After engaging with the resources for this blog, an initial thought that stuck with me regarding faith and how it intersects with someone’s identity is how in essence faith and identity are intertwined and shouldn’t be seen as separate, independent, factors, as Kwame Anthony Appiah says ‘there is no such thing as religion about which to make these claims.’ (Appiah, K. A. 2014) To me this quote highlights this – it’s important to remember when being critical about faith you are also being critical of someone’s identity. ‘I think one of the real challenges we’re facing in our society is a tendency to try and paint entire communities with a single brush stroke.’ (Trinity University, 2016) Faith tends to succumb to sweeping generalisations and the resources highlight the importance of nuance and understanding as each person approaches their faith differently, and often it’s an inseparable factor to their own individual identities. I think perhaps we have a tendency to separate faith and identity, as something you choose, but the resources highlight how this isn’t always the case. As Jaclyn Rekis says on religious identity as a social identity and worldview: ‘these two aspects of religious identity inevitably co-exist.’ (Reki, J, 2023)
Growing up I went to church and went to a Christian secondary school (despite not being religious – which reminded me of a joke made by Kwame Anthony Appiah: ‘Oh, so you belong to the atheist branch of the Hindu tradition.’)(Appiah, K. A. 2014) but I understand that my upbringing isn’t the norm for a lot of people, as Kwame Anthony Appiah also says about Christianity: ‘it’s an extremely specific tradition.’ (Appiah, K. A. 2014) It’s important not to assume others subscribe to the worldview that I was brought in to, specific to myself, and understand their own experience with faith, and other intersectionalities of their own identity gives them an experience unique to their perspective. I try to be conscious of this in regarding my own teaching context, for example with artist references I give, hopefully more accurately reflecting the diverse cohort of students at UAL.
As Simran Jeet Singh says: ‘everyone has their own experiences, everyone has their own perspectives.’ (Trinity University,2016) Another point I kept coming back to regarding the texts and workshops 3 & 4 is the importance of putting in the work yourself to understand others, as Jaclyn Rekis talks about ‘Epistemic Injustice’ and lack of knowledge of others inevitably creates. ‘individuals can be harmed in their capacity as knowers when their testimony is wrongly diminished according to inequalities in social power.’ (Reki, J, 2023) This is highlighted in Students’ Experience of Identity and Attainment at UAL, with one student saying ‘She felt misunderstood and that she could not reveal her creative intention, which centred on her faith stance, to her tutors because she believed that they would not take it seriously.’ ( Duna, S. 2017) This brings me back to the importance of understanding how my own worldview is unique to me and gaining a greater understanding of other worldviews inevitably creates an environment where social power is diminished as the prejudices of misunderstanding are decreased, similarly reflected by Haifaa Jawad our prejudices ‘are often based on lack of knowledge and understanding about each other’s lives.’ (Jawad, H, 2022)
References
Duna, S. (2017) Students’ Experience of Identity and Attainment at UAL, Final year 4 report of a longitudinal study for the University of the Arts London. Project Report. University of the Arts London, London.
Appiah, K. A. (2014) Is religion good or bad? (This is a trick question). Youtube [Online]. 16 June. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2et2KO8gcY
Reki, J. (2023) Religious Identity and Epistemic Injustice: An Intersectional Account. Hypatia 38, pp779–800
Jawad, H. (2022) Islam, Women and Sport: The Case of Visible Muslim Women. [Online]. Available at: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/religionglobalsociety/2022/09/islam-women-and-sport-the-case-of-visible-muslim-women/
Trinity University (2016) Challenging Race, Religion, and Stereotypes in the Classroom. [Online]. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CAOKTo_DOk
Hi James
Enjoyed reading your blog. It really highlights the diverse students we have at UAL, and the important position we are fortunate to be in allowing students to have their own identity in their work.
“it’s important to remember when being critical about faith you are also being critical of someone’s identity”.
This quote you have really shows the impact in which we assess or give feedback to students regarding projects that they may be investigating. On the course I work on, we really allow the students to talk about these ideas – faith, gender, and equality and the impact it has in their home countries. As laws and rights may vary for them, and to ensure we are not only referring to our own cultures, giving them an opportunity to teach us and remove any hierarchical systems that they feel.
You’ve very usefully flagged Singh’s comments about own experiences and this has helped me focus on what I can bring to my own teaching practice – As a technician who is open about his sexuality with students, I have found students to be more comfortable talking about their faith or gender identity and neurodiversity in the studio space. In the context of putting in the work yourself, to investigate or understand different cultures or tribes, sometimes I struggle with this in my teaching practise, due to the fact we are always busy in supporting students. I have not been given any time aside for development besides the Pg-cert to do research. I was wondering how you manage with this – does your department set aside some time for you to do some research or like me, it must be done outside university time.
Hi Navin,
In my role I find I’m only really talking to students about the design, or materiality of their work and very rarely delve into the deeper meaning behind what they’re creating, or conceptual ideas within it. For example, one student was creating a sculpture using the laser cutter which I helped him design and assemble but later found out he was using it for a performance art piece. I’m a performance artist so we could have had a more interesting discussion on how to use it in that context and the thoughts behind it, but the discussion never got to that point because of the lack of understanding of me as a practitioner and from my end, the student and their work. It’s something I’ve thought about a lot – how do I reduce this barrier and have more fulfilling discussions with students?
As for research, ultimately as a practicing artist I am always developing my skills, trying new ideas etc. but this is ultimately done in my free time. I have a studio where I develop my own practice and there are times at work which are quieter in which I can learn new skills (which are key to my role) but no dedicated time to set to me to do this. I think it’s unfortunately is a common complaint amongst technicians at UAL that the university doesn’t seem to address.
James, I really enjoyed reading how you’ve internalised the messages in the resources, especially the point that faith is an essential aspect of identity for many people but also the message about the importance of nuance, personal differences and individuality rather than making generalisations about faith
I also appreciated that you shared honest reflections on your personal experience of faith growing up and how that potentially impacts your worldview, while considering the way faith creates unique worldviews for others, too, via the resources.
I think it’s really interesting that you drew on a UAL resource from a previous week about student experiences of faith and intersectionality, as this is a tangible example of how our institution is approaching these issues and the need to improve so that social power structures are abolished.
I’d be interested to know how you feel you might approach these ideas of understanding the nuances of faith and identity for students in your own teaching context.
Hi Dalia,
Thanks for your comment. Ultimately, within my role the discussions I have with students are about the materiality of their work and never delve into conceptuality and deeper thoughts behind it, which is something I’ve thought about a lot and how to address. I suppose this is the relationship students have with technicians – we are here to help them make their ideas and the tutors are there to help them think of their ideas. I think there needs to be less of a gap between the technician/tutor divide but that’s a whole other discussion.
If a student approaches me with designing work that is more personal or reflects their faith, identity etc. I try to be as considerate as possible but again the conversations usually only revolve around the design of the work. For example, one student was designing a model of a Mosque and luckily I happen to work with someone who’s an expert in Islamic geometry so I could pick his brain in how best to assess, but if he wasn’t there how would I go about this? I suppose this goes back to a lack of knowledge and in increasing my own knowledge not only would it benefit myself but my ability to help students with a wider, more diverse, range of ideas.
I enjoyed the personal experiences that you brought into your blog… it reminded me of the slide that Dr Singh shared in the lecture last week and the sharing of his experience in the bookshop which I felt added great depth and I respected and valued.
Hi James,
Thanks for sharing your thoughts! The importance of understanding one’s worldview and in turn gaining a greater understanding of other worldviews is so essential to our roles. Being student facing, there are greater opportunities to understand the students in a co-creative environment such as the workshop. I often place emphasis on speaking to the students not as a technician but as a fellow artist, I find the students are comfortable when there is a common ground that is met. I understand you are a performance artist yourself; do you feel this has enriched your discussions with the students?
Best,
Priscilla
Hi Priscilla,
Thanks for your comment. I believe speaking to students as fellow practitioners and breaking down the barrier of teacher/student has allowed for much deeper and progressive conversations where a learning exchange can happen and it’s something I try to be mindful of.
I find with my own practice, often students have no idea that I’m a practicing artist or what I do, so when I find common ground with a students work I will explain my perspective from that point of view – and suddenly they see you less as a teacher but a contemporary which I think is very beneficial.