Curious - religious colleges - how much time is spent in each non-religious class on prayer/devotions/religious instruction?

[Bambam]

For those who have kids in religion affiliated colleges, how much time is spent in regular non-religious classes on prayers/devotions/religious instruction? I'm talking English, Math, History, Science, etc - academic classes specifically not about religion.  I'm assuming there is mandatory chapel either daily or several times a week as well?  Ranges are fine as I will assume it may vary with instructor and subject. 

 

[maize]

This varies widely by school. I attended BYU, and there was almost no time spent on religious discussion or activities in non-religion classes. There was a once-weekly non-mandatory university-wide devotional, and students were encouraged to take a two-credit religion course each semester (and needed a certsin number if religion credits to graduate). No mandatory chapel or anything like that, just Sunday services available for everyone.

[KimberlyW]

The college I worked at had a 15-minute daily chapel (attendance wasn't required but basically everyone on campus attended) and a few professors began their classes with a prayer (less than 1 minute).

Most things did get related back to faith at some point though.  For example, if you were in a business class, there's a good chance a conversation about how to do business in a Christ-honoring way would come up.  In biology, there were often faith-based ethical discussions and a few presentations on the pros/ cons of medical missions, etc. History students spent a lot more time on general church history than I imagine they would have at a secular college. Nothing over the top but definitely a key part of the school culture and climate.

[freesia]

I have two who are at or graduated from Christian college.  As you mentioned they have regular chapel attendance and religious class requirements.  In non-religious classes there is sometimes a prayer to start, but that is all other than the above mentioned ethics type discussion as those issues come up.

[Clemsondana]

My sibling went to a college that required a certain amount of chapel attendance each semester.  It was not more that weekly, and I think it was likely less.  I don't remember ever hearing about religion being a focus in non-religious classes.  I'd imagine it's somewhat like our co-op, where everybody is welcome and the classes cover the expected content.  Religion mostly comes up when ethics or morality are part of the topic.  I've got a friend who has taught A&P at a community college, a state U, and at a religiously affiliated college.  I can't imagine that there's much difference in what is taught in these classes, since college bio classes are often taught with an eye towards preparing students for health fields.  

[jplain]

I went to a Jesuit (Catholic) college.  Other Catholic orders might be different, but Jesuits are pretty mellow.  Half the student body was non-Catholic, and from what I observed, most of the Catholic students did not attend weekly Mass.  

Zero time was spent on religious activities during classes.  That includes the religion classes.  Religion classes were academic; they taught about religion but never proselytized.  

[cintinative]

39 minutes ago, jplain said:

I went to a Jesuit (Catholic) college.  Other Catholic orders might be different, but Jesuits are pretty mellow.  Half the student body was non-Catholic, and from what I observed, most of the Catholic students did not attend weekly Mass.  

Zero time was spent on religious activities during classes.  That includes the religion classes.  Religion classes were academic; they taught about religion but never proselytized.  

I went to a Marianist (Catholic) college and my experience was the same, although I would say probably 70% of students professed to be Catholic.  We had great discussions in the religion classes but there was no religion in the other classes that I remember.

[teachermom2834]

My dc have done de at a Christian college. They didn’t have chapel requirement because they were de but there was a chapel requirement for regular students and I believe it was Tuesday/Thursday so more than weekly. They did not take religion classes there but the amount of religious content in their other classes varied from alot to almost none depending on the teacher. 
 

For one literature class they would read things out loud and were expected to “blank” over any objectionable words while another literature teacher liked to be a little shocking. Most classes started with prayer but not all. It really varied wildly. 
 

This is a very conservative denomination and is known to be a conservative school (at least what is sold to parents of course) but students come from all walks and are not all in on the community covenant of course. 
 

My oldest ds visited a small Christian school where he was being recruited to play baseball and there I really felt like it would permeate every class and every aspect of life. 

I think Catholic colleges, with the exception of the most conservative ones, are where you are unlikely to have much religion in your other classes or daily life. My dd goes to Catholic high school and even there it is weekly mass and religion class really that religion comes into play. Sometimes English but not even always.

[Kristini2]

My oldest attended a Holy Cross (Catholic) affiliated LAC in the US. She was required to take two theology classes and one philosophy class. She was also required to take classes in diversity/inclusion as well as global perspectives among other things in their core requirements. The only religious service she attended her four years there was during freshman orientation weekend. There was no required chapel. Other classes had no prayer or religious content besides the usual touching on religion when it comes to discussing something like history. They teach evolution. She is agnostic and never felt unwelcome or like she didn’t fit in. Her commencement speaker was gay, other speakers during her time there often led with pronouns, so I would guess her school, while religiously affiliated, is more liberal than many religious schools. 

[regentrude]

16 hours ago, jplain said:

I went to a Jesuit (Catholic) college.  Other Catholic orders might be different, but Jesuits are pretty mellow.  Half the student body was non-Catholic, and from what I observed, most of the Catholic students did not attend weekly Mass.  

Zero time was spent on religious activities during classes.  That includes the religion classes.  Religion classes were academic; they taught about religion but never proselytized.  

Ds went to a Jesuit university. That was pretty much his experience as well. If I recall correctly,  they were required to take one class that had to do with theology/Christianity. 

No prayer in class, no mandatory mass attendance.

Edited June 13, 2023 by regentrude

[Bootsie]

I have taught finance and economics at two universities with religious affiliations--one Catholic and one Protestant. No time in my classes were spent on prayer/devotions/religious instruction,  Neither school as required attendance at mass or chapel.  The Catholic school required two theology classes--one was a required lower-level Intro to the Bible course; the second course was an upper level course which students had a wide range of choice about (from church history, to in-depth study of the Gospel of Matthew, to comparative religions...); The Protestant school required only one course, IRC, and there was even a wider range of classes there--and not all related to Christianity.   At both schools there would be a prayer, hymn sung, scripture read, etc. at graduations, first-year student orientation, and other major events.  

DD attended a Catholic University that is known for being "enthusiastically Catholic"  She never mentioned class time being spent on prayer/devotions/religious instruction or that there was an mandatory mass attendance.  The vast majority of the students were Catholic and did attend mass regularly; some professors did integrate religion with their subject matter (the relationship between the Church and art history, Catholic Social Teaching and Economics, etc.)  She also had some non-Christian professors.

I know other religiously affiliated universities are much different--some to the point of only hiring faculty members who are part of their denominational affiliation.  And, I have visited campuses where each class period (regardless of discipline) begins with a prayer.  You have to look at each specific school and see what its religious affiliation means.

[Farrar]

Honestly, I think your assumptions are backwards. While there are Christian colleges that require weekly attendance at services and have classes that open with prayer, that's not the norm these days. Even at Protestant schools, religion tends to undergird the school's operations and educational choices and be a major part of the community but not as big a part of the instruction in secular topics, at least not directly.

[Bambam]

I appreciate everyone's feedback. 

I'm not actually investigating religious colleges, but my children did take DC classes at a local 4 year religious college. As DC students, they were not required to attend chapel services. BUT ... and this varied from class to class/professor to professor - each classes started at least with a prayer but oftentimes more religious instruction/discussion with some lasting 20 minutes (not typical but happened often enough one child complained). 

And I've wondered - if all religious institutions did this amount of 'extra' religious instruction in non-religious classes, how could their academic offerings compare to non-religious colleges as the actual instruction time for the subject was so much less?  I mean, 50 minute class time - at a non-religious school that would be 45-50 minutes of actual instruction on subject while the religious schools had 30-40 minutes? Over an entire semester that lack of instruction time really adds up. 

So, I am going to assume that this school is just unusual, and that amount of non-class-related discussion/preaching is not typical. And it did depend upon the course and the individual professors.  

What want it is worth, we never considered this college for their real 4 year university - but it was handy for their DC courses. 

[stripe]

I would only anticipate colleges requiring church attendance and the like are a certain sort that is well known for being that way, and they often are not affiliated with any particular large religious group and/or do not accept federal financial aid. I don’t think most of these are the sorts of colleges that anyone outside that particular group would be interested in attending because they are religious first, colleges second.

[MagistraKennedy]

On 6/12/2023 at 11:10 AM, Bambam said:

For those who have kids in religion affiliated colleges, how much time is spent in regular non-religious classes on prayers/devotions/religious instruction? I'm talking English, Math, History, Science, etc - academic classes specifically not about religion.  I'm assuming there is mandatory chapel either daily or several times a week as well?  Ranges are fine as I will assume it may vary with instructor and subject. 

 

It varies WIDELY -- some schools have come off of our list because of mandatory chapel requirements and dress codes. When researching a college, I plug in the term "chapel requirements' into the search bar. We're open to a religiously affiliated college, but it still needs to be a good fit. 🤷‍♂️

College A: mandatory chapel 3 times a week
College B: mandatory chapel 5 days a week, dress code (including no shorts to class or chapel)