Introduction/Career in Religious Studies?

Joseph Campbell formulated what became his most quoted dictum, "Follow your bliss" in the decade before his death. Join this conversation to explore this idea and share stories.

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Paradigm
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Introduction/Career in Religious Studies?

Post by Paradigm »

New to the forum, not to Joseph Campbell. Background about myself; started reading Joseph Campbell almost two years ago; found The Hero with a Thousand Faces and The Power of Myth in an antiquarian bookstore in the mountains while camping in June/July 2011 (seems like the perfect place to find his books), but before that I had a small interest in (historical) occultism and moving into European mythology, reading the works of Hilda Davidson.

Since then I've read from the likes of Guenon, Eliade, Jung, etc. (in regards to religion), and I'm also on the forum AsatruLore.org, which is dedicated to historical research and reconstruction of pre-Christian practices and beliefs, the members of that forum put out the online Odroerir Journal, and have even received recognition from Dr. Karl Siegfried who teaches at a Chicago university and also runs NorseMyth.org which won best religion blog of 2012. Needless to say, I have an interest in folklore and comparative mythology/religion.

I also play guitar and write songs influenced by the works of Campbell and Jung. With that being said, I'll lead up to my question.

I stopped going to community college in 2010, took a road trip across the country for about a month, and I haven't been back. Was an engineering major, and decided that I do not want to do that. Since then it's been rather cloudy on what I want to do. Now that I'm 24 I feel that something has to happen. My girlfriend and I were going to get our own place this summer, but she's also conflicted and is thinking of going back to school, which puts me in the same place.

Right now my only analogy of life could be Camu's The Myth of Sisyphus. I'm rather content, but am I going to work low-end jobs all my life til something out of the blue comes up? Seems like a pipe dream. If I went back to school the only thing I could think of doing would be majoring in religion and mythology. This was recently even more reinforced when some people told me The Hero with a Thousand Faces was being used as a textbook in their classes. Only thing is I don't want to feel even more dependent and "unmoving" going back to school at 24, not just that, but what financial future would I have with a degree in religion? I can read all these books on my own now with the only cost being the book themselves. Oddly, all the people I graduated with who went off to a university are in debt with hardly any job experience, while the others who immediately went into a trade are married buying houses (not that I'm comparable material success, but being stable with some sort of security).

So to cut through all that, what does one do? I could be practical, and just settle for a trade just because it'll sustain me more than what I have now, or take a wild leap back into school, which will only keep me tied down for a few more years, with the chance that I may still struggle afterwards. If I was to "follow my bliss" I'd just keep playing folk music and expect to make something of it, but it's even more of a pipe dream.

So a more direct question; what can a religion major do? Opportunity wise, what's the job outlook?

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Post by Cindy B. »

So a more direct question; what can a religion major do? Opportunity wise, what's the job outlook?
Hi, Paradigm, and welcome!

I did a quick web search and found this: Why Study Religion? The entire site's worth a look, of course. Good luck!

:)
If the path before you is clear, you’re probably on someone else’s. --Jung

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Post by Paradigm »

Thanks. I had previously looked at that site, and even like most college pages, it provides little insight while just repeating itself over and over.

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Post by Cindy B. »

What other specific information, then, are you looking for, Paradigm?

Clearly the job opportunities are going to depend on the educational track that you choose to follow. Which direction seems to interest you most?

:)
If the path before you is clear, you’re probably on someone else’s. --Jung

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Post by Paradigm »

I guess the answer I'm looking for is more of whether or not it's a realistic choice, and what to expect if one does major in religion/myth.

I think teaching would be interesting, but more so to develop and explain my "own" theories and foundations in religion.

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Post by Cindy B. »

Along this line you'd most definitely need a Master's degree or Ph.D.

Have you also done a web search on programs that specifically focus on mythology or folk lore?
If the path before you is clear, you’re probably on someone else’s. --Jung

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Post by Paradigm »

I looked up my local community college (TCC) and university (ODU), of which is geared towards Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, and seems to have other religions/myths rather sidelined. If, for example, I received an associates at my community college (religion course description and humanities) I wouldn't begin to study other religions til I transferred to ODU, which for some reason is under "philosophy and religion" and not just "religion" like the Abrahamic religions.

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Post by Cindy B. »

Wow, Paradigm, it was surprising to see the number of religion courses offered at TCC. Pretty cool, I think, and community colleges are always a good way to get required core course work out of the way, too, prior to transferring to a university, e.g., English, science, math, history, etc.


I spent some time looking around the ODU web site and found this undergrad. program: IIS Individualized Interdisciplinary Studies. Had you seen it?


As for the BA in Philosophy and Religious Studies, it looks like an excellent course of study to me. I'm biased, though, given that my undergrad. minor was in philosophy (of mind).


I also checked out the ODU graduate programs since you said, "I think teaching would be interesting, but more so to develop and explain my 'own' theories and foundations in religion," and ran across these programs:

Five-Year Bachelor's-Master's Degree Very cool and very challenging.

Institue of Humanities: M.A. Emphasis Areas It sounds as if you would be guided in designing your own course of study. Cool.

And unless I missed it somehow, it seems as if ODU does not offer a PH.D. in your area of interest.


Last, a bit of info. re: job outlook for a Professor of Religious Studies: http://www.degreesfinder.com/online/hum ... es-degree/

Paradigm wrote:I guess the answer I'm looking for is more of whether or not it's a realistic choice, and what to expect if one does major in religion/myth.
Whether you pursue studies in VA or go elsewhere, the educational opportunities and experiences in religion will be similar in most respects to those at ODU, and at least a Master's degree will be a must for you. A Master's degree will prepare you for teaching at the community college and high school levels, while a PH.D. will most likely be required to teach and pursue research at the university level. So, then, does this seem like a realistic choice and path for you? You can always reach out to an ODU professor or advisor in the field, too, to gather more information.

And I just want to point out that should you focus on mythology and/or folklore rather than on religion at the graduate level, you're looking at a much different course of study. For instance: http://www.gradschools.com/search-progr ... d-folklore and http://www.folkstory.com/gradpgms.html


:)
If the path before you is clear, you’re probably on someone else’s. --Jung

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Post by Clemsy »

Hi Paradigm! Another way of looking at your situation, which might seem more of a long term risk, is to just do what your instinct is telling you to do. This is the heart of Campbell's 'follow your bliss.' If this course of study is calling to you, go ahead and do it. It's not that such a course will land you a career per se, but if you are on the track you should be on to fulfill yourself, then opportunities will occur when you least expect it.

Is this your bliss? If so, follow it. :-)

Cheers,
Clemsy
Give me stories before I go mad! ~Andreas

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Post by ALOberhoulser »

There's always religious folk music - :D - combining your talents :idea:

http://www.youngarts.org/music-master-artists
Science cannot solve the ultimate mystery of nature. And that is because, in the last analysis, we ourselves are a part of the mystery that we are trying to solve.
~Max Planck

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Post by Paradigm »

Thanks for the links Cindy. The thing for me is that religion and mythology (and some folklore being "lower mythology") are the same to me, it's whether or not one is ritually and psychologically active (or to quote Campbell, mythology is what we call other people's religion). I'm not a Christian, so I can evaluate Christian myths as myths, not "active" for myself (this does not mean I don't understand religious and symbolic significance). This is sort of my problem with studying religion and mythology in an academic setting. It's much more geared towards to the Abrahamic religions (especially the religious courses at my community college). Pre-Christian European religion/myth and Eastern religion (specifically Hinduism) as well as European and Appalachian folklore are my interests. Oddly enough it seems that mythology is taught in the literature department, and some people in the area have told me in those classes you can't go a day without hearing Jung and Campbell's name. To me it seems like an odd division that people can't see. It wouldn't be til after I received my associates that I'd begin to study other religions.

Clemsy (this can also be in regards to Cindy as well), one thing I've had people tell me was to never just go to college for something you like. Think about what's practical. I've known people who majored in philosophy and ended up changing their major or simply just dropping at for the time being. One must consider the time spent in school, what work experience one will have geared towards potential career opportunities, the accumulated debt, and how many years after before said debt is paid off.

I think I do a lot of things that follow my bliss (reading books of interest, playing music, and doing anything that I find fun or enlightening that gives a memory or experience), but I don't know if I'm settling on going back to school to fill some "void" or to fill some view from "society" that I'm not productive enough, or that since I find this area of interest to me easy to understand that I'll take the easy way out and study religion/myth with no real goal besides a stroke of my own ego (because I know I'm good at it). I don't think there's a demand on something subjective like religion and myth besides simply studying it, which anyone can do on their own. At the same time touring small venues playing neofolk could also be following my "bliss", it just doesn't make a solid foundation for the future.
ALOberhoulser wrote:There's always religious folk music - :D - combining your talents :idea:

http://www.youngarts.org/music-master-artists
I actually have two (positive) folk songs about Lucifer - but that's generally on the fringe of what people think religious folk music is (I sort of refrained myself from playing them at local open mic nights).

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Post by ALOberhoulser »

Let the sh!+ hit the fan!! Think about Bob Dylan going electric the next time you are reluctant to play an original - shock is a feelin' - something!! 8)

Soar with the phoenix :!: Image

..a rolling stone gathers no moss :wink:

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Post by Paradigm »

Heh, shock would be probably upsetting the Christian individuals of the audience. One of the nights I was going to play them I decided to play something else, and luckily I did as two of the spoken words done that night were regarding some aspect of Christian worldview - and I'm the one that's going to play a song with the chorus of "And it goes to show, how little people know / The garden is the serpents place / And it goes to show, that the god you behold / Is now just a disgrace".

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Post by Clemsy »

Paradigm,
Clemsy (this can also be in regards to Cindy as well), one thing I've had people tell me was to never just go to college for something you like.
This is the opposite of what I tell my seniors! You're older than that and perhaps your options are limited as a result. Of course, one must do what one has to in order to pay the bills, but there has to be some fulfillment, no?

The course of study your're interested may not be a career track endeavor, but there's nothing to say you can't satisfy that desire while pursuing something more "practical." Then see what turns up.

I started college when I was 20 or 21 and majored in English because that's where my heart is. Finished it and started a communications major thinking to become a speech pathologist. Met a woman who pointed me toward a job as an assistant teacher in a special ed school. (I'd always loved working with young people.) Became a special ed teacher. Got my Master's in Ed. Taught special ed for 20 years. Somewhere along the way my English degree was enough for certification in English.

For the past 8 or 9 years I've been an English teacher.

You never know. :-)
Give me stories before I go mad! ~Andreas

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Post by ALOberhoulser »

Paradigm wrote:Heh, shock would be probably upsetting the Christian individuals of the audience. One of the nights I was going to play them I decided to play something else, and luckily I did as two of the spoken words done that night were regarding some aspect of Christian worldview - and I'm the one that's going to play a song with the chorus of "And it goes to show, how little people know / The garden is the serpents place / And it goes to show, that the god you behold / Is now just a disgrace".
What weighs heavy - the "Christian individuals of the audience" being "upset" (that's not your cross to bear ) ... OR "Iwas going to play" (regret) ??

How are you ever going to get feedback if you internalize this dilemma in your (he)art? Put it out there, or let it go. Make a youtube video, don't sit on it and later, regret it.

Put your lyrics in the Original Works thread - get it out of your system - don't worry about offending anyone here.

Peace!
Science cannot solve the ultimate mystery of nature. And that is because, in the last analysis, we ourselves are a part of the mystery that we are trying to solve.
~Max Planck

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