RLIT 100 Religious Literacy Across the Professions

Religious literacy fosters an ecosystem that promotes the public understanding of religion in all sectors of society. Yes, it is the responsibility of public schools to offer constitutionally friendly courses about religion and to apply religious literacy principles across the curriculum. But it is also the civic duty of every profession to promote religious literacy as a civic competency. Professionals play a unique role in cultivating religious literacy in business, journalism, social media, healthcare, and law. Contributors in this special issue call upon these professionals to take shared responsibility for cultivating a religiously literate citizenry.

Contributors

Dr. Nathan C. Walker

President, 1791 Delegates
Founder, ReligionAndPublicLife.org

Dr. W. Y. Alice Chan

Co-Founder and Executive Director
Centre for Civic Religious Literacy

Dr. Michael D. Waggoner

Professor of Education Emeritus, University of Northern Iowa
Editor of peer-reviewed journal, "Religion & Education"

H. Bruce McEver

President and Co-Founder, The Foundation for Religious Literacy
Founder and Chairman, Berkshire Global Advisors

Benjamin P. Marcus

Religious Literacy Specialist
Religious Freedom Center of the Freedom Forum Institute

Dr. Allison K. Ralph

Assistant Director, Inclusive America Project
Aspen Institute

Dr. Kate Soules

Executive Director, ReligionAndEd.com
Inaugural Fellow, The Foundation for Religious Literacy

Dr. Sabrina Jafralie

Co-Founder, Director of Learning (K-12 and higher education)
Centre for Civic Religious Literacy

Dr. Christina Parker

Subject Matter Expert, Centre for Civic Religious Literacy
Associate Professor, Renison University College

Dr. Brian J. Grim

President, Religious Freedom & Business Foundation

Paul W. Lambert MA

Board Member and Senior Business Fellow, Religious Freedom & Business Foundation
Principal, Paul Lambert Consulting

Dr. Andrew Henry

Host and Founder
Religion for Breakfast

Dr. Hicham Tiflati

Regional Director, Centre for Civic Religious Literacy
Analyst, Institute for Strategic Dialogue

Brittany R. King MA

Delegate, 1791 Delegates
Learning Management System Administrator, ZERO TO THREE

Not Enrolled
280 for Course Collection
45 hours for 3 college credits
15 hours for 1 digital certificate

College, Graduate, Professional Development

Civic Education for a Common Good

We apply the U.S. Department of Education’s Consensus Statements about Constitutional Approaches for Teaching about Religion

▸ Our approach to religion is academic, not devotional;
▸ We strive for student awareness of religions, but do not press for student acceptance of any religion;
▸ We sponsor the study about religion, not the practice of religion;
▸ We expose students to a diversity of religious views, but may not impose any particular view;
▸ We educate about all religions, we do not promote or denigrate any religion;
▸ We inform students about religious beliefs and practices, it does not seek to conform students to any particular belief or practice.

We apply the American Academy of Religion’s “Religious Literacy Guidelines”

▸ “Religious Literacy Guidelines for College Students.” American Academy of Religion, 2019.
▸ “Teaching About Religion: AAR Guidelines for K-12 Public Schools.” American Academy of Religion, April 2010.

We apply the National Council for the Social Studies C3 Frameworks for Religious Studies

College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies State Standards, “Religious Studies Companion Document for the C3 Framework.” Silver Spring, MD: National Council for the Social Studies, 2017.