Learning from religion at a detraditionalizing Catholic university. The case of the required course "Perspectives on religion and meaning" at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium

Abstract

At the Katholieke Universiteit in Leuven (Belgium), all students are required to follow a course titled “Perspectives on Religion and Meaning”, taught by professors from the Faculty of Theology. This is remarkable since this university, in spite of its history, has a public character to a large extent. In this contribution, the peculiarity of this course is elucidated. Three difficulties with this course, of principal, practical and theological nature, are pointed out. Further, three opportunities of a course like “Perspectives on Religion and Meaning” are considered. To conclude, we draw some lines between these difficulties and opportunities to defend the value of a course like this, even in “pure” public universities.