Clare Sisisky

Clare Sisisky

Ms. Clare Sisisky is the director of global education at the Collegiate School in Richmond, Virginia. She became a Pluralism Project affiliate while teaching religion and philosophy at Phillips Academy in Andover, MA. In 2003-2004, Ms. Sisisky conducted research on Mauritian Hinduism and post-colonial religious pluralism in Mauritius, a research project funded by a Frederick Sheldon Traveling Fellowship from Harvard University. The project was conducted in Mauritius under the sponsorship of the Mauritius Cultural Center Trust, and with the assistance of scholars and lecturers from the Mahatma Gandhi Institute, the University of Mauritius, and the leaders of various religious communities in Mauritius.

Ms. Sisisky wrote of the project:

The African island of Mauritius, located in the Indian Ocean, is known as the 'rainbow nation' due to the cultural, ethnic and religious diversity that thrives there. In most Mauritian towns and cities, the variety of Hindu temples, mosques, and Catholic churches demonstrates the complex religious landscape of the island. As religious conflicts plague many nations, regions, and local communities, and as increased immigration and globalization generate inter-religious encounters, it is essential to understand how to negotiate religious diversity and foster pluralistic societies. Mauritius offers the world a unique window into the challenges and successes of religious pluralism.

Ms. Sisisky’s research explored the religions of Mauritius, the interactions of religious communities on the island, and the fostering of a shared national identity since independence. Although scholars from both Mauritius and other nations have examined the wealth of diversity in Mauritius, little scholarship existed at the time of this study that specifically examined the religious aspects of Mauritian communities. Ms. Sisisky’s research first focused on the Hindu communities of Mauritius. She documented the internal diversity of Mauritian Hinduisms, outlining each of the communities and examining their place in the broader context of Hindu diversity in a multi-cultural society. Her second area of focus was the inter-religious relations on the island, and the third aspect of the project was to trace efforts to rebuild national unity since the eruption of riots in 1999.

At the time of this research, Ms. Sisisky wrote:

The religious traditions of Mauritius provide a unique and valuable access point to both understanding complex Hindu communities in the diaspora and examining multi-cultural societies in their negotiations of religious diversity.

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