An ISU faculty member has brought a fresh perspective to his classes through international experiences.

Robert Baum, associate professor of religious studies, has been going back and forth between the United States and Senegal since 1974. Baum said he was adopted by a family of Diola in Kadjinol, Senegal, after he stayed with them for several months while he learned their language and participated in their religious rituals.

“I live in two different cultures,” he said. “Some would say that my eccentricities come from cultural influences outside the United States.”

The rapid cultural change in African countries is one aspect Baum said first attracted his attention to the country, especially concerning how religion factors into the change.

“I began to feel that politics wasn’t going to solve our country’s problems, and that we had to look at a more profound level,” he said. “We had to understand how people’s basic beliefs and values change over time if we wanted to pull things in a new direction. Political action just skimmed the surface.”

While in Senegal, Baum talks to the elders about “the history of the community, the impact of different religions, their experience with French colonialism, their experience with droughts and economic disruption and the impact of the slave trade.”

“I’m a historian in terms of religion. I’m interested in how people’s values change over time in context of how historical factors lead people to change,” he said. “I’m particularly interested in religion in times of crisis.”

The French had an influence in Senegal since the 17th century and introduced Catholicism and Islam. Some of the Diola practice their indigenous religions in their villages and either Muslim or Christianity when they go to the cities, Baum said. He has written the history of the Diola religion before the French conquered the area called “Shrines of the Slave Trade,” with which he has won the prize for the best first book in the history of religion.

Baum said his experiences with his African family are especially useful in his courses about African religions and Islam.

“A lot of my personal experiences with Islam come from living in Senegal,” he said. He said his experiences in Africa also come in useful with his other courses.

Jill Bystydzienski, professor of liberal arts and sciences cross disciplinary studies, said international experiences similar to Baum’s are helpful in getting a better understanding of the diversity of people.

“You get a much better feel for the cultures and countries that you are teaching about by going there,” she said, “You can’t get that from books.”