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Reflecting on #academia for a minute over here. I teach undergrads, mostly non-majors. My SLAC is cutting and cutting and travel budgets are minimal. I went to #StMikes #Regis at #UniversityOfToronto for a talk recently & paid out of pocket. #EliotInstitute of #ecotheology hosted #CeliaDeanne-Drummond of #Oxford’s #LaudatoSi Institute. So, you know, I HAD to! It was an inspiring day, helped me see what new work is happening, networked a bit, talked to students, spread word re my book. It was…
…like an adrenaline shot to scholarship. Arguably necessary for my productivity. A very efficient use of #funding b/c this #scholar is rarely on my side of the Atlantic & it was 1 overnight + gas. But 0% chance that my employer would pay for this trip. Yet ecotheology isn’t my hobby. I write and teach in this area. This is labor for which Canisius hired me & costs of staying “cutting edge” come frequently come out of my own pocket. But here’s the #UnpopularOpinion part of my thinking:
…I don’t think my current #IntroToReligion #students should foot the bill, either. They benefit, but indirectly and over time. Arguably my upper-level students? But that seems a disproportionate burden. My #work aims to help the #Church and the world. And #helping the world is part of my employer’s reason for existing, right? Education? #ReligiousLiteracy and all that? So how OUGHT the funding work, for scholars like me? Current system seems wrong & is demonstrably unjust (cf #ContingentFaculty
But what is the answer? My #academic #guild needs a broad base of members, including SLAC scholars. My #Church needs it too. My students should not be paying out for this. They cannot be expected to have accumulated the $$ to cover a tuition bill that includes support of #AcademicResearch. The practice of student loans does not address the burden/benefit misalignment here. Yet #HigherEd has conceded to the narrative that #College is a product for students to buy.
…… As this continues, I think we can see what will evolve: the guild will lose all scholars except the R1, grad school/seminary profs at institutions that can pay for research support. Undergrads in the US (already no bastion of #ReligiousLiteracy ) will be less well educated in religion & theology. (Don’t even get me started on #ethics.) The base of #theologians and theological voices in the Church will get quieter and smaller. Christianity in the US is becoming increasingly, well, dangerous….
….. so now what?
Also: I probably need to learn how to “thread” these properly. Apologies. Inspiration came before the means was ready to manage it. Story of my life.