title: Reasoning and Religion: The Relevance of the Academic Study of Religion to Critical Thinking Pedagogy

authors: Goldberg, Ilan Yaakov

subjects: Critical Thinking

abstract: In this thesis I inquire into method and theory debates within the academic study of religion, arguing for the potential of this broad field to enrich critical thinking pedagogy, especially with regard to worldviews and problems associated with the influences of worldviews on reasoning. I highlight the growing recognition within critical thinking literature that critical thinking pedagogy ought to include a sizable component devoted to worldviews, and argue for the relevance of the academic study of religion to this worldview component. An inquiry into three popular method and theory debates within the academic study of religion concerning the definition, comparison, and evaluation of religion(s), and into interreligious dialogue, helps cement this assertion. In my treatment of definition I attempt to put the close connection between religions and worldviews on firm ground. I also describe common misconceptions of religion and worldviews that should be of concern to critical thinking educators, and for which the academic study of religion is particularly apposite. Next I concentrate on how comparison of religions and worldviews is justified within the academic study of religion and on good and bad forms of comparison. My discussion of evaluation repeats this pattern: I look at debates over what constitutes good and bad evaluation in and of religions and worldviews, and the relevance of this subject to critical thinking. My foray into interreligious or cross-worldview dialoguing focuses on difficulties that are germane within the critical thinking domain. Although I do recommend the inclusion of these four subjects within critical thinking pedagogy, I take them primarily as a sample of a wider field of inquiry. This sample is meant to support a broader recommendation, namely: Just as education should be infused with critical thinking, so too should critical thinking be infused with the philosophy of the academic study of religion, and the fruits of its inquiry. This recommendation does not come without reservation. In the last chapter I discuss some of the problems that my suggestions bring up, first among which is the religious bias evident in much of what can be found under the auspices of the academic study of religion.

text: Reasoning and Religion: The Relevance of the Academic Study of Religion to Critical Thinking Pedagogy In this thesis I inquire into method and theory debates within the academic study of religion, arguing for the potential of this broad field to enrich critical thinking pedagogy, especially with regard to worldviews and problems associated with the influences of worldviews on reasoning. I highlight the growing recognition within critical thinking literature that critical thinking pedagogy ought to include a sizable component devoted to worldviews, and argue for the relevance of the academic study of religion to this worldview component. An inquiry into three popular method and theory debates within the academic study of religion concerning the definition, comparison, and evaluation of religion(s), and into interreligious dialogue, helps cement this assertion. In my treatment of definition I attempt to put the close connection between religions and worldviews on firm ground. I also describe common misconceptions of religion and worldviews that should be of concern to critical thinking educators, and for which the academic study of religion is particularly apposite. Next I concentrate on how comparison of religions and worldviews is justified within the academic study of religion and on good and bad forms of comparison. My discussion of evaluation repeats this pattern: I look at debates over what constitutes good and bad evaluation in and of religions and worldviews, and the relevance of this subject to critical thinking. My foray into interreligious or cross-worldview dialoguing focuses on difficulties that are germane within the critical thinking domain. Although I do recommend the inclusion of these four subjects within critical thinking pedagogy, I take them primarily as a sample of a wider field of inquiry. This sample is meant to support a broader recommendation, namely: Just as education should be infused with critical thinking, so too should critical thinking be infused with the philosophy of the academic study of religion, and the fruits of its inquiry. This recommendation does not come without reservation. In the last chapter I discuss some of the problems that my suggestions bring up, first among which is the religious bias evident in much of what can be found under the auspices of the academic study of religion.

year: 2011

title: Cognitive genre structures in Methods sections of research articles: A corpus study

authors: Bruce, Ian

subjects: methods sections

abstract: This paper reports a corpus investigation of the Methods sections of research-reporting articles in academic journals. In published pedagogic materials, Swales and Feak [Swales, J. M., & Feak, C. (1994). Academic writing for graduate students. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; Swales, J. M., & Feak, C. (2000). English in today's research world. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.], while not offering a generic structure, discuss the tendencies for Methods sections reporting research in the social sciences to be slow (or extended), and those in the physical sciences, such as medicine and engineering, to be fast (or compressed) – the metaphors of speed or density relating to the degree of elaboration employed in describing and justifying the research design and process. The aim of this study is to examine the differences between fast and slow tendencies in Methods sections in terms of their internal, cognitive discourse organization. Two small corpora, each consisting of thirty Methods sections (one for each of the two groups of subjects), are analyzed in two ways. First the corpora are rater-analyzed for their use of the organizational features of a cognitive genre model for textual structures (see Bruce, I. J. (2005). Syllabus design for general EAP courses: a cognitive approach. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 4(3), 239–256.) and secondly by the use of corpus software for linguistic features that characterize the model. The findings of the study suggest that ‘fast’ Methods sections that report research in the physical sciences generally employ a means-focused discourse structure, and ‘slow’ Methods sections in social science reports tend to employ a combination of chronological and non-sequential descriptive structures. The study concludes that learner writers may benefit from access to the types of general, procedural knowledge that these discoursal structures employ.

text: Cognitive genre structures in Methods sections of research articles: A corpus study This paper reports a corpus investigation of the Methods sections of research-reporting articles in academic journals. In published pedagogic materials, Swales and Feak [Swales, J. M., & Feak, C. (1994). Academic writing for graduate students. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; Swales, J. M., & Feak, C. (2000). English in today's research world. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.], while not offering a generic structure, discuss the tendencies for Methods sections reporting research in the social sciences to be slow (or extended), and those in the physical sciences, such as medicine and engineering, to be fast (or compressed) – the metaphors of speed or density relating to the degree of elaboration employed in describing and justifying the research design and process. The aim of this study is to examine the differences between fast and slow tendencies in Methods sections in terms of their internal, cognitive discourse organization. Two small corpora, each consisting of thirty Methods sections (one for each of the two groups of subjects), are analyzed in two ways. First the corpora are rater-analyzed for their use of the organizational features of a cognitive genre model for textual structures (see Bruce, I. J. (2005). Syllabus design for general EAP courses: a cognitive approach. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 4(3), 239–256.) and secondly by the use of corpus software for linguistic features that characterize the model. The findings of the study suggest that ‘fast’ Methods sections that report research in the physical sciences generally employ a means-focused discourse structure, and ‘slow’ Methods sections in social science reports tend to employ a combination of chronological and non-sequential descriptive structures. The study concludes that learner writers may benefit from access to the types of general, procedural knowledge that these discoursal structures employ.

year: 2008

title: Māori tourism geographies: Values, morals and diverse economies

authors: Ringham, Sandra Lee

subjects: Māori tourism

abstract: Māori working in tourism negotiate moral terrains of their own world and those of visiting tourists, all of which are layered with colonial and capitalist values of Aotearoa New Zealand and beyond. We draw on research with Māori tourism providers in the North Island’s central, coastal and northern regions to address the question: How and in what ways do Māori working in tourism (re)construct their places and identities through practising Māori values in Aotearoa New Zealand’s tourism spaces? It is argued, using empirical material from interviews and par­ticipant sensing—a more-than-seeing form of participant observation—that diverse Māori values and practices shape tourism terrains and vice versa. The participants, who work with or for Māori tourism providers, practise and integrate Māori values into their lived geographies, and in doing so challenge dominant understandings of tourism, many of which are based on colonial and capitalist values. In this way, the participants reclaim and perform self-determination within Aotearoa New Zealand’s tourism spaces. This article focuses on two key themes. First, we look back at how past experiences of colonisation shape contemporary tourism. Second, we discuss the diverse and powerful ways Māori values reshape tourism geographies with a view to the potentialities of Māori tourism’s diverse economies.

text: Māori tourism geographies: Values, morals and diverse economies Māori working in tourism negotiate moral terrains of their own world and those of visiting tourists, all of which are layered with colonial and capitalist values of Aotearoa New Zealand and beyond. We draw on research with Māori tourism providers in the North Island’s central, coastal and northern regions to address the question: How and in what ways do Māori working in tourism (re)construct their places and identities through practising Māori values in Aotearoa New Zealand’s tourism spaces? It is argued, using empirical material from interviews and par­ticipant sensing—a more-than-seeing form of participant observation—that diverse Māori values and practices shape tourism terrains and vice versa. The participants, who work with or for Māori tourism providers, practise and integrate Māori values into their lived geographies, and in doing so challenge dominant understandings of tourism, many of which are based on colonial and capitalist values. In this way, the participants reclaim and perform self-determination within Aotearoa New Zealand’s tourism spaces. This article focuses on two key themes. First, we look back at how past experiences of colonisation shape contemporary tourism. Second, we discuss the diverse and powerful ways Māori values reshape tourism geographies with a view to the potentialities of Māori tourism’s diverse economies.

year: 2016