Introduction

This chapter discusses the context and methods of the research, and the range of questions that emerge from a study of religion in higher education. Issues of religion in higher education hit the headlines in this way very rarely: more usually the religious and spiritual lives of academic staff and students go unnoticed, even within the universities themselves. The outbreak of disturbances between different religious groups on campuses does occasionally, however, subvert the normal lack of interest. There is a range of ways in which one might set about finding out how institutions of higher education have managed the changing religious diversity of the student population. Finally, the chapter presents an overview of this book. The book examines how the higher education sector in Britain has responded to change due to religious diversity by identifying some distinctive patterns of response.