@masterthesis{Carlman2019,
       author = "Carlman, Madeline",
       title =  {{Living off a Prayer: Explanations of Spiritual and Religious Transformation at  Hamilton College}},	
       type = {Bachelor's Thesis},

       howpublished = "\url{https://ir.hamilton.edu/do/7ae19ee4-8e64-4a12-bbb2-2ed09a60897c}",
       institution = {Hamilton College},
       year = 2019,
       month = may,
       school = {Sociology},
}

Creator

Date

May 2019

Description

This paper explores the connection between the role of stigma in how students conceptualize their religious or spiritual identities when they enter Hamilton. During semi- structured interviews, students described a decision: to continue to affiliate with their faith, to convert, to become spiritually untethered, or to abandon religion altogether. While many factors played into their decision, stigma had a major role. Students who chose to embrace stigma and continue to practice their faith negotiated Hamilton’s majority secular campus by highlighting various aspects of their identity in order to both maintain their faith and exist peacefully at the College. Students who became spiritually untethered were often less directly affected by stigma, but awareness of intolerance lead them to be cautious about openly identifying as spiritual. With some exceptions, students that dropped out of religion often did so unintentionally and filled their time with other activities. Two students defied this standard and rejected formal religious groups because they did not align with their values and identities. This paper hopes to highlight religious intolerance at Hamilton and provoke further mitigating action to change this paradigm.

Type of Work

• Thesis

Institution

Hamilton College

Area of Study

• Sociology

Degree

Bachelor of Arts

Advisor

Part of Collection

Senior Theses

Rights Statement

The copyright for this work is held by its creators and Hamilton College. More information