Creating welcoming and supportive campus climates for Buddhist students: Barriers and opportunities

There is scant available research and scholarly discourse related to the unique needs and experiences of Buddhist students in US higher education—even in the small but growing body of literature on religiously minoritized college students. In this chapter, I summarize what little research does exist...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:New directions for higher education 2024-07, Vol.2024 (206), p.53-63
Main Author: Edwards, Sachi
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult Literacy
Buddhism
College campuses
College Environment
College Students
Cultural Influences
Dormitories
Literacy Education
Minority students
Religion
School environment
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Summary:There is scant available research and scholarly discourse related to the unique needs and experiences of Buddhist students in US higher education—even in the small but growing body of literature on religiously minoritized college students. In this chapter, I summarize what little research does exist on Buddhist students, and explain the broader historical, societal, and cultural factors that serve as important context for making sense of that research. Focus points include curriculum, institutional policy, and student affairs. In the end, I offer recommendations to faculty, administrators, and student affairs professionals regarding what they can do to help create more welcoming and supportive campus climates for Buddhist students. Practical Takeaways Buddhism is internally diverse and Buddhist students often understand religion and express religiousness in ways that greatly differ from Christian and many other religious students. For that reason, creating welcoming and supportive campus climates for them looks different from common ways institutions attempt to do that for students from other religious groups. Creating a designated Buddhist prayer space on campus may not be very helpful to Buddhist students. Things that are more likely to help include: providing religious literacy education to all students, creating an inclusive religious accommodations policy and interfaith calendar, permitting the use of incense in residence halls, hiring a full‐time student affairs professional dedicated to working with Buddhist students, regulating proselytizing on campus, avoiding appropriation of Buddhist traditions, and engaging with Buddhist students directly.
ISSN:0271-0560
1536-0741
DOI:10.1002/he.20499