Religious Literacy and the Professions Initiative

 

Through its Religious Literacy and the Professions Initiative, RPL collaborates with professionals in secular-defined fields in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors who share a commitment to just peace and who wish to explore how a deeper understanding of the complex influences of religions in modern human affairs can enhance their own work. We offer resources, training, and support to professionals working at local, national, and global levels, while providing HDS students the skills and knowledge to better leverage their religious studies degree to advance the public understanding of religion in service of just peace.  

The professions we target include government, humanitarianism, entertainment media, journalism, education, and organizing. There are fundamental, but often little understood, ways in which dimensions of religion surface and shape the processes, structures, and outcomes in these particular fields. Through our collaboration with professionals in these fields, we seek to better understand together the assumptions, opportunities, and constraints within their fields relevant to advancing religious literacy in service of just peacebuilding and a more equitable and sustainable future.  

We invite those interested in partnering with us to sign up for our newsletter, take one of our online courses, or send us an email.  

 

Four students in a classroom working on laptops

Education

K-12 and community college educators

Refugee children standing in line

Humanitarian Action

Public health officials, program staff and analysts in NGOs, IGOs, and government agencies, community leaders, global health advocates

Collage of images showing religious elements in TV and Movie stills

Arts and Popular Culture

Scriptwriters, producers, and executives

Stack of newspapers

Journalism

Reporters, editors, publishers in traditional and new media

Naturalization Ceremony with new citizens holding hands up as they swear their oath

Government

Local government officials and foreign service officers 

Coming Soon overlaid on image of crowd of people and monks in Myanmar.

Organizing

Electoral and community organizers

Team

Hussein Rashid, Assistant Dean for Religion and Public Life; and Lecturer on Religion and Public Life

Hussein Rashid

Assistant Dean for Religion and Public Life
Lecturer on Religion and Public Life
Ans Irfan, MRPL Candidate

Ans Irfan

Program Fellow in Public Health
MRPL '22
Tammy Liaw, RPL Academic Programs Coordinator

Tammy Liaw

Religion and Public Life Academic Programs Coordinator