World Religions and Culture: Boniuk Institute Educator Professional Development
The Boniuk Institute for the Study and Advancement of Religious Tolerance hosted its annual Educator Professional Development series for social Studies educators and student-facing professionals. Participants received training in basic religious literacy and TEKS-aligned resources ready for classroom deployment. The 2024 conference on "World Religions and Culture" was intended to create awareness of religion's role in a global context and to enable educators to confidently include and address religion in classroom subject matter. "My students know very little about any religion..., so it is part of my job to educate them," said one participating World Geography, World History, Sociology teacher. READ THE FULL ARTICLE
Boniuk Institute Director Delivers Keynote at INSBS
Boniuk Institute Director Elaine Howard Ecklund and Religion and Public Life Center Graduate Scholar Brenton Kalinowski attended the fifth annual conference of the International Network for the Study of Science & Belief in Society (INSBS) in Frankfurt, Germany. Ecklund was a keynote speaker on Emerging Themes in Science and Belief. In the session, she discussed the importance of studying the relationship between religion and science, highlighting their joint pursuit of knowledge as well as discussed the need for more social science inquiry that is meant to be applied by practitioners in light of recent events such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
The INSBS conference brought together experts who study science and religion across the disciplines and from around the globe for four days of workshops, research presentations, and networking. Among the many topics covered at the meeting were rethinking narratives of conflict between science and religion; belief and technology; and religion and STEM education.
The Institute Begins a New Three-Year Study
Research has begin at the Boniuk Institute on a new study to explore interfaith leadership and inter-religious collaboration in Houston, Texas through generous funding from the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations. This three-year study will explore the current status of interfaith leadership in Houston and the barriers and opportunities to inter-religious collaboration for the common good, and it will produce publications and curriculum that will help advance interfaith leadership in Houston and in other cities across the country.
RPLC Hosts the Race and Religion Symposium
Institute Associate Director of Academic Programs and RPLC Director Rachel C. Schneider teamed up with University of Cincinnati Assistant Professor of Sociology and former RPLC Postdoctoral Fellow Oneya Okuwobi to present the second annual Race and Religion Symposium at the Association for the Sociology of Religion annual meeting in Montreal, Quebec. The symposium involved a full day of presentations by experts in the study of race and religion within and beyond sociology. Topics included religion and race in historical perspectives; religion, race, and politics; and race, religion, and epistemology. The symposium also included a closing salon on storytelling about race and religion in academia.