[LUM#3] The university at the bedside of secularism

[LUM Magazine] - Published on September 20, 2016 in Faculties, Schools and Institutes, Educational innovation, Science-Society

Giving new meaning to the concept of secularism: a crucial challenge that the university is tackling with two dedicated training courses open to professionals.

 "Secularism: an outdated idea?" However provocative it may seem, the question posed last October on a public radio station has the merit of shedding light on a reality: in the France of 2016, secularism is no longer taken for granted. Challenged, questioned, the old lady is looking for a second wind, 111 years after its consecration by the law of separation of church and state. At issue is the impression that its principles are out of touch with today's more complex social reality. And a growing inability to instill a sense of cohesion throughout society.

From principle to reality

Is it still possible to discuss secularism without raising passions? Yes, say two university educational initiatives. Possible and even necessary, according to Jean-Paul Udave, Director of the Montpellier Faculty of Education, which since 2015 has hosted a training course entitled "Laïcité et multiculturalité en situations professionnelles" ("Secularity and multiculturalism in professional situations"). The course traces the emergence and evolution of secularism from philosophical, historical and legal perspectives. "There is a need in society today for a better understanding of secularism, not as a value in itself, but as a framework for applying the principles enshrined in the French constitution: liberty, and therefore freedom of conscience and expression; equality, and therefore equal treatment of citizens whatever their religious affiliation or lack of it - the neutrality of the state on religious matters - and finally popular sovereignty, i.e. the fact that the law emanates from the nation and not from a religion. " So much for principles. Principles which Jean-Paul Udave acknowledges are no longer sufficient, on their own, to give life to a secularism widely perceived as an abstract idea. To respond to this need for meaning, the diploma devotes half of its courses to the study of practical cases. Offered as a continuing education program to professionals from a wide range of backgrounds, the diploma aims to provide participants with concrete tools for resolving conflictual professional situations.

Imams at university

The same objective, different methods at Montpellier's Faculty of Law, where the " Religions and Democratic Society " university diploma also devotes part of its teaching to the question of secularism. Inaugurated in 2005, the course was opened up last year to professionals, including religious leaders, while maintaining the principle of co-education. Faculty students now rub shoulders not only with deacons, imams and chaplains, but also with teachers, local government officials and community workers... Gérard Gonzalez, who is in charge of the diploma, explains its purpose: "The aim is to explain that France is a country in which religious freedom is very extensive, which implies rights but also a certain number of duties and limits...". In short, to shed light on the subtleties of secularism, which aims to protect the beliefs of each individual while at the same time guaranteeing the independence of the State.

Religious executives on university benches? The idea may seem surprising, but it reflects a new way of thinking about the place of religion in education. "The way in which the idea of secularism was incorporated into teaching may have been a little too militant, underpinned by the idea that religion was an exclusively private affair", analyzes Jean-Paul Udave, a vision that is now untenable in the face of the resurgence of religiosity in the public sphere.

Secular teaching of religion

While it seems inevitable that the software will have to be updated, the director of the Faculty of Education, which trains future teachers, believes that this will have to be done at school: "Institutions, and first and foremost schools, from nursery school to university, have a duty not only to explain the values of the republic, but also to bring them to life. This means adopting less lecturing teaching methods, promoting debate, empowering students...". It also means bringing religious facts into the classroom, as a tool of knowledge, in order to calmly support tomorrow's citizens in their quest for identity, and to prevent aberrations: "reading the Bible or the Koran in class can be shocking, but schools have a duty to emancipate, to educate to reason, and this is part of it".

Key words : Faculty of Education, Training, Secularism, LUM#3, LUM Magazine, University