Bryant, A. N. 2006. “Exploring Religious Pluralism in Higher Education: Non-Majority Religious Perspectives among Entering First-Year College Students.” Religion and Education 33, 1-25.
A growing number of today’s college students do not participate in mainstream Christian religion but claim another religious tradition. What do these students—Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists, Jews, Unitarian Universalists, and the nonreligious—believe about life, the sacred, and other big questions, and how do they practice their faith? Using data from a Higher Education Research Institute study, Bryant explores the great diversity in spiritual beliefs among these students. “Without question,” she writes, “members of non-majority religions contribute not merely one ‘other’ voice to the religious discourse in the U.S., but a collection of voices, each expressing its own unique perspectives, principles, and foundational ideologies and values.” The report includes an analysis of minority religion students’ political beliefs and personal ethics as well as the stability of their beliefs.
