The Pluralism Project at Harvard University
Dr. George Wiley
Baker University
World Religions in Northeast Kansas
Current Research
Since 2002, world religions students at Baker University have visited religious sites in Kansas and created profiles of the sites. Kansas City is two cities, one in Kansas and one in Missouri, so some of the centers profiled are in Missouri, too. The large urban areas are Kansas City, Topeka, and Wichita.
Kansas is a large Midwestern state, measuring 200 by 400 miles. Most religious centers in Topeka, Lawrence, and Kansas City are within an hour's drive of Baker University, but exploring the numerous Buddhist temples in Wichita involves a three-hour trip one way. The Vietnamese Buddhists who work at meat-packing plants in western Kansas are out of reach for the students, so far, as the one-way distance approaches 300 miles.
Kansas is chiefly an agricultural state, with even small towns featuring a grain elevator and a railway link. Wichita is home to an aircraft industry; Topeka is a rail center; and Kansas City's diverse economy includes the world headquarters of Embarq (formerly Sprint). The largest universities, Kansas State University and the University of Kansas, have attracted practitioners of many faiths to the state.
We have located Muslims in Lawrence, Topeka, Kansas City, and Wichita; Buddhists in numerous parts of the state; Hindus in Kansas City, Lawrence, and Topeka; Jewish people in every large city, Sikhs in Kansas City, and followers of Chinese traditions in Lawrence.