Professors at UCSD can keep religous texts on their desk, comply with religious dress or advertise religous events on the office bulletin board, all perfectly legal under the Civil Rights Act of 1964. But those pesky gray areas can clench the nerves of professors with religous convictions. They are forced to use great discretion as to how much religious influence they can or can’t bring into the classroom and the work environment.
While a few find it impossible to fully separate their beliefs from their lectures, it seems that many more are inclined to bury any hints of their religious identity under the desk to avoid the issue completely. But how far can the quest for objectivity go before it strangles diversity?
Students are often afraid of appearing offensive or too bold should they ask a professor directly about his religious beliefs, while professors must rack their brains to recall the rules. More often than not, instructors will give crafty, ambiguous answers, and students will return to class on Wednesday all the more curious. The personal and the public, as well as the scientific and the faith-based, do not easily coexist, so how and where do these instructors draw their lines? How do they separate these components of their identity?
Professor Babak Rahimi received his bachelor’s degree from UCSD in 1997 in philosophy and political science with the intention of studying law, but he fell in love with religion by studying in the humanities program and growing up in Iran in the ’80s, where he studied Sh’i Islamic rituals.
He is now a professor in the department of religious studies at UCSD and is in a difficult spot when it comes to this issue. Because he considers himself religious, it would seem to be a near-impossible feat to look at religion objectively with his students.
“Wherever you go, religion appears to be an essential feature of all human societies,” he said. “It is simply something that cannot be avoided. However, since teaching at the public university requires the production of scientific knowledge, religion in return has been marginalized as something that could jeopardize academic objectivity.”
Due to this type of environment, the pressure to remain objective is an ongoing battle that all professors must face, and many, like Rahimi, realize that putting their religion on the line is also toying with their credibility.
“Revealing your religious or nonreligious views to your students could make you seem biased and judgmental,” Rahimi said. “Students may not trust you or even listen to you as an instructor. There are many different reasons, both historical and sociological, why religion has been marginalized in academia.”
Due to varying perspectives on the separation of church and state, and more or less pressure according to subject material and level of religious commitment, each professor has his or her own way of solidifying the fuzzy lines of religious expression in the classroom.
“I am very blunt about my personal positions and private views when it comes to teaching,” Rahimi said. “I don’t think anyone could easily separate the private thoughts from the public displays of ideas. That assumes that somehow belief is an internal phenomenon that can or should be concealed from the public eye.”
Because of the clandestine nature of religion’s place in the classroom, students enrolled in courses explicitly discussing religious issues can’t help but be curious about their professor’s spiritual beliefs.
“First, I tell my students that I’m not here to teach the course as a theologian or a preacher of any religion, but a sociologist of religion, someone who is interested in the ways in which [humans] create, formulate and interpret ideas and doctrines and how they are put into practice in everyday life throughout history,” Rahimi said about his methods of setting boundaries for his classes.
As for the curious that show up at office hours or after class, seeking more specific answers, Rahimi remains prepared.
“When someone asks me, ‘So are you a Muslim?’ I say, ‘Please, define who is a Muslim,’” Rahimi said. “My problem with that question is that I don’t think religion can be reduced to the established forms of religion as we know today. After I make it clear to them that my religious beliefs range from a humanistic conception of moral conduct to ritualistically watching ‘Real Time’ on HBO on Friday nights, the student will then know that I never separate my beliefs from my lectures.”
Another faculty member looked for ways to create and maintain support for those staff at UCSD who may feel isolated because of their faith. Dean Tullsen, a professor in the department of computer science and engineering, founded the first and only religious staff association on campus, the Faculty and Staff Christian Fellowship.
“It’s important for all of us to know that we are not alone,” Tullsen said. “There are others who are trying to accomplish the same things, dealing with the same struggles and barriers. There is a different kind of fellowship I have with other Christian faculty and staff on campus that I don’t really have with other Christians who don’t know what it is like to be in this kind of environment every day.”
The idea for the association floated around back in 1996 when Tullsen and a friend on campus shared similar convictions and ideas and knew that a faculty member would have to step up to make it the fellowship happen. Tullsen, along with the help of a few other Christians, stepped up.
“My faith has always been a big part of what I do as a student, working at a job, or teaching,” Tullsen said. “I wasn’t looking for that kind of leadership role, but somehow it happened.”
At first, the group’s meetings were unofficial and open for lunch, but when the members wanted official status, mainly to make it easier to reserve rooms, things began to get more interesting.
“The application bounced around for a year or more — apparently it was quite a political hot potato, and no one wanted to touch it,” Tullsen said. “What I heard anecdotally was that many of the roadblocks were actually due to other Christians in the administration. They were convinced that we couldn’t do what we asked, whereas non-Christians were less likely to see a problem with it. That’s something we have seen over and over … Christians tend to assume that they are restricted by a lot of regulations that turn out not to exist.”
At the beginning, the group had six to 10 regular attendees, as well as additional members who showed up occasionally and stayed on the e-mail list. When Tullsen stepped down from his position as chair and Dave Wargo stepped in, the structure of the group changed to more distributed meetings (varied times Monday through Thursday) and Bible studies all over campus, which in turn increased membership.
“Groups like this are all over the country,” Tullsen said. “Ours is relatively small compared to other campuses, but one difference is that probably no other group has the kind of official status the FSCF association has. You could say that UCSD is unique in paying at least a little attention to religious diversity.”
Aside from this respect, there has been a fair share of harassment against the group, according to members. The problems range from trivial things like being reprimanded for exchanging e-mails with scripture verses using UCSD email accounts, or the occasional student who feels he or she has to take a strong non-Christian stance in C.A.P.E. reviews.
These incidents only serve as reminders to professors and students on a public campus of the boundaries they are still expected to follow, and as Rahimi explained, dealing with students can be tricky.
“If you ever put someone in a position where they feel the need to agree with you or pretend to agree with you, that violates ethical principles this campus takes very seriously,” Tullsen said. “So I don’t verbally identify myself as a Christian before the class anymore, but most seem to figure it out eventually. I hope my actions and values give me away. They do get several short lectures on integrity, however, because that is such an important topic to me. The idea that you can fully separate anything from your faith is absurd.”
