DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.

I interviewed three students simultaneously about their thoughts on taking Problem of God this discussion. I interviewed them at the same time to simulate a religious dialogue and see how their ideas bounced off of one another. 

 

Question (Q): Do you think Problem of God is a worthwhile course to take?

Thelma (T): Yes.

 

Marina (M): Oh definitely, it's so appropriate for this day and age.

 

Rachel (R): Yes, but our class focuses on philosophy, and we don't really have discussions. I've talked to my teacher about it, and he explained that it's his first time teaching the course, and he intends to structure it differently next time.

 

T: The best part about my class is the discussions - we hear from a lot of different people and perspectives.

 

Q: Would you argue then that the point of this class is discussion?

 

T, R: Yes

 

Q: Has Problem of God brought the religious dialogue outside of the classroom?


R: I mean...not really. I don't really discuss the course outside of the class.


T: Same, but I do talk to people about religion sometimes, and the classgave me a lot more information to base my arguments off of.

 

Q: Final question, has the course changed your beliefs in any way?

 

T: Well, no, but it has impacted my ideas about God.

 

Q: How so?

 

T: I'm questioning, and I really enjoyed getting to hear a lot of arguments about God's existance. I'm stilll not sure, but I feel better informed.

 

R: My ideas really aren't changed, but I do think more about them. Also, my course looked at Eastern religions and it was interesting for me to learn about different faiths as opposed to changing my beliefs about my own.

DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.
User-uploaded Content
DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.

In other, more informal conversations, I received comments like: "At least your learning about religion," in regards to my comment that I was reading about Islam while he said he was only studying Russian literature. Also: "I like my class, I just don't think it's small enough for a truly discussion-based course." Interestingly, his class has 27 people in it compared to the 38 in mine, and his class is the smallest one I've heard of.  

 

Overall, the general sentiment seemed to approve of Problem of God, the cornerstone of the Georgetown theological experience, but people hadn't really tackled bigger questions of religion outside the classroom. Students who were more actively religious discussed religious conversation, but generally occuring at their places of worship or simple with people of the same religion.     

 

Finally, it's worth pointing out that there is an Interfaith Council on campus, but people I've talked to were not really aware of its existence of what it's truly doing. A few people also expressed interest in it and talking about interfaith issues, but simply had no idea how to get involved.*


*Disclaimer: most of the students I talked to are freshmen, so the lack of knowledge about the club may simply be a product of being new to Georgetown. 

DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.