UAL Religion and Belief Champions Forum
How could you apply the resources to your own teaching practice?
Exploring the UAL Religion and Belief Champions Forum page led me to remember how my religion, being visibly muslim intersected with my higher education experience. As someone who doesn’t drink within a culture that places great importance on networking in pubs was quite an adjustment. There were end of unit exhibition where I had to request to have soft drinks, even though I wasn’t the only one that didn’t drink alcohol. I remember the struggle of trying to balance Ramadan, fasting for 17 to 18 hours a day while trying to get all my work ready for my final year submission. I would never expect the timetable or anything to change due to chosing to observe Ramadan but I did find it difficult to wake up for sahoor (meal eaten before dawn), pray, try sleep before leaving for 10am lectures.
While navigating the website, I came across the Religious Observance and Festivals Calendar by UAL.
“The calendar indicates if a particular festival involves fasting or a restriction on work, in order to highlight dates that are likely to have a particular impact on participation or attendance.
UAL departments are encouraged to consider the festivals calendar when planning major events. There are a range of ways in which the festivals calendar can be used to inform the planning of inclusive events, including:
- scheduling events to avoid particular times or days
- ensuring participants are aware of UAL facilities such as quiet spaces for prayer and reflection
- arranging alternative ways of participating in the event eg, through making resources available online
- referring students and staff to the UAL Chaplaincy or Student Societies who may host events to make particular religious festivals”
Within my own teaching practice, I would make a note of the restricted dates
- Rosh Hashanah: Sunday 25 September – Tuesday 27 September 2022
- Yom Kippur: Wednesday 5 October 2022
- Sukkot: Sunday 9 October – Sunday 16 October 2022
- Chinese New Year: Sunday 22 January 2023
- Passover: Wednesday 5 April – Thursday 13 April 2023
- Eid al-Fitr: Satuday 22 April 2023
- Eid al-Adha: Wednesday 28 June – Sunday 2 July 2023
I would also make a point to generally make these festivals and important dates known to my students/ within email I.e “wishing those celebrating a happy Chinese New Year”. This would also not place a magnifying glass on those students who do observe these festivals and also eliminate the bias in assuming who is/ isn’t participating.
Reading the interview by Saffron Mustafa in the ToR Higher power: Religion, Faith, Spirituality and Belief, it reinforces the importance of understanding that your religious/ spiritual connection is a journey and plays varying roles in people’s lives (Interview with Saffron Mustafa, 2017). The interview also highlights how our intersecting identities and perceived identities (Mustafa’s dad changing his last name and struggling to find a job or her mother’s ethnicity being questioned due to wearing the hijab) can influence our experience with religion in a society that supposedly adheres to secularism.
According to the Student Equality Diversity and Inclusion Report 2021, 58% of UAL students do not have a religious belief and it is equal important to be respectful to their choices as well (UAL, 2022).
Bibliography
Canvas.arts.ac.uk. n.d. Religious Observance and Festivals Calendar. [online] Available at: <https://canvas.arts.ac.uk/sites/explore/SitePage/45803/religious-observance-and-festivals-calendar> [Accessed 5 July 2022].
Canvas.arts.ac.uk. n.d. UAL Religion and Belief Champions Forum. [online] Available at: <https://canvas.arts.ac.uk/sites/explore/SitePage/46573/ual-religion-and-belief-group> [Accessed 5 July 2022].
UAL, 2022. Student Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Report 2020/21. [online] Available at: <https://www.arts.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0025/325267/Student-Equality-Diversity-and-Inclusion-Report-2021.pdf> [Accessed 5 July 2022].
HIGHER POWER: RELIGION, FAITH, SPIRITUALITY & BELIEF, 2017. Interview with Saffron Mustafa. [online] p.28. Available at: <https://shadesofnoir.org.uk/higher-power-higher-power-religion-faith-spirituality-belief/> [Accessed 5 July 2022].