Annual Report 2023-24 Internal Report Summary
This year in Religion and Public Life (RPL), we grew and developed our programs across disciplines, practices, and applications. We provided new workshops and teaching tools for educators, hosted book events featuring scholars renowned for their ideas about conflict and peace, and created a broad array of opportunities for connection within Harvard and globally. Throughout this year’s annual report, we highlight the voices and stories that demonstrate the impact of RPL’s approach on students, faculty, and alumnx.
Master of Religion and Public Life
Our third cohort of Master of Religion and Public Life (MRPL) students hail from a variety of diverse personal and professional backgrounds, including a prominent novelist, a media and entertainment executive, an award-winning poet, a chef, an artist, a lawyer, and several community organizers. Each of these individuals engaged in deep explorations of the power and complexity of religion, developing projects that probed the generative possibilities of applying principles of religious literacy to advance their communities toward a just peace.
Reflecting on the program’s progress, Diane L. Moore noted, “MRPL continues to attract an astonishing array of talented professionals from diverse sectors of society, all of whom are driven by a vocational call to make the world a better place. We are enriched by their presence and look forward to following them upon graduation to learn how their time with us impacts their ongoing work.”
Religious Literacy in the Professions Initiative
Certificate in Religion and Public Life (CRPL)
We welcomed Hussein Rashid as assistant dean of Religion and Public Life to lead the Certificate in Religion and Public Life (CRPL) program, previously led by Susie Hayward as associate director for Religious Literacy and the Professions Initiative. In a co-taught introductory course, Rashid and Hayward welcomed students to the RPL method of engaging religious literacy through journalism, advocacy, entertainment, community organizing, and more.
As students progressed in their studies, many found internship opportunities to bring their professional goals to fruition. Auds Hope Jenkins, MDiv ’24, decided to explore her interest in journalism with the Minneapolis Star Tribune, where she authored front-page stories about reparations and indigenous land rights. Ariella Gayotto Hohl, MDiv ’24, brought her passion for film to Unity Productions Foundation, and she is now the host for a documentary series, “Islam’s Greatest Love Stories,” on PBS. Claire Neid, MTS ’24, worked with the Aspen Institute’s Religion and Society Network, where she was deeply involved in their Powering Pluralism Summit, bringing together key stakeholders to map religious diversity and power across the United States.
This summer, current CRPL students will be exploring a broad array of interests. Mustafa Diwan, MTS '25, will intern with Tanenbaum, supporting their explorations into how government policy and practice can combat religious prejudice and recognize diversity. Becca Leviss, MTS '25, will work with Mormon Women for Ethical Government, helping the group create a formal organizational framework and understanding of advocacy through faith-based peacebuilding. Rachel Florman, MTS '25, will intern with Twanna Hines, founder of Funky Brown Chick, where she will develop original content for online courses on global sexual and reproductive rights.
Religious Literacy and Education Initiative (RLEI)
As RPL supports educators in engaging themes of religious literacy in their classrooms and beyond, we continue to build collaborative and iterative relationships through our networks. This year, we used a variety of modalities in our work with educators: we piloted an educator advisory committee; hosted an in-person summer learning institute; and offered online workshops targeted to educators throughout the academic year. The RPL education team developed a model for authoring new cases that involved collaboration between a secondary school educator, RPL staff, HDS students, and content experts. Topics developed this year include oil and Christianity in the U.S., legislation outlawing witchcraft accusation in Ghana, and the complex role of religion in South Korean support for North Korean defectors.
Throughout the year, RPL offers free, online live workshops, and asynchronous, self-paced modules designed for teachers and educators in the public and private sectors. For mor information about our workshops for educators, please visit rpl.hds.harvard.edu/programs/religious-literacy-professions/education.
Religion, Conflict, and Peace Initiative
The Religion, Conflict, and Peace Initiative (RCPI) continues the important work of advancing knowledge and promoting a just world at peace, even during tumultuous times. For students, faculty, and the public, we provide an analysis of structural injustice, violence, and power within the case study of Israel/Palestine.
This year at RCPI, our events included public film screening, community conversations, webinars, teach-ins, and a special course from scholars and experts across perspectives. We created a faculty reading group focused on understanding Christian Zionism, attracting scholars from 10 different countries. One highlight of the year was the U.S. film premiere of Lyd, a science fiction documentary directed by former RCPI fellow Rami Younis. The screening attracted over 200 attendees, including RCPI students and alumnx who had the opportunity to visit the city featured in the film on past RCPI-organized trips to Israel/Palestine.