MRPL Internal Report Summary

Reflections on the Second Year

In May, HDS matriculated and graduated its second cohort of Master of Religion and Public Life (MRPL) students. These experienced professionals included two prominent corporate executives, a U.S. Navy chaplain, an award-winning journalist, and an expert in social media. Coming from diverse backgrounds, they each engaged in deep explorations of the power and complexity of religion within their sphere of expertise, developing projects to probe the generative possibilities for applying principles of religious literacy to advance just peace.

Graduates from the first year also continue to inspire us as they amplify their experience into the wider world through fields such as public health, education, the performing arts, and public media.

Reflecting on the program’s progress, Associate Dean for Religion and Public Life Diane L. Moore noted, “The MRPL experience has once again proven to be powerful and generative for all involved—students, faculty, the Harvard community, and the wider vocational spheres to which our graduates return.”

MRPL Students’ Final Projects

Austin Bogues, news media journalist

Armageddon & Apokatastasis: Heaven, Hell, and the Religious Backstories of American Polarization

Barbara Dugan, retired marketing executive

Marketing and the Moral Imagination: An Aspirational Approach to Centering Sustainability for a More Just World

Chris Johnson, retired corporate executive

A Preferential Option for the Poor: Can Liberation Theology Inspire Multinational Food Companies to Do Good Business?

Jenn Louie, tech policy, tech governance and risk operations systems expert

Moral Innovation

Kevin Kitrell Ross, Unity Minister

Camp Courage Academy: A Social Change Curriculum for Credentialed Unity Leaders

Saura Sahu, lawyer

American Hymn: American Manifesto

Zachary Zumwalt, U.S. Navy Chaplain

Peacebuilding and the U.S. Navy Chaplain Corps: How Religious Literacy Is Critical to Conflict Prevention in the Indo-Pacific