The world today requires interfaith leaders, and this course offers a comprehensive and academically rigorous examination of this concept. This eight-lesson course covers an array of topics, beginning with fundamental questions around religious identity and moving on to building blocks of social theory, pluralism, and religious literacy. Students will explore some of the history of interfaith cooperation in the United States, learn skills such as dialogue facilitation, and be able to better recognize and address issues of religious difference and its impact on everyday life, including in several professional sectors such as business, medicine, and education.
Learning Modules with Videos
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Module #1
- Video 1.1: Defining Interfaith Leadership
- Video 1.2: What is Interfaith?
- Video 1:3: Course Structure
Readings for Module 1.1
- Martin Luther King, Jr: Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech
- Manisha Barua: Gandhi and Comparative Religion
- Dorothy Day:“The Mystery of the Poor”
Readings for Module 1.2
Readings for Module 2.1
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- Harvard University Pluralism Project: “From Diversity to Pluralism.”
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Readings for Module 2.2
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- Kate McCarthy:Interfaith Encounters in America, Chapter 1: “Theories of Religious Difference: The ‘Experts’ Map Interfaith Relations.”
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Readings for Module 2.3
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- “Bowling with Robert Putnam: A Conversation with the Author of Bowling Alone.” The American Interest.
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Readings for Module 3.1
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- from the Pluralism Project, “New Neighbors.”
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Readings for Module 3.2
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- Reverend Fonki Forba: “My Conversion to Inter-religious Mission .” (Opens a PDF.) Rethinking Mission.
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Readings for Module 3.3
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- Martin Luther King, Jr.: “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” A copy of the original document along with an audio recording is also available from the Stanford University King Papers collection .
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Readings for Module 3.4
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- Jennifer Bailey: “An Interfaith Vision for the Future of Faith .” The Huffington Post.
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Readings for Module 4.1
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- Pew Research Center: “America’s Changing Religious Landscape.”
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Readings for Module 4.2
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- From the “Religions” portal of the Pluralism Project, select a tradition with which you do not identify and, ideally, with which you are not familiar. Then, explore one of the short essays from the “Introduction to ______” section and one from the “The _____ Experience” section (if these sections are provided—otherwise, select two essays from whichever section is available), which will provide a reliable basis for appreciating the history, thought, and forms of life of your selected tradition in all its diversity.
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Readings for Module 4.3
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- Karen Armstrong: “Let’s Revive the Golden Rule.” (TED talk video)
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Readings for Module 4.4
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- David E. Campbell & Robert E. Putnam: “American Grace: How a Tolerant Nation Bridges its Religious Divides .” [Opens a PDF document.] Adapted from the same authors’ American Grace: How Religion Divides Us and Unites Us.
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Readings for Module 5.1
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- “Leader Resource 1: Faith Heroes.” Unitarian Universalist Association.
- Pope Paul VI: Nostra Aetate: Declaration on the relation of the church to non-Christian religions . (October 28, 1965)
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Readings for Module 5.2
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- Kate McCarthy:Interfaith Encounters in America by Kate McCarthy; chapter 2: “Strange Bedfellows: Multifaith Activism in American Politics.”
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Readings for Module 5.4
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- Harvard University Pluralism Project, “Parliament of Religions, 1893 “
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Readings for Module 6.1
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- “Rivers of Faith” (The Pluralism Project)
- From the “Religions ” portal of the Pluralism Project, select a tradition with which you identify (or, if you do not identify with any tradition listed here, select the tradition of a close friend or family member). Then, explore one or two of the short essays in the “Introduction to ______” (or “The ______ Tradition”) section, which engage with the central texts, important figures, and historical moments from which a theology or ethic of interfaith cooperation might be derived. Identify at least three theological or ethical themes that you think supports the value you place on interfaith relations. _
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Readings for Module 6.2
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- “Identifying a Theology or Ethic of Interfaith Cooperation” (Interfaith Youth Core)
- “Dialogue Principles” (The Dialogue Institute and the Journal of Ecumenical Studies)Download PDF
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Readings for Module 6.3
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- “Towards a Global Ethic” (Council for a Parliament of the World’s Religions)
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Readings for Module 7.1
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- Harvard University Pluralism Project: “America’s Growing Interfaith Infrastructure.”
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Readings for Module 7.2
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- Harvard University Pluralism Project: “An Invitation to a Tri-Faith Neighborhood,” Part A and Part B .
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Readings for Module 7.3
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- Kate McCarthy:Interfaith Encounters in America; Chapter 3: “When the Other is Neighbor: Community-Based Interfaith Work”
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Readings for Module 8.1
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- National Task Force on Civic Learning and Democratic Engagement: “Highlights from A Crucible Moment: College Learning and Democracy’s Future.”
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Readings for Module 8.2
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- The Pluralism Project: “The Case Method and Pluralism”
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Readings for Module 8.3
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- Eboo Patel: “Three Reasons Interfaith Efforts Matter More Than Ever.” The Huffington Post, April 23, 2013.
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