Social Studies

Religious Literacy in French Classes: Changing Understandings of Laïcité

religionmatters · 17 Mar 2023 · Leave a Comment

Guest Blog: Elsa Kunz, Graduate Student, Harvard Divinity School Cultivating religious literacy goes beyond the social studies classroom. In fact, world language teachers have some of the greatest opportunities to incorporate the academic study of religion into their lessons. Using a cultural studies approach and the framework from Religion and Public Life at Harvard Divinity [...]

Religion All Around: Engaging Students with the Category of Religion

religionmatters · 16 Feb 2023 · Leave a Comment

Guest Blog: Elsa Kunz, Graduate Student, Harvard Divinity School The category of "religion" is a challenging one, and many students arrive in the classroom with unexplored assumption about what "counts" as religion. For many students, "religion" is an isolatable category that occurs in designated spaces, places, and people. Yet the reality is that religion does [...]

Benjamin Franklin’s Contribution to Jewish Practice

religionmatters · 16 Jan 2023 · Leave a Comment

Guest Post: Shai Afsai Benjamin Franklin, one of America’s Founding Fathers, was born on this date, January 17, in 1706. In addition to being a well-known statesman, he was a successful newspaper editor and inventor. He was also one of the founders of the Academy and College of Philadelphia, a predecessor of the University of […]

Countering Islamophobia Through Film: Recommendations & Resources

religionmatters · 18 Nov 2022 · Leave a Comment

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 […]