Social Science Research Council

The Immanent Frame is a valuable pedagogical resource for teachers and students studying religion, secularism and public life. Through short-format essays and ongoing exchanges, contributors to The Immanent Frame develop and discuss new ideas in an accessible language appropriate for both undergraduates and more advanced graduate students.  Readers of these essays can participate in the discussion themselves—not only by posting comments to the forum online, but also by incorporating the essays into courses, seminars and workshops.  A number of professors have already included essays posted at The Immanent Frame in their syllabi. Many others teach courses on themes and books being discussed by our diverse lineup of contributors.

If you are interested in using The Immanent Frame as a teaching tool in your own classroom and have questions about how this might be possible, please feel free to contact editor-at-large Ruth Braunstein. There are many ways that The Immanent Frame can contribute to your classroom experience. Below are some examples:

1.     Assign a reading from The Immanent Frame.

Sample assignment:

If your class is reading Charles Taylor’s A Secular Age, consider assigning a handful of posts from our critical discussion about this book to shed light on some of the key themes in the book.

2.     Suggest that your students submit comments at The Immanent Frame and use these as a basis for class discussion.

Sample assignment:

All members of the seminar should read The Immanent Frame throughout the semester.  Each member of the seminar should submit a comment on at least two blog posts that appear on The Immanent Frame.  These short comments (under 500 words is fine) should contain thoughtful reflections on the intellectual content of the piece or criticisms of the author’s specific arguments.  At various points in the semester, we will raise issues drawn from The Immanent Frame.  After posting a comment on The Immanent Frame, alert the members of the seminar.  Time permitting, be prepared to discuss what you have read on the blog at each session.

3.      Require your students to write mock blog posts for The Immanent Frame.

Sample assignment:

Your final “mock” blog post should be no more than 1,200 words in length.  It should take up one of the themes being discussed in class, and to the extent possible, engage critically and constructively with the ongoing discussion about this topic at The Immanent Frame. I will share these posts with the editors of The Immanent Frame, and your piece could potentially be selected to appear on The Immanent Frame as a published piece.

[Please note that there is no guarantee that these pieces will be published, although there is a higher chance of publication if students choose to engage with one of our currently actively discussions.]

** Sample assignments 2 & 3 based on syllabus from David Kyuman Kim’s “Works of Memory” seminar, conducted in the Spring 2009 at the Cogut Center for the Humanities, Brown University.

FAQs

What is The Immanent Frame?

Launched in October 2007 by the Social Science Research Council, The Immanent Frame is a collective blog publishing interdisciplinary perspectives on secularism, religion, and the public sphere. The blog serves as a forum for ongoing exchanges among leading scholars across the social sciences and humanities, featuring original essays about controversial issues, major new books, and world events. As more scholars and public intellectuals turn to the blogosphere to disseminate their ideas to different audiences, The Immanent Frame has established itself as a hub for some of the most exciting and serious discussions about secularism, religion, and the public sphere. Announcing our launch, the widely read political blog Crooked Timber suggested that our online forum would help “broaden debate about these issues beyond the usual suspects,” and as we emphasize high intellectual quality, dynamic discussion and critical debate, we hope that we are doing just that.

Looking for more information to share with your class about The Immanent Frame?

Visit our “About us” page.

How should my students and I cite posts from The Immanent Frame?

Citing posts from The Immanent Frame is simple. At the bottom of each post, there is a link that says “[view academic citations].” Click this link and the exact citation for the post will appear in a variety of formats that you can simply copy and paste into your syllabus.

Aside from The Immanent Frame, does the SSRC offer any additional Teaching Resources related to the study of secularism, religion, and the public sphere?

The SSRC’s program on religion and the public sphere is in the process of developing a set of Teaching Resources that may be useful to you. Check back regularly for updates on this project.

Feedback

If you have used The Immanent Frame as a teaching resource in your classroom, we want to hear from you. Please contact Ruth Braunstein to provide feedback on this experience.