The Value of Graduate Study in Religion

Amidst the several crises afflicting the academy as a whole and Religious Studies in particular, one question has not been directly addressed: Why should society as a whole support advanced (graduate) scholarly study of religion?  Have we, as scholars of the field, adequately explained or articulated the value of graduate study in religion as a scholarly benefit and as a benefit even beyond the academy?  What, in other words, is the value of advanced graduate study in the field of Religion? This roundtable panel will address this question. It is composed of scholars who work centrally in graduate training in religious studies, in public universities and in private ones, in university divinity schools, and in confessional and non-confessional settings of scholarship. The participants in this panel will offer very brief remarks, followed by a respondent, and then the panel as a whole will take questions from the audience.