Religion both unites and divides us in today’s multicultural and constantly changing society. The modern interfaith movement is said to have started at the 1893 Parliament of World Religions with religious groups meeting and getting to know each other, many for the first time. But recognizing the explosion of diversity students will encounter after graduation, has prompted growing numbers of universities to add curricula requirements which provide interreligious awareness and interfaith leadership skills. Interfaith leadership is a highly-interactive and experiential semester of community as well as self- exploration which recognizes the ways that religion and interreligious encounters are embedded in today’s cultural, political and economic systems, analyzes the intersections of religions and society in order to improve outcomes, and allows the student to develop a personal theology of interfaith cooperation.
Instructor: Prof Holli S. Emore, MDiv
Zoom class meetings: Saturdays, 1-2:30 PM ET
Required Texts: Patel, E. (2016). Interfaith Leadership: A Primer. Beacon Press. ISBN 978-0-8070-3362-3, $18.00 US
Patel, E. (2012). Sacred Ground: Pluralism, Prejudice, and the Promise of America. Beacon Press. ISBN 978-0-8070-7752-8, $16.00 US