This paper is a report on a research project which explored the views of students of Religion Studies in an Australian secular University, the University of South Australia. The research examined the students’ perceptions regarding the influence of their studies of religion on their knowledge, understanding and attitudes. Globally the importance of cross-cultural and cross-religious understandings has been highlighted by recent events in Europe and the United States. This has led to increased concern about the religious literacy and understanding of students particular in secondary schools. The same issue is reflected in the Australian context by recent calls in South Australia for education on minority religions and religious diversity in order to produce a sensitive understanding of others and ethical conduct. It therefore becomes important to evaluate the effectiveness of teaching Religion Studies in relation to the attitudes and values of tertiary students.

Religion Studies and Theology have been offered in the tertiary curriculum internationally for many years (Alles 2008) (Sharpe 1986), and in spite of an academic interest in methodologies of the discipline (Waardenburg 1973) (Gothoni 2005) research into the impact of the study of religion on tertiary students is a relatively undeveloped field. A significant exception to this is the work of Barbara Walvoord (Walvoord 2008), although her study is confined to the USA. She found a disjunction between the aims of the teaching faculty and the students. The former emphasised the academic outcomes of the study of religion, the latter its personal implications. In 1998 a new journal appeared, Teaching Theology and Religion with the avowed aim to support a sustained international conversation about excellent teaching and learning in colleges, universities and theological schools. (Williams 1998, p. 1).

 In contrast to the higher education field the discussion of the impact of religion studies or religion (religious) education in schools is well represented. In fact, propelled by the same global factors that stimulated our research, there has been a renewed interest in the field represented by such research as reported in Dialogue and conflict on religion: studies of classroom interaction in European countries (Avest et al. 2009) which is part of the Religious Diversity and Education in Europe research project. See also (De Souza 2006).  This rejuvenation of religion education in secondary schools will have implications for higher education, for, as Robert Jackson has noted,  … a supply of specialists in the science of religions will be needed within the teaching professions of all states which introduce teaching and learning about religions.(Jackson 2008, p. 178).

The aim of this project was to identify the backgrounds which higher education students brought to the courses and their own understanding of the impact of their studies using Bourdieu’s theory of habitus (1977, 1990) to understand the relationship between the two.

The research questions were:

                 Why do students undertake the Study of Religion?

                 What background do they bring (personal and academic)?

                 What impact does the Study of Religion have on them?

                 What aspects of the courses impacted on students?

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