Threshold concepts in religious studies: A qualitative and theoretical exploration of threshold concepts in a "nodal" curriculum.

This article explores "threshold concepts" in North American religious studies undergraduate education. The threshold concepts approach concentrates on how certain concepts or learning experiences can act like the threshold of a doorway that opens onto a new perspective for the learner. Crucially, t...

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Published in:Teaching Theology & Religion Vol. 24; no. 2; pp. 79 - 93
Main Author: Mosurinjohn, Sharday C.
Format: Article
Published: Wiley-Blackwell Jun2021
Subjects:
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
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        au: Mosurinjohn, Sharday C.
        affil: School of Religion, Queen's University, Kingston, Canada
      su:
        Religious studies
        Religious education
        Theological education
        Curriculum planning
        Cumulative instruction
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        subj:
          Religious studies
          Religious education
          Theological education
          Curriculum planning
          Cumulative instruction
      keyword:
        disciplinary identity
        nodal curricula
        sequential curricula
        social construction
        threshold concepts
        transformative knowledge
        unlearning
      ab: This article explores "threshold concepts" in North American religious studies undergraduate education. The threshold concepts approach concentrates on how certain concepts or learning experiences can act like the threshold of a doorway that opens onto a new perspective for the learner. Crucially, they come into play in learning to think like a professional within a discipline. Little work has been done on threshold concepts in religious studies. In this article I explore what threshold concepts might be central to it. I also distinguish religious studies as a "nodal" discipline, in contrast to "sequential" ones, and describe how threshold concepts function in a nodal curriculum differently than they do in a sequential one. Drawing on the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning literature, plus my own focus group data from religious studies faculty and students, I argue that the threshold concepts approach is useful for religious studies professors examining what concepts should be at the heart of our curricula and what it means to "think like a religious studies scholar."
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    language: English
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      custom: Copyright of Teaching Theology & Religion is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.
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