ABSTRACT
My university, like many across the country, canceled classes the day after the attack on the Twin Towers in Manhattan. During that open day, small groups of students and faculty met to mourn together, to follow the endless cascade of news reports, to talk about the issues and histories involved, and to reflect on what might be next. The following day, I met with my students in our class, “Methods of Religious Studies,” reputedly the most dreaded of all courses required for the major in religious studies. Since many undergraduates lack awareness of how the choice of method shapes their understandings of religious life and meanings, the course content seems irrelevant. To engage these students, I have adopted a number of active learning strategies. While we read about the theories of methodology, we emphasize practicing specific methods using a variety of pedagogical techniques and strategies.1 But the immense realities we faced in the wake of the first foreign terrorist attacks on American soil flattened our academic project. Religiously related behaviors and beliefs like the ones starkly before us now overwhelmed our growing knowledge of scholarly methodology. How could I respond to that day as a human, as a teacher?
