Guest Post: Jennifer Fischer, Co-Founder, Think Ten Media Group Given how prevalent media is in our daily lives, challenging Islamophobia through film is an important and urgent matter. But doing so requires careful curation of the media that we consume. Nuanced, complex and authentic media representations do exist, but deliberate efforts are needed if we […]
Blog
See What Takes Place: Virtual Reality in Teaching About Religious Rituals
Guest Post: John Soboslai, Assistant Professor of Religion, Montclair State University In the course evaluations from my Understanding Religion classes, students routinely wrote “this class should include more videos.” After initially shrugging off the request as students simply wanting to watch movies, I began to recognize the pedagogic insight behind their words. Students’ lives are, […]
The Case for Interfaith Education in Religious/Faith-Based Classrooms
Guest Blog: Rev. Lauren Zinn, Ph.D. This post is an edited version of If You Meet a Religious Leader on the Road… first published by ZinnHouse in 2016. Who is honored? He who gives honor to others. – Pirkei Avot An interfaith orientation within a mono-faith educational program is no longer optional. Today, it is essential. As countries around […]
Sanctuary Secrets: Learning About the Colonies Through Worship Spaces
Guest Blog: Meredith Henne Baker British colonization of the Atlantic Coast was widespread in 17th century America. However, that colonization was not entirely uniform. Environmental, cultural, and demographic factors all influenced the character of the colonies in different regions along the coast. In this lesson plan, comparisons between the New England, Middle, and Southern colonies […]
Religious Literacy: An Important Component of International Mindedness
Guest Blog: Samuel J. Richards International schools often promote international mindedness. This fuzzy phrase is ubiquitous but oftentimes not well-defined. The definition used by the widely-influential International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO) has changed over time. At its core, international mindedness is an aspirational call for students and faculty to recognize our interrelatedness as diverse nations and […]