Disciplines
• Military Science
• Naval Science
History and background: The study of
military campaigns throughout history often
can be linked to factors involving religion.
Some conflicts are directly related to religious
belief; other conflicts are influenced by
religion in how alliances are made and countries
are mobilized for periods of war over the
notion of belief. Many conflicts have roots
in religious and cultural disagreement, sometimes
going back centuries. In today's society,
the war on terror has been compared to a war
against Muslim extremist philosophies. It
is almost impossible to understand the situations
in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as the events
of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, when religion
is removed from the conversation. Understanding
the nature of conflict from a religious perspective
gives vital help in both defense and working
to avoid violent conflict by anticipating
areas of conflict before they occur.
Strategic communication:
The U.S. and its war on terrorism have been
portrayed by some as a war on Muslims by
a Christian nation. In some cases the U.S.
military has been successful in changing
minds on that theme, but the belief persists
in other parts of the world. The Center's
unique position within the School of Journalism
can link those interested in military research
with those in the field of strategic communication
in an effort to study ways in which the
military can change its message or frame
it into one that has a broad effectiveness.
In particular, conflict theory might be
useful because it has been studied as a
public relations tool for helping organizations
get their message out more effectively and
navigate the pitfalls that come with an
uneven public response to their message.
Military life: Current
events have focused on the religious practice
of military officers while in uniform. Others
have examined how a soldier can practice
a faith in a time of war and what they can
do when they are facing direct orders that
violate their own religious beliefs. For
some there might not be much conflict between
military and religious practice, but it
is useful to attempt to identify and understand
those instances when a military member might
field conflict between those two worlds.
Work done through the Center on Religion &
the Professions in ethics
and religion might foster research that
examines how a person could attempt to solve
these issues, and ways in which the military
can help anticipate those conflicts more
readily and deal with them effectively.
Workplace diversity:
As the military becomes more diverse in
terms of gender, ethnic and religious makeup,
these issues will come to the forefront
more often than they have in the past. The
Center focuses on workplace diversity in
terms of religious practice, attempting
to help workers understand how to work through
differences in the workplace that are affected
by religion, even if on the surface the
issue does not appear to be a religious
one. It also could help in terms of teaching
about religious tolerance, whether that
could come in terms of harassment of those
who practice other religions within the
military; those one encounters while serving
in another country; serving as or working
with chaplains from a different faith tradition;
or the fact that some in the military might
choose a non-Christian or non-religious
symbol on items such as headstones in national
cemeteries.
American
Academy of Religion Syllabi Search
Association of Muslim Social Scientists of North America
Association of Professional Chaplains
Christian Nuclear Fellowship
Conference on Faith & History
International Association of Christian Chaplains
National Association of Catholic Chaplains
National Association of Jewish Chaplains
North American Christian Foreign Language Association
• See a full list of professional associations and resources here.
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