My low level  of understanding of this  topic led me to delay preparation of  this post. However, I have found that this piece of work has helped me both to understand and develop a clearer idea of the complexity of “Faith”.

It was useful to learn about religion in Britain, reading the paper ‘Religion in Britain: Challenges for Higher Education.’ Modood & Calhoun, 2015. However, perhaps more up to date data could have increased the relevance,

The paragraph that relates to “A national church (or churches), as key organisers of this public good, belong to the people/country, not just its members and clergy” struck me as a critical concept., I was also intrigued to find how secular criticism has had an impact in some of Church’s decisions. Finally I would highlight that the concept of religion as a “public good” and “public bad” in relation to State intervention is something I hadn’t ever considered before.

Highlighted below are some concepts which I felt were important in my overall consideration of the impact of faith in my role:

• Higher education institutions  need to ensure that members of minority faiths are treated with appropriate respect and accommodation by other students and staff. 
• Because it is important to many students, but perhaps even more so in public life, both locally and globally , it is crucial for universities to recognise religion – and the place of religion in public life – as matters worthy of their intellectual attention. 
• Some Muslims may define their Islam in terms of piety rather than politics, just as some women may see no politics in their gender, while for others their gender will be at the centre of their politics. 

I especially connect with the last point, I believe that these different perceptions depend on our personal experiences and views. We shouldn’t consider anything as a given and we should recognise the space religion takes in our students’ lives and respect it. Personally, I would like to increase my knowledge of different religions as an exercise of recognition, acknowledgement,and  respect. This might allow me to be able to approach different intellectual discussions as highlighted in the paper.

I have always seen the concept of multiculturalism as a positive , as contained in the introduction from Kwame Anthony  in the  Reith Lectures. I would have never thought that it would have created so much debate.  In  summary, I deeply resonate with the following sentence. “This multiculturalism or multiculturalist sensibility can manifest itself in listening to the demands of  religious groups, in encouraging dialogue between religious groups and society, and in treating religious discrimination and incitement to religious hatred seriously, and enforcing the law through an agency such as the UK Equality and Human Rights Commission”.

Having lived in the Middle East for over 6 years I can recognise the profiles described in the Shades of Noir article, Alia Youssef. – strong independent women with a clear view on faith and other aspects in life. This article reminds me of many of the muslim women I met in those years. For the ladies who were part of my team in Dubai and female colleagues working in Saudi Arabia. faith was part of their identity, and they felt proud and honoured. I worked with them very closely and we had a mutual relationship of respect and admiration. As a team we achieved big goals and our diversity as a team was part of our success. This is why my aim in all my academic roles (lecturer, tutor and mentor) is also to “be an inclusive ally for others and seek consent always”, as the article mentions. How to do that? I believe by creating a comfortable space based on trust and where we could have open respectful dialogues. Using SoN as a tool to start these meaningful conversations will definitely be a must.

Modood, T. and Calhoun, C. (2015) Religion in Britian: Challenges for Higher Education.

Appiah, K.A. (2016) ‘Creed’, Kwame Anthony Appiah . The Reith Lectures. Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07z43ds (Accessed: 06 July 2023). 

Shades of Noir, “Alia Youssef”, pp. 50-51