ERIC Number: ED375724
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 1994-Nov-11
Pages: 34
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"How Can My Faith Be So Different?": The Emergence of Religious Identity in College Women. ASHE Annual Meeting Paper.
Anderson, Caitlin
This study explored the spiritual development of college women, to gain an understanding of what religion, spirituality, and faith mean to them. Interviews with three college women explored issues critical in their religious lives, revealing the emergence of their faith and religious identities. The three were entering their fourth year at a large, public research university and belonged to an intergenerational group exploring issues of Christianity and feminism. The women tell stories of how they have come to integrate the dominant, external perception of Christianity with their own internal, personal understanding of Christianity. Each of the women talked about the need for information, for arguments in support of their new ideas, and for ways to discuss ideas such as feminism and social justice within Christianity. Each of the women was working to integrate faith into every aspect of their lives. Findings suggest that the women were struggling to integrate the public understanding of faith and Christianity with their internal beliefs about what it means to be a feminist Christian. The use of narrative is presented as a valuable research methodology in higher education research and more specifically as an appropriate method for studying a topic such as faith development. (Contains 52 references.) (JDD)
Publication Type: Speeches/Meeting Papers; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
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Language: English
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