On Tuesday, November 17, 2009, the Pluralism Project participated in the annual meeting and awards dinner for a local interfaith social action organization, Cooperative Metropolitan Ministries. Over 200 people attended the evening event entitled, ‘Social Change and the Spirituality of Hope: Dialogue and Action in Multifaith America.” Pluralism Project Director Dr. Diana Eck offered remarks on the topic as part of a keynote panel that also included Salwa Abdullah of Masjid Al-Qur’an and Margie Klein of Moishe/Kavod House and Hebrew College Rabbinical... Read more about Diana Eck Participates in Panel at Cooperative Metropolitan Ministries' 43rd Annual Meeting and Awards Dinner

On Saturday, November 21, 2009, the Pluralism Project offered a workshop at the “Global Education, Human Rights and the Middle East Region Conference” organized by the Outreach Center at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies. This workshop brought together educator-leaders from around the world in order to explore the “diversity of approaches taken to discussing human rights in the classroom.” It coincided with the annual meeting of the Middle East Studies Association in Boston. Assistant Director Kathryn Lohre taught the session entitled, “... Read more about Pluralism Project Participates in Human Rights Education Conference

On Monday, October 19, 2009, the Pluralism Project welcomed Mr. Abdulsattar Younus – a leader with La’Onf, a network of nonviolent activists inside of Iraq. After a brief video presentation about the work of La’Onf, Mr. Younus responded to questions about the nature of nonviolent resistance in Iraq, and the relationship of the Iraqi example to other international and historical contexts. Mr. Younus was in the United States to accept the Pfeffer Peace Prize awarded by the Fellowship of Reconciliation – USA. La’Onf had... Read more about Pluralism Project Welcomes Iraqi Activist from La’Onf

On October 23, 2009, Rabbi Justus Baird, the Director of the Center for Multifaith Education at Auburn Seminary joined Pluralism Project Research Director Elinor Pierce for a case study session at Boston College. Baird and Pierce were guests at the annual meeting of the Christian Scholars Group on Christian-Jewish Relations. The session, which included a robust discussion of the case study “A Sign of Division,” also provided an opportunity to explore how the case method is applied in the teaching of religion... Read more about Case Study Session with Christian Scholars Group on Christian-Jewish Relations at Boston College

On Thursday, November 19, 2009, Dr. Diana Eck offered a lecture entitled, “Interfaith: The Most Difficult Dialogues,” as part of the 2009-2010 Addir Fellows Community Lecture Series. The Addir Fellows MIT Interfaith Dialogue Program “brings together thirty students of different faiths to learn from and engage each other in a stimulating environment…[in order] to enhance inter-group relations on the MIT campus, and to deepen individuals’ self-awareness.” It is sponsored by The Office of the Dean for Student Life, the... Read more about Diana Eck Speaks at MIT for Addir Fellows Community Lecture Series

On Thursday, December 3, 2009, the Pluralism Project hosted a group of faculty from the School of Theology and Ministry at Seattle University. Assistant Director Kathryn Lohre met with Jack Olive, Flora Wilson Bridges, Rabbi Danny Weiner, Mohamed Jawad Khaki, and Laura Ellen Muglia to discuss the history and vision of the Pluralism Project, and to offer feedback on various ideas they have about starting a center at Seattle University. Lohre shared our Case Study Initiative with the group, and introduced... Read more about Pluralism Project Hosts Faculty Group from the School of Theology and Ministry at Seattle University

On Friday, July 31, the Pluralism Project hosted a preview launch of World Religions in Greater Boston, fifth edition. The symposium featured the work of our webmaster, Ryan Overbey, who built the new user interface, and our summer interns who provided updates for the new directory and multi-media content. The symposium was held at Harvard’s Barker Center for the Humanities, and guests included religious and lay leaders from a diverse range of communities and centers, as well as Harvard faculty, friends of the... Read more about 2009 Summer WRGB Launch and Research Symposium

The Pluralism Project has partnered with StoryCorps, the "national project to instruct and inspire people to record each others' stories in sound," to include stories from diverse faith traditions in Boston. This massive oral history project now includes recordings of Research Associate Deonnie Moodie interviewing Affiliate Valarie Kaur on growing up Sikh in America, and Dr. Imam Talal Eid and his daughter Feda Eid on being Muslim in the U.S. You may listen to these and other stories from Bostonians online if you... Read more about StoryCorps in Boston

On November 13, 2008, Assistant Director Kathryn Lohre gave an introductory presentation about the Pluralism Project to a group of freshmen students at Harvard College. The event, sponsored by the Harvard College Freshmen Dean's Office, was intended to introduce first year students to research opportunities at the Pluralism Project, as well as to provide an overview of our history, current research initiatives, and World Religions in Boston project. The event was attended by staff of the Freshmen... Read more about Introduction to the Pluralism Project, Sponsored by the Harvard College Freshmen Dean’s Office

On August 1, 2007, our summer interns presented their work on revising and updating World Religions in Boston: A Guide to Communities and Resources in a research symposium held at Harvard's Barker Center for the Humanities. Guests at the symposium included religious and lay leaders from the many religious communities and centers that were profiled, as well as Harvard faculty and friends of the Project. The symposium was covered in The... Read more about 2007 Summer Research Symposium

Celebrating its 80th anniversary, the Religion Communicators Council National Convention took place in Boston March 26-28, 2009. The convention theme, “Identity Amid Diversity,” was explored through a keynote address by Dr. Richard Parker of Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. Breakout sessions focused on branding, messaging, and “nurtur[ing] strong identity while creating vibrant and mutually productive partnerships across religious and cultural lines.” The Pluralism Project hosted an exhibition table throughout the convention, and Assistant Director Kathryn Lohre offered a presentation... Read more about Assistant Director Kathryn Lohre Presents at Religion Communicators Council Convention

On April 2, 2006, Jean Zaru, the presiding clerk of the Ramallah Friends meeting in Ramallah, visited Cambridge to speak at Memorial Church. She also met with a group convened by the Pluralism Project for a luncheon discussion. She is a founding member of Sabeel, an ecumenical liberation theology center in Jerusalem, and the author of A Christian Palestinian Life: Faith and Struggle. In 2003, she participated in the Pluralism Project's conference on “Women, Religion, and Social Change II” as part... Read more about Christian Palestinian Peacemaker Jean Zaru Visits Cambridge

On March 2, 2008, the Pluralism Project participated in a day-long conference at Tufts University entitled, “Religious Pluralism in a Time of Extremism: The Campus Responds.” Keynote speakers included Diana L. Eck, Mohammed Abu-Nimer, and Marc Gopin; Victor Kazanjian moderated their discussion on the topic of “The Imperative for Sustaining Dialogue in Difficult Times.” Workshops were led by students, faculty, community leaders and activists from organizations in Greater Boston and around the country, and focused on interfaith dialogue... Read more about Religious Pluralism in a Time of Extremism: The Campus Responds

On May 22, 2009, the Pluralism Project hosted a State Department delegation from Sweden. The group included two representatives from Swedish Muslims for Peace and Justice; a youth immigrant contact who helps new immigrants navigate issues of religious difference and assimilation in a secular Swedish society; and the chairman of the Kista Folk High School Association, an advocate for Swedish Muslim equality. A lively conversation with the diverse delegation centered on issues of interfaith relations, perceptions of Islam, and Muslim life in the United States. After their visit to Boston, the... Read more about Pluralism Project Hosts State Department Delegation from Sweden

On May 6-7, 2006, the Pluralism Project hosted a preview and director's cut screening of Divided We Fall: Americans in the Aftermath at the Harvard Film Archive. Writer/Producer Valarie Kaur, an affiliate of the Pluralism Project and a master's candidate at Harvard Divinity School, and Director/Producer Sharat Raju were on hand to answer audience questions. The auditorium of the Carpenter Center for Visual Arts was filled to capacity with artists, academics, activists, and citizens... Read more about Pluralism Project Hosts Divided We Fall Screening at Harvard Film Archive