AustLit

'The quick answer to that question is because you cannot do without them. Once upon a time, long, long ago in the 1960s, when all the world was young, I taught at the University of Sussex, in the South of England, which then prided itself on its bold thinking – naturally, “outside” every possible box – and on its sweeping ability to re-imagine and reconstruct the curriculum according to the needs of the modern world. A problem area for the most vocal modernists, however, was Religious Studies, which seemed to smack of the very outmoded ways of thinking they were trying to transcend. It was a small “subject group” – we had nothing so traditional as “Departments” – with only three members. Unfortunately, it was popular with a surprisingly large number of students. But there came a time when the Muslim had study leave in Cairo to complete an important book; the Buddhist had retreated in mystic contemplation at the top of a Himalayan pass; and there remained only the Christian to try and carry on with the classes of all three. Quite predictably, he complained to the Dean about his extra workload. Quite predictably, the Dean expressed his most profound sympathy, and did nothing at all. The overworked Christian then pulled out his ace card: “Since you are not prepared to address this crisis constructively, you leave me no choice but to accept the offer of a fellowship in Cambridge, which Sidney Sussex has been holding open for me for the past three months”. And, to the consternation of what was left of his subject group, and many outside it, he departed for the fens of East Anglia.' (Introduction)