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Religious LiteracyLeadership inHigher Education

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Religious Literacy Leadershipin Higher Education

Working with Vice Chancellor

champions and their seniordelegates, this programme aimsto develop strategic leadershipon matters relating to faith inHigher Education.

It aims to help HEIs shape a thrivingenvironment for working and livingtogether in society across differences and similarities of faith.

Recognising the range of circumstances,

settings and responses by universityleaders to faith on their campuses, theprogramme provides opportunities, byway of events and materials, for VCs andother senior participants to exchange anddevelop their understandings critically asa basis for religious literacy strategies.

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Questions of Faith in HEIsand Wider Society

In supporting approaches toleadership for religious literacy,the programme aims to balancethe policy demands to whichVCs are asked to respond withcultural and intellectual questionswhich underpin the very place ofuniversities in society.

The programme identies the places

where these questions bite in theeveryday reality of running HEIs, includingin registries, admissions departments,student services and in teachingand learning.

A central question is the extent towhich universities should reect or

challenge a public role for faith in

what is assumed to be a largely secularsociety. How universities lead on thestatus, role and shape of faith in publicspaces will be highly inuential to how

it unfolds in wider society and how itdevelops under the future leadership oftodays graduates and staff.

Faith is no more nor less importantan identity than any other, but there

are factors which make faith hard toexplore: it is often viewed with suspicionor distaste; there is a widespread publicawareness of religion yet with a limitedpublic vocabulary; and it has becomemore prominent as a line of debate andanxiety in recent years. This programmedraws on primary research, literature,policy expertise, and practical resources todevelop strategic leadership in response.

The programme explores these

issues in four key HEI contexts:

responding to the complexities of the

new equalities and diversity provisions(including those about religion andbelief) as they impact on staff andstudent bodies

widening participation strategies to

make campuses inclusive for studentsof any faith tradition, and none

providing an excellent student

experience for people of faith,including provision of student servicesand facilities which are sensitive toreligious difference and needs

actively promoting good campus

relations

Practical Arenasof Faith in HEIs

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Why Universities?

A multi-faith society presents

important challenges forunderstanding differences withinand between faith traditions andfor working (beyond religioustraditions) with wider society tomaximum effect.Universitiesare ideally placed to meet thesechallenges.

This requires us all to be more literateabout the faiths we encounter andhow we encounter them.

Universities are places where people of

all faiths and none gather to research,think and learn. In many cases this involvesyoung people in particular, many of whomgo on to become the leaders of the future.Universities have a special role in shapingthe environment in which that learningand development unfolds, and thiswill often inuence the attitudes and

understandings informing wider societyfor decades to come.

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The programme is supported by ten Vice Chancellor Champions,

drawing on their varying experiences and responses to faith.It is rooted in a process of new research and consultation witha development group made up of leaders and experts in faithand HE settings.

Participating in theProgramme

Strategic Leadership for Faith in HE

a one day event for Vice Chancellors

This is a one day event at Sunningdalefor VCs or their delegates at PVC andDVC level. It is an opportunity forexchanging and considering the thinkingthat underpins strategic decision-makingin relation to religion and deliberatingthe issues that it raises. It draws on casestudies, resources and materials, and abroad critical literature to help shape a

starting point for strategy. This sessionis preceded by a residential dinnerfor those who can nd the time, and

supported by input from senior expertsand leaders.

Developing Strategies for Faith

in HE two one day events for

senior HE staff

This is a two-part programme for senioroperational staff, delegated by their VCsor DVCs. It is intended for people leadingoperations in Registry, Admissions,

Examinations and Timetabling, StudentExperience and Support, Chaplaincy,and other key departments. A rst one

day session helps to esh out strategy in

a range of areas including: chaplaincy;counselling and student support; food,services and accommodation; examsand timetabling; faith spaces; wideningparticipation; community engagement;resilience and emergency planning;curriculum; and ethos and values. Thisis followed by a second one day session

where participants share, reect onand sharpen their approaches in thelight of experience in practice sincethe rst session.

Both parts of the programme aresupported by brieng papers and

resource materials sharply focusedon responding to the concrete realitiesand challenges as they are experienced

in everyday roles. These are availablein print form and via the website atwww.religiousliteracyHE.org

The programme is in two parts:

Faith has come back to public attention for all sorts of

reasons. Universities can help shape societys responsewith intelligence and rigour, and this programme is

designed to help its leaders to do so.

Dr Adam Dinham, Programme Director

Reader & Director, Faiths and Civil Society UnitGoldsmiths, University of London

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Universities have aspecial responsibilityto help shape ademocratic, civilisedand inclusive societyDearing Report, 1997

Religious Literacy Leadership Programme

c/o York St John University

Lord Mayors Walk

York YO31 7EX

T: 01904 876272

E: info@religiousliteracyHE.org

www.religiousliteracyHE.org

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