Relaci´ on entre Pretopolog´ıas y cuantales

academically, if

someone gets out

of hand people just

shoot you down’

‘If you come from a particular faith, you will approach issues from the perspective of your faith so, for example, you may believe in the afterlife whereas your patient might not, or vice versa.’

For some life sciences students, the issue of the dissection of animals can be a concern on the grounds of religion or belief. Where animals are used for experiments, some tutors provide a period of reflection about the procedure and ask students how the activity has enhanced their understanding of the subject. This is seen as a very helpful activity. One Hindu student noted:

‘The great thing about this university is at the end of the

experiment, when you have got a dead animal in front of you, we have a ten or fifteen minute discussion. We think about whether it has been useful. Was there any point in having this animal put down in order to learn? How can we change it for next year? They are constantly asking us about this so that we don’t take things for granted. At the end of the term, they ask the same question of the whole student group. I like the fact that it’s out in the open. Sometimes I agree, sometimes I don’t. Often it’s; come and have a go if you want to. I really appreciate their consideration.’

The teaching of some subjects can heighten the sensitivity of some academics to views expressed from a religion or belief perspective. One law academic explained:

‘I am conscious of the way I interact with students who may or may not be religious. I teach modules which include discussion about ethical issues. I teach a class on canon law. I am more aware of the need to keep it academic as opposed to when I am teaching criminal law.’

Some university staff expressed concerns about how to deal with academic issues when students engage with these from a stance that is clearly informed by their religion or belief. One inclusive

40 Religion and belief in HE: the experiences of staff and students

40 Religion and belief in HE: the experiences of staff and students 2 Participation and access

What role should HEIs take to support teaching that is both aware of religion or belief positions and sensitive to how they may intersect with the curriculum?

2.3

Dietary matters

of food to staff and students through a number of outlets, including shops, canteens, restaurants, student residences, buffets at meetings and social events. Many HEIs are mindful of the dietary requirements of staff and students. This is reflected in the responses to the survey.

Responses indicated that 18.1% of student respondents and 10.4% of staff respondents have dietary requirements in relation to their religion or belief.

Despite many HEIs working to provide for these dietary

requirements, 19.7% of students and 17.1% of staff respondents believed that no provision is made. Respondents to the survey made comments such as:

‘In addition to there not being any facilities providing halal or only vegetarian food, there is nowhere to eat in the university with strict separation of meat and vegetarian food.’

‘Food would have to be made by baptised Sikhs so normally I just take a packed lunch. Saves the effort.’

‘We wanted to make sure that people didn’t absent themselves from particular classes or modules based on what the content was going to be.’

Many HEIs provide opportunities for staff to undergo diversity training, and some offer information to academics and other staff to help them manage issues of religion or belief. One participating university produced guidelines to address the use of potentially controversial resources. These require staff to be able to articulate why they are using a particular resource, and to be explicit about this when developing learning outcomes. There is a clear rationale for this approach.

Table 2.9 Number of students indicating that their institution makes no provision for dietary requirements by religion or belief group   Number Percentage* Jewish 23 30.7 Muslim 79 22.2 Sikh 7 19.4 Other 7 10.0 Hindu 6 7.8 Spiritual 3 1.6 Buddhist 1 1.3 Christian 9 0.5 No religion 5 0.4 Pagan 0 0 Uncodable 0 0 Total 140

* of members of religion or belief group who responded to this question

Table 2.10 Number of staff indicating that their institution makes no provision for dietary requirements by religion or belief group   Number Percentage* Jewish 11 28.2 Muslim 20 22.2 Other 5 7.8 Hindu 4 7.5 Pagan 3 6.8 Sikh 1 3.5 Spiritual 1 0.7

42 Religion and belief in HE: the experiences of staff and students

42 Religion and belief in HE: the experiences of staff and students 2 Participation and access

Data gathered during fieldwork indicate that, while HEIs may make some provision for a range of dietary needs, this is not always applied consistently across catering outlets or for each religion or belief group. In particular, there seem to be particular issues relating to Jewish and Muslim (and to a lesser extent Sikh) dietary requirements. Jewish respondents explained:

‘The university should make kosher food available on campus, but it does not at present.’

‘Understandably there may not be a huge market for providing kosher food, however I fail to understand why the sandwiches not containing meat couldn’t be supplied from a kosher supplier, and would still be the same, ie egg mayo but kosher!’

Muslim respondents to the survey made similar comments, noting:

‘Halal food outlets on campus would be beneficial, as taking the vegetarian option all the time can become boring and also one cannot always be sure that vegetarian food has been handled with care without being contaminated by using utensils that have already been used to handle non-vegetarian foods. More care and assurance needs to be shown with this matter especially.’

‘My university has a halal certificate but does not clearly state what is halal and what is not, so most Muslim students, including myself, do not eat at the cafeterias.’

However, despite the similarity of the issues experienced by both Jewish and Muslim respondents (along with others), there were also a number of comments on the inequality of provision for different religion and belief groups.

‘There is always adequate provision for Muslim colleagues but not Hindus.’

‘There is plenty of halal food, but never anything kosher.’

‘...most Muslim