On Teaching Religion

For more than thirty years, Jonathan Z. Smith was among the most important voices of critical reflection within the academic study of religion.Smith had also produced a significant corpus of essays and lectures on teaching and on the essential role of academic scholarship on religion in matters of education and public policy.Education was not a side issue for Smith, and his essays continually shed light on fundamental questions.What differentiates college from high school? What are the proper functions of an introductory course?What functions should a department serve in undergraduate and graduate education?How should a major or concentration be conceived-if at all?What roles should the academic guilds play in public discourse on education and on religion?Most importantly, what does it mean to say that one is both a scholar and a teacher, and what responsibilities does this entail?Smith's writings on these crucial issues for education have been largely inaccessible until now.Some piece