Alyssa N. Rockenbach

Fostering the Pluralism Orientation of College Students through Interfaith Co-curricular Engagement

Innovative approaches aimed at helping students engage with diversity abound in higher education institutions, but an understanding of effective practice in the realm of religious and worldview diversity is limited. Based on data collected from 13,776 college students attending 52 institutions across the country, this study employs multilevel modeling to examine how informal interactions with peers of diverse worldviews and participation in interfaith activities relate to pluralism orientation. The analyses reveal that student characteristics, measures of campus climate, and both formal and informal interfaith engagement relate to pluralism orientation given controls for institution-level differences. Some relationships in the model are conditional on student religion/worldview.

Perceptions of the Campus Climate for Nonreligious Students

Based on a campus climate survey involving 633 respondents from two institutions, this study examined perceptions of nonreligious acceptance on campus as a function of students’ religious identification and strength of commitment to worldview. The findings suggest that atheist students are less inclined than are their peers to perceive a positive campus climate for nonreligious individuals. In addition, committed Christians tend to have more positive perceptions of the nonreligious climate than do students of other worldviews.

Faith and LGBTQ Inclusion: Navigating the Complexities of the Campus Spiritual Climate in Christian Higher Education

ABSTRACT In an era of rapid societal change, institutions of higher education are grappling with how to ensure that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) individuals are safe and supported on campus. Many challenges remain as LGBTQ students, faculty, and staff are subject to continued acts of discrimination and subtle microaggressions on a regular basis, according to national assessments of campus climate. When religion and spirituality are salient on campus or in the lived experiences of LGBTQ people, the complexities of faith as it intersects with sexuality and gender identity become increasingly apparent. In this essay, we portray current issues concerning the campus climate in an effort to imagine how Christian higher education leaders might respond in light of institutional aims to promote the spiritual growth of all members of their campus communities.

Complicating Universal Definitions: How Students of Diverse Worldviews Make Meaning of Spirituality

This study employed qualitative content analysis to examine the written responses of 1,071 college students to the open-ended survey question, “What does spirituality mean to you?” Connectivity is core to the way many students depict spirituality and is inherently multidimensional, as students emphasize both “external/transcendent” and “internal/immanent” spiritual connections in life. Pathways to spiritual connectivity are distinctive across worldview, with faith, belief, religiosity, and equanimity playing major or minor roles, depending on the student’s worldview.

Campus Religious/Worldview Climate, Institutional Religious Affiliation, and Student Engagement

Student affairs practitioners and scholars are paying greater attention to issues of religion and spirituality on college campuses. The present study explores the link between campus religious/worldview climate and overall student engagement within a longitudinal sample of 14,517 undergraduates at 134 colleges. When controlling for various student and institutional characteristics, attending an institution with an inclusive religious/worldview climate is positively associated with participation in study abroad, service-learning, engaged learning pedagogies, and interracial interactions.

An Examination of Non-Muslim College Students’ Attitudes Toward Muslims

ABSTRACT The current study enhances the understanding of campus climate for religious and worldview diversity by examining how non-Muslim college students perceive Muslims and Islam and what predispositions, environmental factors, and experiences predict their attitudes toward Muslims. Results indicate that informal engagement with diverse peers, interfaith engagement, and space for spiritual expression on campus are positively related to appreciative attitudes toward Muslims. With respect to specific worldviews, Unitarian Universalist and agnostic students tended to have more positive attitudes toward Muslims (relative to peers of other religions), and Eastern Orthodox and evangelical Christian students tended to have less appreciative attitudes.

How LGBT College Students Perceive and Engage the Campus Religious and Spiritual Climate.

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to compare how students of diverse sexual orientations and gender identities perceive the campus religious and spiritual climate and engage in interfaith and spiritual activities during college. Using data from a national study of 13,776 students at 52 institutions that took part in the Campus Religious and Spiritual Climate Survey, results indicate significant variations in perceptions and engagement by sexual orientation and gender identity. In addition, worldview identity shapes the relationships between sexual orientation and gender identity and perceptions of and engagement on campus.

The Connection Between Interfaith Engagement and Self-Authored Worldview Commitment

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between interfaith engagement and self-authored worldview commitment among 13,776 students enrolled at one of 52 institutions. Results indicated an association between formal and informal interfaith engagement and that this relationship was conditioned upon self-identified worldview. Implications for student development theorists and practitioners are discussed.

The Association Between Worldview Climate Dimensions and College Students' Perceptions of Transformational Learning

Based on 13,776 student respondents to the Campus Religious and Spiritual Climate Survey (CRSCS) across three academic years at 52 colleges and universities, this study examined how aspects of the campus climate for religious and spiritual diversity related to student perceptions of transformational learning in college. Perceived transformational learning was associated with college experiences that provoked new ways of thinking and presented challenges to preexisting assumptions of reality, ceteris paribus. Some effects were conditioned on students’ self-identified religion/worldview. Implications are discussed.

Building Inclusive Community by Bridging Worldview Differences: A Call to Action From the Interfaith Diversity Experiences and Attitudes Longitudinal Survey (IDEALS)

Abstract Adapted from a keynote address delivered at the 2017 Dalton Institute on College Student Values, this article introduces findings from the Interfaith Diversity Experiences and Attitudes Longitudinal Survey (IDEALS), a national study aimed at identifying the high-impact practices most conducive to students’ interfaith learning and engagement. Informed by data collected from more than 20,000 first-year students attending 122 diverse colleges and universities, the article addresses how higher education leaders can build community, cooperation, and trust on campus in an era of intensified religious, ideological, and political conflict.