University of Virginia Library

James Childress

Growth Evokes 'Conflict Of Claims'

Profile

By PARKES BRITTAIN

"I'm somewhat ambivalent: about
growth at the University," said James F.
Childress, chairman of the Committee on
Curriculum and Educational Policy and
an associate professor of Religious
Studies here at the University.

"My ambivalence stems from what I
see as conflicting claims upon the
University," he continued. "On the one
hand, we face the legitimate claims to
expand enrollment in order to take in
more students from minority groups and
to continue admitting a large number of
out-of-state students."

"On the other hand," he said, "we also face
the real possibility that expansion, unless it is
properly controlled, will lead to a loss of some
of the things we have cherished about this
educational setting."

He maintained that an ideal situation is
unforeseeable "in the midst of these conflicting
claims, demands or values. To grow or not to
grow is to fail to meet some claim, some
demand, or some value. What the optimal
response is-in contrast to the ideal situation-I
do not know."

In so far as this own classes are concerned,
Mr. Childress relies upon his discussion groups
for feedback concerning his lectures. The large
classes to which he is by now accustomed
eliminate much of the possibility to "get to
know students personally in order to get
individual responses."

Photo By John Darling

James F. Childress, Associate Professor Of Religious Studies

A Guiding Conviction: "The Unexamined Life Is Not Worth Living"

"In the past," he said, "I broke down the
class into smaller groups which I taught
myself." In his Religion 44 course, he now
offers an informal voluntary discussion section
aside from the regular class time which serves as
a sounding board for his students' views.

Mr. Childress, a record minister in Society
of Friends (Quakers), received his B.A. from
Guilford College and his B.D. cum laude from
Yale Divinity School in 1965. From the
Department of Religious Studies in the Yale
Graduate School he received his M.A. in 1967
and his Ph.D. in 1968. He has written two
books and a number of articles, essays, and
book reviews.

Turning to the recent popularity of the
Department of Religious Studies, Mr. Childress
stated that he thought "students have
responded favorably" to the department in the
last few years "because it has given them a
context in which they can raise some 'big'
questions and deal seriously and critically with
some important issues of human existence."

"In our courses," he continued, "we ask
students to apply historical, sociological,
philosophical and other methods to religious
phenomena." He said that the department is
"distinctive" in that it utilizes "several
different perspectives to cast light on religious
beliefs and practices."

Mr. Childress maintains the hope that
"students will develop a greater understanding
of the issues involved in ancient and
contemporary debates within religious circles
about images of man and ethics."

"In my discussion of particular issues such
as civil disobedience and conscientious
objection, I am not interested in getting
students to hold a particular view or to agree
with my own position," he said. "I am rather
concerned that they understand what others have
thought and that they, as a result, become
critically reflective about their own views."

"One of my guiding convictions comes from
ancient Greece: the unexamined life is not
worth living."