On July 26, 2010, the Pluralism Project hosted an Iraqi Youth Leadership Exchange program sponsored by the State Department and the Global Youth Leadership Institute (GYLI) for a case study workshop. Pluralism Project staff, summer fellows, and alumni received the group of Iraqi teenagers, American teens from New England, program facilitators, and host families. The purpose of the exchange program was to introduce youth to civic engagement and interfaith dialogue in Greater Boston. Two Pluralism Project summer fellows, Brendan Randall and Kristin Stoneking, taught brief, interactive case... Read more about Pluralism Project Hosts Iraqi Youth Leadership Exchange Program

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 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 and Friday, November 19 and 20, 2009, Research Director Ellie Pierce was invited to Ann Arbor by the Michigan Community Scholars Program (MCSP) for screenings of Fremont, USA and a series of conversations about interfaith relations at the University and in the community. On November 19, Ellie joined students in Prof. Jim Crowfoot’s class on “Environment, Religions, Spirituality, and Sustainability” for a case discussion; this was followed by a Campus-Wide Discussion of Interfaith Relations, which... Read more about Michigan Community Scholars Program Screens Fremont, U.S.A.

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, October 23, 2009, the Pluralism Project offered two sessions at the “Michigan Educators Teaching Workshop: Boston Mid-Year Conference” organized by the Outreach Center at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies. This Workshop brought together educator-leaders from Flint, Michigan and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to consider “approaches to and understandings of communities in Michigan related to the Middle East region and how to integrate teaching about them in curriculum and resources... Read more about Assistant Director Offers Sessions at Michigan Educators Teaching Workshop

On Friday, November 6, 2009, the Pluralism Project hosted its annual reception and program at the American Academy of Religion. The program focused on “Religion in the New Cosmopolis,” using Boston, Montréal, and other affiliate research sites as a starting point for conversation. Dr. Diana Eck and Research Director Ellie Pierce presented how case studies, documentary film, and our recently relaunched interactive webguide, World Religions in Greater Boston, can be used by teachers, religious and civic leaders, and community activists to build a... Read more about “Religion in the New Cosmopolis” at the 2009 American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting in Montréal, Canada

In late June 2007, Ellie Pierce, senior researcher at the Pluralism Project, traveled to Kansas City, Missouri for the Interfaith Academies for Religious Leaders. These academies, which were a collaborative effort of The Pluralism Project, Religions for Peace-USA, Saint Paul School of Theology, and the Greater Kansas City Interfaith Council, were an opportunity for religious leaders and emerging religious leaders alike to learn more about other faiths and engaging across faith traditions. Ellie taught a case study she has written on Palos... Read more about Research Director at Interfaith Academies for Religious Leaders

On the afternoon of November 5, 2007, Mayor Dean Koldenhoven, former mayor of Palos Heights, Illinois spoke with a gathering of about thirty Harvard students at the Center for the Study of World Religions. He is the protagonist in the forthcoming case study, “A Mosque in Palos Heights." Many of the students who attended this event are part of Dr. Eck’s “Religion in Multicultural America: Case Studies in Religious Pluralism” course this semester, where this case study was examined. Mayor Koldenhoven brought to life his role in the mosque... Read more about Pluralism Project Case Study Protagonist Mayor Dean Koldenhoven Addresses Students at the Center for the Study of World Religions

    On November 5, 2007, the Pluralism Project convened a case studies workshop at the Center for the Study of World Religions. Twenty Harvard faculty and doctoral candidates from Harvard Graduate School, Harvard Divinity School and the Kennedy School of Government participated in a workshop on the case study method. As an example, Dr. Eck utilized the case developed by our senior researcher, Ellie Pierce, entitled “A Mosque in Palos Heights.” This case explores the problems and promise of pluralism in Palos Heights, Illinois where a... Read more about Case Studies Workshop

On April 13, 2010, the Pluralism Project convened a follow up case study workshop at the Center for the Study of World Religions to consider the application of the case method to the teaching of religion and theology. Approximately 40 Harvard faculty, staff, and students from across the University, Pluralism Project staff and student researchers, local community leaders, and selected faculty from outside institutions discussed a new case entitled “Adding Eid” that explores the issue of adding the Muslim holiday of Eid to the Cambridge... Read more about Case Study Workshop at the Center for the Study of World Religions

On April 18, 2010, Assistant Director Kathryn Lohre offered a case study workshop to the MIT Addir Fellows during their spring 2010 retreat. The MIT Addir Fellows are graduate and undergraduate students who commit to at least one year of weekly dialogue in small groups, monthly speakers’ presentations, and two mini-retreats over the course of the academic year. The program’s mission is “to equip individuals of different faiths with the skills to engage with and understand those from whom they differ...

Read more about Case Study Workshop with MIT Addir Fellows

On April 8, 2010, Pluralism Project Research Coordinator Erin Loeb and Senior Research Associate Kimberly Richards presented the 5^th edition of World Religions in Greater Boston to Dr. Dana Janbek’s “Intercultural Communication” course at Lasell College in Newton, MA for an audience of nearly 50 undergraduate students. Their presentation included an overview and history of the Pluralism Project, a discussion of the Case Study Initiative, a selected tour of... Read more about Pluralism Project Presents "World Religions in Greater Boston" at Lasell College