I wanted to start by examining Kwama Appiah’s talk, and the point he makes about the categorisations of world religions as being seen as ‘other’ to Christianity, as I believe this to echoe other topics of discussion across the IP unit. We discussed the prejudices and dangers around seeing disability as ‘other’ to being able-bodied / neurotypical, and will go on to discuss race, and any race that isn’t white being seen as ‘other’ to whiteness. None of these statements as a concept are new but they’re important to be aware of as we discuss decolonisation and develop teaching practices that actively move away from straight, white, able-bodied and Christian being the default.
Appiah argues that “there is no such thing as religion” – basing this statement on the fact that it is impossible to provide one singular definition when there are so many religions out there. I disagree – the word religion itself can be used as an umbrella term – what’s the point in having rigid binary definitions anyway? We don’t see the same with other terms; ‘disability’ is encompassing of physical disabilities, mental health issues and neurodivergent traits, the term ‘queer’ can refer to many different sexualities, the term ‘trans’ is also spectral – allowing many different gender identities to exist under the same umbrella. Why not the same for the word ‘religion’?
Talking about definitions is interesting though, as definitions differ with understanding of a subject. For people who have been exposed to harmful rhetoric about a group, their definition of that group of people is probably a negative stereotype. Haifaa Jawad writes about how harmful stereotypes are against Islam, with Islam proclaiming “the equal value of men and woman as essential contributors to the private and public life of society”, yet many viewing it as a religion that oppresses women. This harmful stereotype can lead to people assuming that women would therefore not be allowed to participate in sports, therefore they are not automatically included. By not being automatically included dress regulations are drawn up without encompassing Muslim dress codes, which therefore excludes Muslim women from participating in certain competitive sports. The cycle of assumptions and stereotypes creates further exclusion and needs to be broken in order to be combatted.
Jawad also exists in the world as a woman of colour, her experiences not only marked by people’s perception of her faith but also of her race. Jaclyn Reki states that “religion may be a source of difference that is connected to other sources of difference and points of oppression”. Combatting stereotypes and perceptions and dismantling the systems that sets certain religions and races as ‘other’ against the default is the only way forward.
I struggle to think of the faith considerations withing my own teaching; as a technician I am teaching software, health and safety, and machine operation. Within a wider academic teaching context it’s important to be inclusive of all faiths, and to decolonise the teaching examples used (eg, challenging the bias towards discussing exclusively European religious art as art history). Within my role it’s more important to be tackling internal biases – ensuring we give equal help to students of different backgrounds and helping them access what they need no matter what our assumptions are about them (and dismantling these assumptions in the first place).
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references:
Appiah, K.A. (2014) Is religion good or bad? (This is a trick question). [YouTube video]. TED. Available at: https://www.ted.com/talks/kwame_anthony_appiah_is_religion_good_or_bad_this_is_a_trick_question (Accessed: 28 May 2025).
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/ (Accessed: 28 May 2025)
Reki, J. (2023) Religious Identity and Epistemic Injustice: An Intersectional Account. Hypatia 38, pp779–800.
Hi Jules. Thanks so much for sharing these reflections. I was trying to consider what the relationship might be between religion-faith-belief and technical workshops. Might any of these apply?
– Re: H&S – anything to do with dress codes/hair length that might affect people with religious dress? Anything to do with implications of fasting? (I know some workshops get hot!)
– Is there anything in workshop opening times that includes/excludes people whose religions include particular religious observances? I tend to think that everything about our institution centres around Christian observances (Christmas and Easter breaks, our weekends)…
Hi Carys,
Great points! In the machine room of the workshop it is important that students do not have anything dangling in front of them while operating machinery (hair, head scarves, jewellery, etc). This is made clear to them in their inductions, and is explained to be for a safety reason – so everyone is given the same rule as a baseline before even getting to the machinery which should hopefully aid in making sure people don’t feel singled out if asked to do something when it seems no one else was asked the same. We have disposable ear defenders which are more like ear plugs than the over-ear noise cancelling ear defenders, this is so that students with religious headgear or larger hair that may not fit under the usual ear defenders are still able to access the workshop.
One thing that happened recently was that the LCC archives donated a large print poster of a retro health and safety sign designed by Tom Eckersley (ex-LCC staff and famous graphic designer) – the poster features a shocked blue face with long black hair getting stuck in a machine (out of shot). While a nice illustration and a piece of LCC design history, we opted against putting the poster up in the workshop as asked as the hair looked like a hijab, and it felt like a violent image to put up on the walls. It could very easily have been visually misinterpreted and made students feel uncomfortable. It also had text saying that the technician must be listened to, referring to the technician only as “he” – in a workshop staffed by majority she/her technicians (with one they/them and one he/him) it felt weird to only have the “he” as the one to be listened to.
UAL term time in general definitely revolves around the Christian calendar, with the main break points in the terms coming up at Christmas and then Easter. Historically workshop access has been limited during these times, which means that students who celebrate religious events during other points of the year may end up missing valuable workshop open hours, and then find that when they are free and available to make work that the workshops are closed. This year has seen LCC’s first cohort of 12 month MA students, and following their working schedule has meant that the workshops did not close over Easter, not even to BA students, so while it has left staff a bit burnt out it was able to provide more access for the full cohort of students which should hopefully even out the disparity. The workshops also remain open over the summer to students on the 12 month MAs and students who have applied for ECs, which should hopeully improve access.
Our open hours of 9-5 may not be particularly suitable to students who have to fast, as these hours are almost always guaranteed to be during sunlight and with the intense labour needed to operate machinery and do complex processes access could definitely seem a bit offputting. What we are able to do is try to make sure students are as comfortable and supported as possible – no one who was feeling tired would be left alone with a bandsaw, and we are more than able to step in and offer greater assistance for students who need it. This was not due to fasting reasons, but we did have someone pass out on a sofa from exhaustion in the laser room once and wake up very confused, in scenarios like this we are able to offer students private space in one of our offices to give them the dignity to recover and come to.
I agree with your sentiment about ‘othering’, I find it very unhelpful. Is interesting that you disagree with Appiah use of the work religion I found his perspective really refreshing incorporating spirituality and culture into how we think of faith. I agree with you that it should be seen more as an umbrella term, but I do think most people still associate the word with specific categories, so perhaps it is about looking at ways of moving away from that narrow view of the term.
Like you say even with in the ‘big religions’ there is a lot of nuances and every individual practices their faith in them on way so grouping everyone that has the same faith in a similar box is prejudicial. I think there needs to be more representation of individuals with the same different views and practices. I was reminded of the incident in Frace a few years back where Muslim women where banned form wearing burkinis which just ended up excluding Muslim women even further form public spaces.
I’m a technician to and also find it challenging to incorporate this topics formally in my practice but I think in a way our relationship with students and how we treat them and celebrate them has a big impact, as we often get to know them well as they spend a lot of time in the workshops, so what you are doing is great, making them feel welcome no matter who they are or what they believe and teaching them valuable practical skills.
Hi Paula, actually – after reading everyone else’s blog posts that reference Appiah’s work I am more inclined to agree with you – I think I interpreted the title and opening statements about religion not existing very literally and focusing in on this wording instead of the full breadth of the context he was talking about.
I agree that we need more representation of individuals from a variety of faith in all social contexts (eg sport, advertising) however I think that education and conversation will really be the key in turning the tides against religious descrimination. Representation and visibility without action behind it can be meaningless.
As technicians we often get more contact time with out students than their academics and tutors do, so you’re right – being open to students of all different backgrounds and making sure they feel as safe, heard and comfortable as possible is the key to inclusion within our roles.
Hi Jules
I was also really struck by Kwama Appiah’s talk challenging the separation of life, knowledge and religion. I also struggle to find ways of bringing belief and learning together in the classroom and I wonder now if that is a direct result of this Western sense that religion and knowledge are separate things. Your point about the misrepresentation of ‘othered’ religions is interesting, particularly the observation about the exclusion of Muslim women coming from institutional dress restrictions, which are then understood as religious restrictions. I don’t think there is always an obvious thing we need to do differently in our work, its sometimes more about having a greater awareness and sensitivity to the multiple dimensions students bring to all aspects of their learning.
Hi Anna, I think as you say the western sense of knowledge and relilgious belief being two separate things, ie that what is known through a religious belief does not constitute knowledge in the scientific sense that requires concrete evidence, definitely permeates through academia to the point where they are now so separate it is almost too hard for us to imagine how we can even integrate religious knowledge into our teaching. Perhaps this is where our own internal beliefs and religious practices (or lack of) reach up against a wall, and it is necessary to bring in other people. Perhaps in academia this could look like hiring more diverse guest speakers who talk about how their faith fits in with their academic/artistic practice from the point of their faith being as important as their academic/artistic/technical knowledge. Perhaps in technical spaces it could be bringing in someone to examine the ways we operate and interact with students to tell us if there is anything we are doing that could be excluding to students of particular faiths. I think it is hard to examine our own actions and think about how to integrate faith into our teaching practices when we have been so drilled into belief that these are two separate things, which is where the religious knowledge of practicing religious individuals could help us out.
That’s not to say there aren’t things we could do by ourselves, including looking at and diversifying the curriculum, offering alternatie working / tutorial hours to students who have religious obligations, and calling out any prejudice we see in the classrooms or workshops, just to start with. Having a greater awareness and sensitivity is definitely key.