As a Muslim, Pakistani-American student growing up on the East Coast, I experienced school with multiple identities that were often ignored, misunderstood, or altogether invisible. I had not yet developed the language to articulate the impact of that. Religious literacy later provided me with a framework for that experience. It validated that my identities were […]
Global Competence
Monsters and Misunderstanding: Seeing the “Other” in Frankenstein
Post: Tim Hall, Ph.D., Executive Director, Religion Matters When students first meet the creature in Frankenstein, they often see a monster—grotesque, ugly, and violent. But Mary Shelley invites us to look deeper. Her creature begins not as a monster at all, but as a learner: curious, articulate, and yearning to belong. When his outstretched hand [...]
Breaking Cover: What Søren Kierkegaard and Becket Can Teach in Our Classrooms
Post: Tim Hall, Ph.D., Executive Director, Religion Matters When I first encountered Søren Kierkegaard (1813-1855), it wasn’t in a philosophy seminar but through a story. In one of his many theological texts, Pope Benedict XVI retold Kierkegaard’s famous parable of the clown warning that the theater was on fire. The audience laughed, thinking it was [...]
Call for Teacher Stories: Bringing Religious Literacy to the Classroom
Post: Tim Hall, Ph.D., Executive Director, Religion Matters Contribute Your Voice to a New Routledge Eye on Education Series Book for Educators Submission Deadline for Teacher Voices: Rolling, through February 1, 2026 Fill out the quick form here About the Project I'm writing a forthcoming book with the Routledge Eye on Education series, Bringing Religious [...]
Lived Religion, Six-Point Framework, and Ms. Marvel
For students to fully participate in civic life, they must understand and appreciate the diversity and complexity of religious traditions. To gain this understanding, educators should teach about lived religions. This approach, advocated by Henry Goldschmidt of the Interfaith Center of New York, takes religion out of “the rarified realm of doctrine and text and […]