The Project:  Academic study of the Bible has inherited a long legacy of tension with pastoral and ecclesial concerns. This project investigates one aspect of that tension:  the effect of taking college-level introductory Bible courses on students’ religious commitment.  This study will use the tools of sociology—theoretical constructions of commitment, survey methods, and data analysis—to grasp the effects of exposure to modern methods of biblical studies on students’ religious commitment. This project uses a modified form of the five-dimensional model of religious commitment pioneered by Charles Glock and Rodney Stark. The primary method for obtaining data will be through surveys of undergraduate students at a variety of public, private, and church-related colleges and universities. In addition to assessing students’ religious commitment, the surveys probe a number of factors that may influence their experiences in these classes (e.g., their views about the purpose of religion, level of openness to alternative religious traditions, perceptions about studying the Bible from an academic point of view, expectations about what they will learn in such a course). Another set of factors that will be taken into account concern the professor and his or her pedagogical choices (e.g., methodologies used, classroom format, handling of potentially controversial topics). This information will be gathered through surveys completed by the professors.

Participation:  The data for this project will be gathered primarily during the academic year 2009-2010. Professors who volunteer to have their classes participate in this project will need to provide e-mail addresses for the students enrolled in their class. Students and the professor will be asked to complete a survey during the first week of the semester and a second survey at the end of the semester.  Surveys will be administered on-line and will not take up any class time.  Each survey should take about 30 minute to complete.  The success of the project will depend upon a good response rate, so any encouragement/incentive professors can offer students to participate would be welcome.  This project meets appropriate ethical standards governing the use of human subjects; click here for a copy of the Roanoke College Institutional Review Board's approval of the project. If your college or university's Iinstitutional Review Board has any questions or concerns about the project, I will be glad to consult with them directly so as to minimize professors’ involvement with that aspect of the project. Questions can also be addressed to Dr. Ed Hamilton, Director of Academic Grants and Foundation Relations at Roanoke College (hamilton@roanoke.edu).

Outcome:  Data gathered in 2009-2010 will be analyzed and prepared for submission/publication during my 2010-2011 sabbatical.  I will be happy to share with participating professors the results of their surveys once the relevant semester has ended.

Who am I?:  I have taught and published  in the areas of Biblical Studies and Greco-Roman religions since 1996; see my Academic Homepage and CV for further details.  Work on this project, which has required expanding my academic training into the area of sociology, began in 2006. Roanoke College has generously supported this work through a number of internal grants.

If you are interested in taking part in this project, please follow the link below to tell me a bit more about you and an introductory Bible course that you teach. The survey should only take about 10 minutes; completing the survey does not obligate you in any way.  Please note that the survey mechanism will prompt you to complete items marked with an asterisk.