Adriana’s project resulted from research developed through a Hooper Undergraduate Research Award (HURA). Adriana worked closely with CCS Lecturer in the Comparative Study of Religions Dr. Diana Murtaugh Coleman to apply for the award and during her research. Learn more about her project in the abstract below. Adriana is pursuing a major in Physics and Astrophysics with a minor in Mathematics at NAU.
Abstract: Before COVID, a collegiate-level introduction to world religions course would often be taught in large lecture halls, containing upwards of one hundred students. Now, with courses of this size being changed to hybrid or online only models, a textbook has become a necessity in ensuring that students can access information for the course, but there is a problem. Textbooks are inherently biased sources, though not all students will immediately recognize them as such. To help combat this issue, this project examines collegiate level texts and content from both the United States and abroad to locate types and quantities of bias in course materials. The main trends to be examined are: word choice, content covered in each religion, order of contained content, information referencing other religions, and the primary author’s background. The United States content is focused on three texts: Invitation to World Religions by Brodd et al.; Religion Matters by Stephen Prothero; and Ways to the Center- An Introduction to World Religions by Denise L Carmody and T.L. Brink. The international information comes from the compiled content lists of the University of Sydney, Australia, and Trinity College, located in Dublin, Ireland. Upon completion of data collection and analyzation, it is students of Northern Arizona Universities’ REL150- Introduction to World Religions course who will benefit most. Each student will receive a digital or paper flyer describing the most common biases in their book, thus allowing them to prevent themselves from falling victim to the flaws in their text and increasing their religious literacy.