Religious studies and theology are not at all the same, and the latter discipline is often decidedly more faith-based. She should take a careful look at course requirements and descriptions while weighing her options.
Personally, I am a staunch atheist but would not have immediately ruled out a college with relatively flexible religious studies requirements. One can benefit from a deeper understanding of the composition, history, and reception of important religious texts like the Bible without following a particular faith or any faith at all.
There are quite a few religious studies scholars at major institutions like the Ivies who are areligious. Agnostic and atheist scholars are far more rare at religiously affiliated colleges, and the more hardcore religious colleges even require a statement of belief from faculty, but faculty at colleges like LMU, Fordham, Seattle U, etc. are aware that some of their students are not Christian, let alone Catholic, and that is not an issue from an academic perspective.
There are some excellent lectures online if she’s curious about what studying religion from an academic perspective looks like, such as the course on the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament by Christine Hayes at Yale.
I sent a pm but will put my opinion here publically as well.
Working at a Jesuit, I have attended many meetings where I could not tell who the priests were. If students are attracted to service to others and community, I tend to find those students more open to learning about other cultures and religions even when they don’t align with their own beliefs.
And my opinion, if people want to find out a bit more how many of the Jesuits are teaching at universities are (again, not all are like this but I’m finding this more the trend in the last few years in my experience), look for videos by Father Boyle. Now not all are as funny and entertaining as he is but that is more the vibe I get from the priests I have worked with in healthcare related majors at a Jesuit.
Yes! This is exactly our experience!
Thanks for your thoughts on Seattle U - daughters toured there and UPortland but I did not so I don’t have much sense of them.
When I read this, I felt that a Jesuit school would actually be an advantage/fit for this type of person; those are core Jesuit philosophies. The Jesuit schools that I have knowledge of (sadly, not on your list, but 3 others) are VERY open to all or no faiths, and Jesuit values in themselves are open and accepting and non evangelical, using that word as meaning trying to convert to a specific faith or tenet.
My D was raised in our Catholic household but was questioning by the time she got through high school. She did not participate in any religious services or activities and was never pressured to. There was a Christmas tree and Christmas celebrations, crosses here and there, and a religious youth group, and the move in /orientation kickoff was held in the chapel (optional attendance), by a priest, not a religious service, but I think that first day was about the extent of the direct religious presence of all four years. She took her two required religion classes, as others have said, these vary widely in subject and scope.
I don’t have much to add about these schools specifically but what I can add is that nursing clinicals are likely to be in the local catholic health systems. I’m from Portland originally and started my health care career in one of the city hospitals (not Catholic).
Portland Providence hospital is very good and leans more on the liberal side of conservative catholic institutions. I’ve read many articles about catholic hospitals in more rigid areas denying care for women as it relates to obstetrics/gyn. My dear friend is employed by the Providence system and never had serious trouble getting birth control because the doctors in Portland use the work arounds accepted by the church to provide the needed care. Yes, it’s a hoop to jump through but these doctors do it where the doctors in Texas hospitals for example would not.
I’m pointing this out because your daughter will face these scenarios with real patients at some point. Rape victims have been refused care in some places and referred to hospitals hundreds of miles away for treatment. This is where my bias lays. I could sit through a bible study course 100x over before doing clinicals in a facility that has a monopoly in a city forcing women away. Portland and Seattle have numerous hospitals and women are taken care of at a reasonable distance. Please research each region when making your choice.
Working at a Jesuit university in healthcare doing clinicals, here are my thoughts.
Yes, in my area there is 1 hospital system we have clinicals at that is more Catholic. However, most of the hospitals are not. I have worked as staff at the more Catholic healthcare system and still been able to get birth control. There is a noon prayer said over the hospital wide PA system. Most of the time I am busy and don’t even hear it.
In my area, rape victims can be seen anywhere but we do have a couple of specialty units where they have SANE nurses who are more experienced and more readily available so they may be referred there to ensure the evidence is properly collected (not because they are turning them away). None of the hospital systems here do non medically necessary abortions, those persons are referred to clinics. Students do not always have a choice of their clinicals. However, having to spend a few weeks in a facility is very different than voluntary employment. The good thing about clinicals is that if you see yourself staying in that area after graduation, you have better first hand knowledge about what facilities do align more with your values.
Thank you for sharing your experiences. It’s not a perspective I had thought about at all yet so I am grateful for the heads-up to look at this issue at a minimum when she’s job hunting as a grad.