Policy on Experiential Elements
Introduction
Study of Religions at Bath Spa University places a particular emphasis on experiential elements. By this we mean learning opportunities that involve students in meeting members of faith communities in their own centres and places of worship. This has been foundational to Study of Religions programmes, and a distinctive feature of our curriculum for over thirtyfive years has been the one-week fieldwork placement in a religious community.
Rationale
We consider experiential elements to be so important for two reasons.
First, experiential learning is widely recognised to be a particularly rich and deep form of learning and second, because of its resonance with the centrality of religious experience within faith traditions. According to
Jennifer Moon (1994: 120) experiential learning is believed to offer ‘a favoured manner of learning’ because of the unmediated nature of the process that is based upon direct experience and active engagement as well as the role of reflection and the availability of feedback. Further, the experiential dimension is basic to religions from the visions of seers and sages to the less spectacular, but every bit as important, sense of life’s meaning and purpose.
Thus experiential elements, involving direct encounter with religious people in religious places alongside reflection on this experience, offer especially valuable learning opportunities that can foster genuine respect for and appreciation of another life-world.
Forms of Experiential Learning
Among the forms of experiential learning deployed are:
Tutor-led day visits to places of worship (often local)
Extended study trips abroad accompanied by tutors (summer school and fieldwork in Korea)
Fieldwork placements (usually national)
In addition, some students engage in ethnographic research for projects and dissertations.
Another form of experiential learning occurs where an integral part of a student’s programme is a vocational placement in a professional context relevant to the study of religions. For example, students might undertake an internship with a not-for-profit organisation with a religious motivation

or volunteer to work within a Religious Education department or faith school.
Principles informing this Policy
The successful provision of experiential elements entails respect for the beliefs, practices and values of host communities and centres alongside respect for the beliefs, practices and values of students on programme. It is founded upon the establishment of good and mutually beneficial relationships between Study of Religions and host communities and centres.
Given the focus on living religions, students are required to engage in experiential learning in the form of the fieldwork placement but are offered a range of other opportunities. Consistent with this, the fieldwork placement is compulsory within a compulsory module while optional modules may include a compulsory or optional experiential element.
Where an experiential element is compulsory, it will be assessed. Where it is optional, it will be offered to enhance learning and thereby to inform assessment.
In order to ensure that all students benefit from experiential elements, every effort is made to address issues that determine whether and how students can participate. Attention has to be paid to Health and Safety to ensure the well-being of all students.
Implementation of this Policy
Study of Religions enters into discussion with and briefs both host communities and centres and students on the conduct of experiential elements. Study of Religions provides documentation that details the roles and responsibilities of its own staff, students and host communities and centres (for example, memorandum of understanding/contract, information on degree programmes, placement handbook, information on community/centre). Remuneration of host communities and centres can take different forms as appropriate, such as the payment of fees, making of donations and/or provision of services in kind.
The fieldwork placement can be conducted either individually or in a small group and either on a residential or non-residential basis though the community or centre must be unfamiliar to the student. Tutor-led day visits to places of worship are arranged on a group and non-residential basis and, depending on students’ own backgrounds, may involve visiting places of worship that are either familiar or unfamiliar. Extended study trips abroad are group activities but residential, and involve study of unfamiliar traditions and cultures.
The fieldwork placement, employing ethnographic methodology, is integral to a core module. The extended study trip abroad constitutes an optional module in its own right. Various tutor-led day visits to places of worship are planned to support learning in other modules. Experiential elements are assessed where they are compulsory, either in a compulsory or in an optional module. Their assessment often takes the form of projects and

presentations but, in the case of the summer school in Korea, the group produce a DVD. Other experiential elements are treated as formative rather than directly contributing to summative assessment.
Study of Religions conducts impact assessment to facilitate the full participation of students, irrespective of their age, gender, sexuality, family responsibilities, disability, ethnicity and religious adherence. Study of Religions also conducts risk assessment so that any physical or psychological risks can be identified and minimised.