for fruitful interaction among these two areas," Kopperl said.

Although there are currently classes focused on religion, there is no complete major to accompany them.

Associate professor of political sciences Kevin den Dulk said consequently, many students decide to piece together a religion-focused major through Liberal Studies.

Jordan is one of the religious-studies-major hopefuls, cutting and gluing pieces of GVSU's Liberal Studies program to create his major.

"I was given an opportunity to live my whole life abroad and in the U.S. experiencing different cultures," Jordan said. "Throughout my travels and experiences I found a large common denominator: religion. I realized that religion exists everywhere and the effect it has on the world, culture, policies, laws, etc. is tremendous."

Den Dulk noted almost every one of GVSU's peer universities and colleges has some sort of religious studies major in place.

"As an institution committed to both the liberal arts and professional education, it is huge gap to have no formalized way for students to explore intensively an area of human experience that is so fundamentally important in every corner of the globe," den Dulk said.

He also said the program would not be limited to "traditional" liberal arts areas, but also to areas such as health professions and business, where religion-themed courses are in the works.

Douglas Kindschi, professor and fellow religious studies supporter, said the religious studies major and minor would be interdisciplinary programs, which would be important because it would build on the existing faculty and curriculum already at GVSU.

"Also the work of the Kaufman Interfaith Institute would be an important community complement to the establishment of the major for students," Kindschi said. "These two activities would support each other and make Grand Valley's program somewhat unique."

Albeit the tremendous support from staff and students, the program faces its biggest challenges in the resource and funding aspect.

Den Dulk said financial costs, such as faculty salary and office assistance, is one of the greatest challenges facing the creation of the major. He added GVSU's faculty governance and administration will sort through the costs and weigh the benefits of the major against the price tag - a factor which he thinks should go smoothly, considering the "modest costs" of the new program.

Logistics aside, he encouraged students and faculty to consider the value the program would bring to GVSU.

"Religion has always been - and continues to be - a key way that human beings answer their most profound questions about who they are and how they ought to live," den Dulk said. "The diverse answers to those questions have all sorts of significant implications for both individuals and societies, and therefore, religion deserves serious attention in our universities."

assistantnews@lanthorn.com

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