The Pluralism Project at Harvard University

Pluralism Project Participates in World Parliament of Religions at Fenway High School

On Friday, March 26, 2010, fifteen representatives of various religious traditions participated in a panel discussion at the World Parliament of Religions day at Fenway High School in Boston. The panelists included Pluralism Project Research Associate Zachary Ugolnik (Eastern Orthodox); Alex Kern (Quaker), director of Cooperative Metropolitan Ministries; Harpreet Singh (Sikh), Harvard PhD student; and Rev. Hyunoh Kim of the Won-Buddhist Temple in Somerville. For the first part of the day, each of the representatives met with students who had studied their respective traditions in their coursework. In a second eighty-minute session, representatives conversed with small group of students that changed every ten minutes in an exercise called “Speed Faithing.” Each representative provided an insider’s introduction to his or her faith and answered students’ questions on the history, beliefs, and practices of that tradition. The event concluded with an assembly where participants spoke briefly on how their tradition responds to issues of social justice. Susanna Hall, a Fenway High School Humanities Team Teacher and a long-time friend of the Pluralism Project, was instrumental in organizing the event. 

Case Study Workshop at the Center for the Study of World Religions

On April 13, 2010, the Pluralism Project convened the third in a series of Case Study Workshops 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 Public School system calendar. Dr. Willis Emmons of the C. Roland Christensen Center for Teaching and Learning at Harvard Business School facilitated this case study discussion. After the case study, Dr. Diana Eck moderated a panel discussion on teaching with case studies in religious studies and theological education. Panelists included Justus Baird from Auburn Theological Seminary, Shana Sippy from Carleton College, and Willis Emmons from Harvard Business School. The day concluded with a reception and further conversation about the case method. 

"E Pluribus Unum Day" at Billerica Memorial High School - March 26, 2010

On Friday, March 26, 2010, Pluralism Project Director Dr. Diana L. Eck and a panel of youth representatives from various religious traditions participated in Billerica Memorial High School’s E Pluribus Unum Day. After Dr. Eck’s keynote presentation on pluralism in America and the religious diversity of Greater Boston, panelists reflected on common misconceptions about their faith, the relationship between their faith and interreligious understanding in a pluralist society, and concluded by offering wisdom from each of their traditions for an audience of graduating high school seniors. Panelists included Alexis Gewertz (Jewish), former Pluralism Project research associate and current program associate at Combined Jewish Philanthropies; Harvard College Students Jessamin Birdsall (Christian) and Na’eel Cajee (Muslim); Inderpreet Singh, a member of the local Sikh community; Ajahn Mangkone Sananikone, a Buddhist monk from Wat Buddhabhavana in Westford, MA; Prof. Jason Giannetti from Regis College in Weston, MA representing Hinduism; and PJ Andrews (Baha’i), Pluralism Project research associate. This event was organized by the Billerica Public Schools and Billerica CARES. 

"The Bread of Angels: A Journey to Love and Faith," book reading with author Stephanie Saldana, February 19, 2010, at the Center for the Study of World Religions.

Pluralism Project Welcomes Recent Alumna Stephanie Saldaña for Book Reading

On Friday, February 19, 2010, the Pluralism Project co-sponsored a reading with Stephanie Saldaña from her recently published book, The Bread of Angels: A Journey to Love and Faith. Stephanie is a recent alumna of the Pluralism Project and Harvard Divinity School. The book explores the year of her Fulbright fellowship in Damascus, Syria, where she sets out to explore the role of the Prophet Jesus in Islam against the backdrop of the US-led war in Iraq. As she struggles with her own sense of vocation, she meets a French novice monk who becomes her companion along the way. Stephanie read passages from her book, and conversed with the audience on the themes of hospitality, inter-cultural and inter-religious dialogue, vocation, and love. The event, which drew nearly 50 people, was co-sponsored by the Center for the Study of World Religions, the Center for Middle Eastern Studies Outreach Center, Harvard Divinity School Alumni Relations, and the Pluralism Project.

Faith Lutheran Church in Cambridge celebrates anniversary

Faith Lutheran Church in Cambridge celebrates the 100th anniversary of its building, dedicated in 1909. Like Cambridge itself, Faith Lutheran Church has undergone many changes in the last 100 years. Today, they share their building with the Calvary Praise and Worship Center and the Medhanialem Eritrean Christian Fellowship.

World Religions in Greater Boston - The Boston Bahá’í Center

The Boston Bahá’í Center

The Saints of Boston: Icons of Eastern Christian Churches in Greater Boston

Eastern Christians believe the Incarnation of the Son of God revealed to all humanity the image of the Father. Through taking human form the entire material world was made holy, the cosmos transfigured. Saints are thought to achieve deification in their lifetimes through the emulation of Christ, fulfilling the role of humanity as created in the image of God.  Icons—which in Greek translates as image, likeness, or portrait—are thus images of the images of God. The following slide show features the altars and namesake icons of various Eastern Christian churches of Boston.

Eastern Orthodox Churches Celebrate Anniversaries

Holy Trinity Orthodox Cathedral of Boston and St. Mary’s Antiochian Orthodox Church of Cambridge recently held events commemorating their respective 100^th  and 80^th anniversaries. Immigrants from the Russian and Austro-Hungarian Empires founded the Holy Trinity Cathedral in 1910; immigrants from Syria and Lebanon founded St. Mary’s in 1928. Early twentieth-century Boston saw waves of immigration from the Middle East, and North and South Eastern Europe and thus many Eastern Orthodox Churches in the area were founded in this period (St. George’s Albanian Orthodox Cathedral of South Boston celebrated its centennial in 2008, Annunciation Greek Orthodox Cathedral of New England celebrated its centennial in 2003). Throughout their long history, Holy Trinity and St. Mary’s have continued the tradition of their Slavic and Antiochian strands of Eastern Orthodoxy, but they have both grown into congregations of diverse ethnic backgrounds, including Eritrean, Latino, and Chinese members. Converts to Orthodoxy also comprise a large portion of their membership. The following slide show displays pictures from Holy Trinity and St. Mary’s respective celebratory events. 

Serbian Orthodox Church Consecrates Church in Cambridge

With the arrival of a new iconostasis, or icon screen, October 10 and 11, 2009, marked the Great Consecration of St. Sava’s Serbian Orthodox Church in Cambridge. At the sermon given at the consecration His Eminence Metropolitan Nikolaj of Dabrobosanska, Metropolitanate in Bosnia, exclaimed: “The Church invites us to grasp that it is not a closed community of the saved...but it is a holy liturgical community of the faithful, which acknowledges and glorifies the experience of Christ's suffering, death and resurrection, the victory over death. And with this we enliven and transfigure all, the entire universe, in freedom and love. Therefore, our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ does not close us in ourselves, in our circles, in our country, in our local Church, but invites us to celebrate all and everything with hope and love.” The following slide show presents images from this event. 

Fiji's Religious Landscape