Susan Hayward Returns to HDS as Associate Director of RLPI

June 3, 2021
RPL Visiting Fellow Susan Hayward

Susan Hayward, a religious studies scholar and peacebuilding practitioner with more than a decade of experience working across myriad faith traditions in international settings, will join Harvard Divinity School in July as associate director of the Religious Literacy and the Professions Initiative (RLPI).

Hayward, who earned her master of divinity degree from HDS in 2007, was most recently a senior advisor for religion and inclusive societies at the U.S. Institute of Peace. There, she worked in active conflict zones around the world and strengthened the religious literacy of peace practitioners and diplomats. She is also a 2020-21 Fellow in Religion and Public Life at HDS.

Susie brings an extraordinary wealth of knowledge and experience to this critical role as a scholar-practitioner with deep ties to multiple professional fields. She is well-known and respected for her skills as a collaborator, her deep knowledge of the complexities of how religions function in diverse contexts, and her generosity of spirit and heart. We are excited to welcome her back to HDS in this pivotal role in the development of our new Religion and Public Life program. —Diane L. Moore

Situated within the Religion and Public Life program, RLPI advances an ambitious agenda of curricular and programmatic activity to advance religious literacy across a wide range of professional fields of public engagement—including education, journalism, law, government, public health/humanitarian action, and media/entertainment.

As a fellow with Religion and Public Life, Hayward currently advises on curriculum for the masters and certificate programs. She is also focused on expanding the work of RPLI to other areas of the world, including Myanmar, where she holds particular expertise.

"I am thrilled to be returning home to HDS and joining the Religion and Public Life team! I look forward not only to developing the RLPI in way that can advance the goal of strengthening the religious literacy of professionals operating in secular-defined spaces for the cause of just peace, but doing so in a way that can contribute to the unparalleled HDS experience for all those in the community," Hayward says.

In her thirteen years with the U.S. Institute of Peace, Hayward lead efforts to understand religious dimensions of conflict and advanced efforts engaging religious actors and organizations in peacebuilding. Her field work focused on Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Colombia, and Iraq, but her work took her to many countries worldwide where she advocated for the need for religious literacy and provided a nuanced but practical approach to developing religious literacy through education, consultation, research, and tools. As lead of USIP’s Religion program, Hayward integrated a gender and racial analysis to ensure the way the program operated on a daily basis, who staff engaged and how, and the overall outputs and objectives of the program fostered inclusive processes, societies, and structures.

Prior to joining the Institute, Hayward worked with the Academy of Educational Development’s office in Colombo, Sri Lanka, as a fellow of the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School and with the Conflict Resolution Program at the Carter Center in Atlanta. Hayward also conducted political asylum and refugee work with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and Advocates for Human Rights. She has served on several selection committees for international peace awards, and currently serves as an academic advisor to the Transatlantic Network for Religion and Diplomacy and as a lecturer at George Washington University.

From 2010-2012 she coordinated an initiative exploring the intersection of women, religion, conflict and peacebuilding in partnership with the Berkley Center at Georgetown University and the World Faiths Development Dialogue. She co-edited a book on the topic entitled Women, Religion and Peacebuilding: Illuminating the Unseen. She has published extensively in academic journals and books, policy fora, and online media on topics at the intersection of religion – particularly Buddhism -- and human rights, violence, peace, gender, and race.

Hayward studied Buddhism in Nepal and is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ. At Tufts University, she earned a bachelor's degree in comparative religions and a master’s degree from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. Hayward is currently completing her doctorate in religious studies from Georgetown University. She served as a member of the HDS Alumni/Alumnae Council from 2015 to 2020.