The Pluralism Project at Harvard University

Dr. Anne Hansen

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Mapping Religious Diversity in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Lubavitch of Wisconsin (2002)

Milwaukee Shambhala Center (2004)

Milwaukee Zen Center (2005)

Mindfulness Community of Milwaukee (2006)

The Milwaukee Pluralism Project at the University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee will use the Pluralism Project affiliate grant to further collaborative research in partnership with the Interfaith Conference of Greater Milwaukee. Student (and recent graduate) internships will focus on documenting the changing religious demography and diversity in Milwaukee.

Milwaukee, which has historically served as an immigrant center for German Lutherans, Irish and Polish Catholics, and Serbian Othodox Chrisitans, has drastically altered its religious landscape as new immigrants including Hmong animists, South Asian and Middle Eastern Muslims, Indian Sikhs,Russian Jews, and Laotian Buddhists establish themselves in the city. Categorized as one of the two most segregated cities in the United States, Milwaukee has also experienced a major growth in African-American store-front churches, tabernacles and Islamic centers in the past several decades. Ojibwe and Cuban communities in Milwaukee are practicing their traditional Native-American and Afro-Caribbean religions, while many groups including Hmong, as well as Chinese and Hispanic immigrants, have established ethnic christian congregations, often in the very churches once occupied by Euro-American Christian groups. The city supports several American Buddhists communities and meditation centers, and Neo-Pagans are a growing presence as well. These changes in the religious landscape of Milwaukee are being studied and documented by Professor Anne Hansen at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.