Education

Our work in Religious Literacy and Education advances the public understanding of religion through active and ongoing support to educators, focused on those teaching at the 7-12th grade and community college levels. We provide resources, training, and support to help educators advance religious literacy through core humanities and social science curricula (history, literature, art, social studies) and through traditions-based coursework. In doing so, we are not introducing something new into the existing curricula. Because religion is embedded in all aspects of culture, it is already embedded in the content being taught, and our aim is to help educators identify the religious dimensions of their content and teach it in pedagogically rich and constitutionally sound ways. We believe that by advancing a more complex understanding of the roles religions play in both history and contemporary affairs, educators can train students to be active participants in building a more just and peaceful society.

Illustration showing globe in from of landscapes representing many different cultures

Resources for Educators

Find resources, training, and support for educators in all disciplines.

Teacher at the front of a high school class

Educational Opportunities

Training, workshops and self-paced modules for secondary educators to deepen religious literacy in the classroom

Students gathered outside the Memorial Church in Harvard Yard with Widener library in the background

Summer Institute

A five-day program for educators teaching at the middle school, high school, and community college levels in any discipline.

Rainbow banner woven into fence surrounding a church

Religion in Context

Resources for studying religion in specific contexts, beyond facts, dates, and figures.

Voices: Monika Johnston

Fellow in Education, 2019-2020

In times of conflict, assumptions about others can lead to even more conflict. Monika Johnston says RPL gave her students tools to assess their own frame of reference and a drive to actively listen to the perspective of another.

See more RPL Voices

Program Contacts

Dr. Diane Moore in a red jacket in front of a bookshelf

Diane L. Moore

Associate Dean of Religion and Public Life
Lecturer on Religion, Conflict, and Peace
Senior Fellow at the Center for the Study of World Religions