The Study of Religion in British Columbia: A State-of-the-Art Review

A story of enterprise, innovation and isolation. In this unique survey Brian J Fraser examines the history and development of the institutions of higher education where religion is taught and describes the methods used to understand the religious dimension of human endeavour in Canada’s westernmost province. Fraser analyses the sources, development and persistence of two distinct approaches to the study of religion in British Columbia: theological studies and religious studies. He traces the early strength and recent expansion of theological studies, especially among conservative evangelical Christians, and sets the creation of British Columbia’s only department of religious studies at the University of British Columbia in this context. He also describes the innovative curricula designed by several of the institutions for the study of religion in the province. Finally, he contends that the differing views on the nature of religion held by these institutions and their constituencies have led to a continuing isolation from each other.