CRPL Student Highlight

ELSA KUNZ, MTS ’23, RPL Graduate Assistant

I was a teacher before coming to HDS, so I was drawn to CRPL’s education track, which allowed me to pursue my passion for working with adolescents while developing religious literacy skills in context.

I feel incredibly fortunate to have participated in the CRPL program with other HDS students, all of whom are also passionate about advancing RPL’s vision of just peace. It’s invigorating to be around them, and it’s fun to be able to bounce ideas around, get feedback, and share stories together. I am grateful to Susie Hayward for consistently checking in on me and providing me with connections to other educators in the field. I am also grateful to Education Fellow Sarabinh Levy-Brightman and my internship advisor, Misty Koger-Ojure at Bunker Hill Community College, who helped me uncover my own passion for critical theory and philosophy of education as domains of study.

CRPL provided me with new language to talk about religion, real-world practice writing curriculum, and valuable mentorship with teachers incorporating RPL methods into their practice. Without my CRPL internship placement as a teaching assistant in introduction to world religions and ethics survey courses at the local community college, I would not have received a job offer to teach tenth-grade ethics at an independent school in Tennessee following graduation.