RELIGIOUS STUDIES COMPETENCE IN JOURNALISM EDUCATION: BETWEEN SECULAR NEUTRALITY AND POSTSECULAR SYNERGISM

Abstract

The article aims to explicate the objective necessity of strengthening the role of religious-studies competencies in the educational training of professional journalists, given the specificity of postsecular transformations within contemporary society. The authors proceed from a methodological orientation toward the interaction of religious-studies, educational, socio-communicative, and cultural perspectives of analysis, informed by the heuristics of the competency-based approach and by key concepts of postsecularity. The concrete analytical methodology unfolds deductively through a triadic framework: society / the interdisciplinary correlation between religious-studies and journalistic knowledge / the optimization of educational strategies and practices.

The study concludes that competence in religious studies constitutes one of the levers that enhance the social-scientific and human-centered efficacy of journalism education. It is therefore imperative to activate the joint and mutually beneficial efforts of scholars of religion, journalism and communication researchers and instructors, practicing journalists, and religious leaders toward a balanced renewal of journalism curricula – namely, by ensuring the inclusion of at least one required course that provides fundamental worldview and hermeneutic competence regarding religious language, culture, and ethics. Equally advisable is the introduction of a set of applied educational components in religious studies, particularly those related to approaches for covering issues of tolerance as well as the value-based and practical synergy of individuals and communities engaged in socially significant initiatives within a pluralistic society.