About the Pluralism ProjectThe Pluralism Project is a two decade-long research project that engages students in studying the new religious diversity in the United States. We explore particularly the communities and religious traditions of Asia and the Middle East that have become woven into the religious fabric of the United States in the past twenty-five years. The overall aims of the Pluralism Project are [documented as goals in this StratML rendition]In the past fifty years the religious landscape of the United States has changed radically. There are Islamic centers and mosques, Hindu and Buddhist temples and meditation centers in virtually every major American city. The encounter between people of very different religious traditions takes place in the proximity of our own cities and neighborhoods. The results of the 2010 census underscore the tremendous scope of ethnic change in our society, but tell us little about its religious dimensions or its religious significance.Pluralism ProjectHPP_d90accee-bd28-11e7-ac7c-625f9242c8d9Religious Leadersin the United StatesCivic Leadersin the United StatesHarvard UniversityDr. Diana L. EckDirector, The Pluralism Project at Harvard University Professor of Comparative Religion and Indian Studies, Fredric Wertham Professor of Law and Psychiatry in Society in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Member of the Faculty of Divinity, Harvard UniversityDiana L. Eck is founder and director of the Pluralism Project at Harvard University. She serves on the Committee on the Study of Religion in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. She is also a member of the Department of Sanskrit and Indian Studies, a member of the Faculty of Divinity, and Master of Lowell House, one of Harvard’s twelve undergraduate residential Houses. She received her B.A from Smith College (1967) in Religion, her M.A. from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London (1968) in South Asian History, and her Ph.D. from Harvard University (1976) in the Comparative Study of Religion.Elinor J. PierceResearch Director -- Elinor began working for the Pluralism Project as a student field researcher in San Francisco; she was a section editor for the CD-ROM On Common Ground: World Religions in America and co-editor of World Religions in Boston: A Guide to Communities and Resources. She has been involved in "Religious Diversity News" since its inception in 1997. She developed the Women's Networks Initiative, and was a content advisor for Acting on Faith: Women's New Religious Activism in America. Elinor co-produced and co-directed the documentary film Fremont, U.S.A., together with Rachel Antell. She completed her B.A. in anthropology and international studies, with a core in religious studies, from Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota (1988); she earned her Master of Theological Studies degree from the Harvard Divinity School (1996). Elinor currently leads the Case Study Initiative.Lexi SalomoneAssistant Director -- Lexi Salomone came to the Pluralism Project from the Center for the Study of World Religions at Harvard Divinity School, where she coordinated hundreds of events in her five years as the Coordinator of Educational Programming. Before her time at the CSWR, Lexi spent three years as an associate at Combined Jewish Philanthropies where she worked to engage young adults in Boston’s vibrant Jewish community. She graduated from Harvard Divinity School with a Master of Theological Studies degree and earned her B.A. in philosophy and religious studies at Colgate University (Hamilton, NY). During her time as a student at HDS, Lexi interned at the Pluralism Project, researching Boston’s Jewish and Muslim community. She is still active in Boston's Jewish community, particularly around interfaith issues. She is a recent alumna of the PresenTense Social Entrepreneurial Fellowship, where she explored ways to further support the interfaith community through her fledgling interfaith greeting card venture.Dr. Ryan R. OverbeyWebmaster -- Ryan received his Ph.D. in the Study of Religion from Harvard University in 2010 and his A.B. in Classics & Sanskrit and Religious Studies from Brown University in 2001. He has served as a web assistant and web developer for the Pluralism Project since 2006, and as a Postdoctoral Fellow in 2010–2011. Ryan has transitioned the Project through several generations of technology, from hand-crafted PHP and HTML pages, to CakePHP, and most recently to WordPress. He has also worked to implement the frontend designs for World Religions in Greater Boston (2009), America’s Interfaith Infrastructure (2011), On Common Ground (2013), and the redesigned pluralism.org (2016). Ryan currently serves as Visiting Assistant Professor of Religion at Wesleyan University.Dr. Jennifer Howe PeaceSenior Advisor -- Dr. Jennifer Howe Peace is Associate Professor of Interfaith Studies at Andover Newton Theological School and is a founding co-director of CIRCLE (the Center for Interreligious and Communal Leadership Education). Author of numerous articles and essays on interfaith cooperation, Dr. Peace co-edited My Neighbor’s Faith: Stories of Inter-Religious Encounter, Growth, and Transformation (Orbis 2012). She serves as one of the publishing editors of the Journal of Inter-Religious Studies and State of Formation. Dr. Peace has been an interfaith organizer and educator since the 1990’s with leadership roles in the early days of the United Religions Initiative, the Interfaith Youth Core, and the Daughters of Abraham book groups.Brendan RandallSenior Research Associate -- Brendan Randall is a recovering lawyer and teacher who currently is studying religion, law and education as a doctoral candidate at the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE). He is interested in how schools can prepare students to live in a religiously diverse democratic society, and his research focuses on civic education for pluralism. Brendan also has a Master of Education from HGSE in school leadership and a Master of Theological Studies from Harvard Divinity School in religion, ethics, and politics. Before returning to graduate school, Brendan taught history, applied ethics and comparative religion at the Emma Willard School, an independent, all-girls boarding school in Troy, NY.Yasmine Flodin-Ali2017-2018 Research Associate -- Yasmine Flodin-Ali is the Pluralism Project's inaugural Stanley Snider Fellow. She is a second year Master of Theological Studies candidate at Harvard Divinity School. She studies contemporary Muslim American communities and is particularly interested in race, gender, conversion, and Abrahamic interfaith relations. She also has a growing interest in evangelical Christian responses to demographic shifts. Yasmine is very excited to be working with the Pluralism Project because she strongly believes that studying religious micro-communities is the key to understanding the larger story of religion in the United States. She is also passionate about translating the work of academia into the public sphere. This past year she co-created a conference at Harvard Divinity School entitled Beyond Bans, Beyond Walls, which brought together prominent academics and practitioners to examine and re-imagine gender and Islam in theory and practice.Pluralism Project Funders & PartnersFor 25 years, the work of the Pluralism Project has been made possible by support from philanthropic foundations and individual donations. The ongoing support of private donors is critical to our work. Please consider joining the Friends of the Pluralism Project by making a tax-deductible donation today.The Arthur Vining Davis FoundationsCurrent funderMass HumanitiesCurrent funderThe Arthur Vining Davis FoundationsPrevious funderE. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter FoundationPrevious funderThe Ford FoundationPrevious funderHarvard Divinity SchoolPrevious funderHarvard UniversityOffice of the Provost -- Previous funderThe Henry Luce FoundationPrevious funderThe Lilly Endowment, Inc.Previous funderThe Louisville InstitutePrevious funderThe Milton FundPrevious funderThe National Endowment for the HumanitiesPrevious funderThe North Star FundPrevious funderOdyssey NetworksPrevious funderThe Pew Charitable TrustsPrevious funderRappaport Institute for Greater BostonKennedy School of Government -- Previous funderThe Rockefeller FoundationPrevious funderThe Templeton FoundationPrevious funderPluralism Project PartnersThe Pluralism Project is invited, on occasion, to partner with different institutions and organizations for a specific project. Past and current projects include:Merrimack CollegeCenter for Jewish-Christian-Muslim Relations -- development of case study on Islam in Iowa (2014-2016)New York Universitycase study development for "Faith Zone" training (2015)Georgetown UniversityWorld Faiths Development Dialogue -- research project on refugee communities and interfaith encounters (2015)KAICIID Dialogue CentrePeace Mapping Programme and AAR 2014 events (2014-2015)Brandeis UniversityJewish Buddhist Encounters project – development of case study, "A Question of Membership" (2013)John KiserAuthor -- development of case study about the life of Emir Abdel el-Kader (2012)American Jewish World Servicedevelopment of case study "In Pursuit of Justice"Pluralism Project AdvisorsThe Pluralism Project would like to acknowledge the following academic and community advisors who have supported our work over the years.Dr. Leila AhmedHarvard Divinity School -- Women and Gender in Islam; Islam in America; Women's Studies in ReligionDr. Ali AsaniHarvard University, Committee on the Study of Religion -- Islam; Muslim Youth in North AmericaDr. Dorothy A. AustinHarvard Divinity School -- Religion and Psychology; Psychology, Arts, and the Humanities; Psychoanalysis and MeditationDr. Diana L. EckHarvard University, Committee on the Study of Religion; Member of the Faculty of Divinity; The Pluralism Project -- Religious Traditions of India; Interreligious Relations; Religious Pluralism in AmericaDr. Charles HaynesNewseum Institute/Religious Freedom Center Freedom Forum First Amendment Center -- Religious Freedom; Religion and Public Education; Teaching About Religions in the Public School CurriculumDr. Gurinder Singh MannUniversity of California at Santa Barbara -- Sikhs in the U.S.Dr. Aminah Beverly McCloudDePaul University, Department of Religious Studies -- Islam in America; Comparisons of Muslim Diaspora in North America and EuropeDr. Vasudha NarayananUniversity of Florida, Gainesville, Department of Religion -- Hinduism in the U.S.; Hindu-Muslim Interactions in Ritual Spaces; Women in the Hindu TraditionDr. Paul D. NumrichMethodist Theological School in Ohio; Theological Consortium of Greater Columbus -- Study of Religion and Interreligious RelationsDr. Anantanand RambachanSt. Olaf College, Religion Department -- Advaita Vedanta; Authority of Scripture; Hinduism in Diaspora; Interreligious DialogueMr. Rohinton RivetnaFederation of Zoroastrian Associations of North America (FEZANA) -- Zoroastrianism in the U.S.; Interfaith ActivitiesDr. Omid SafiUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Department of Religious Studies -- Islamic Mysticism; Contemporary Islamic Thought; Medieval Islamic HistoryDr. Richard SeagerHamilton College, Religious Studies Department -- Buddhism in the U.S.Mr. Pravin K. ShahFederation of Jain Associations of North America and Jain Study Center of North America -- Teaching of Jainism to Youth in North Carolina; Development of Jain Literature Website and Home Study CourseDr. Muzammil H. SiddiqiFiqh Council of North America -- Islam in North AmericaDr. Robert StockmanDePaul University, Religious Studies Department; Institute for Bahá’í StudiesBahá’í History; World Religions in America; Interfaith Activities; Bahá’í Curriculum DevelopmentDr. Donald K. SwearerHarvard Divinity School -- Theravada Buddhism; Buddhism and Christianity; Engaged Buddhism; American Buddhism; Immigrant BuddhismDr. Raymond WilliamsWabash College -- Religions of South Asian Immigrants in the U.S.; Swaminarayan Hinduism; Srivaishnava AcharyasDr. YifaThe Woodenfish Project -- Monastic Regulation and Institutions; Chinese Buddhism; Humanistic Buddhism; Vinaya from Chinese ResourcesMargot AdlerIn memoriam -- National Public Radio -- Author, Drawing Down the Moon: Witches, Druids, Goddess-Worshippers, and Other Pagans in America Today_d90acde8-bd28-11e7-ac7c-625f9242c8d9Engaging, Educating, and Strengthening the Next Generation of Religious and Civic Leaders in the United States._d90ace60-bd28-11e7-ac7c-625f9242c8d9PluralismPluralism has long been a generative strand of American ideology. Mere diversity or plurality alone, however, does not constitute pluralism. There is lively debate over the implications of our multicultural and multireligious society in civic, religious, and educational institutions. How we appropriate plurality to shape a positive pluralism is one of the most important questions American society faces in the years ahead. It will require all of us to know much more about the new religious landscape of America than we presently know.American Religious DemographyDocument and better understand the changing contours of American religious demography_d90acf00-bd28-11e7-ac7c-625f9242c8d91To document and better understand the changing contours of American religious demography, focusing especially on those cities and towns where the new plurality has been most evident and discerning the ways in which this plurality is both visible and invisible in American public life._d90acf6e-bd28-11e7-ac7c-625f9242c8d9Religious CommunitiesStudy religious communities._59524e4e-bde8-11e7-8f55-a19d9842c8d92Religious CommunitiesTo study the religious communities themselves -- their temples, mosques, gurudwaras and retreat centers, their informal networks and emerging institutions, their forms of adaptation and religious education in the American context, their encounter with the other religious traditions of our common society, and their encounter with civic institutions.Temples, Mosques, Gurudwaras & Retreat CentersStudy temples, mosques, gurudwaras and retreat centers._595250e2-bde8-11e7-8f55-a19d9842c8d92.1TemplesMosquesGurudwarasNetworks & InstitutionsStudy informal networks and emerging institutions._59525326-bde8-11e7-8f55-a19d9842c8d92.2Adaptation & Religious EducationStudy their forms of adaptation and religious education in the American context._59525420-bde8-11e7-8f55-a19d9842c8d92.3Religious TraditionsStudy their encounter with the other religious traditions of our common society._59525524-bde8-11e7-8f55-a19d9842c8d92.4Civic InstitutionsStudy their encounter with civic institutions._59525614-bde8-11e7-8f55-a19d9842c8d92.5Civic InstitutionsNew PluralityExplore the ramifications and implications of America's new plurality._595256fa-bde8-11e7-8f55-a19d9842c8d93Christian CommunityJewish CommunityTo explore the ramifications and implications of America's new plurality through case studies of particular cities and towns, looking at the response of Christian and Jewish communities to their new neighbors; the development of interfaith councils and networks; the new theological and pastoral questions that emerge from the pluralistic context; and the recasting of traditional church-state issues in a wider context.Case StudiesExplore case studies of particular cities and towns._595257fe-bde8-11e7-8f55-a19d9842c8d93.1CitiesTownsInterfaith Councils & NetworksExplore the development of interfaith councils and networks._595258e4-bde8-11e7-8f55-a19d9842c8d93.2Interfaith CouncilsInterfaith NetworksTheological & Pastoral QuestionsExplore the new theological and pastoral questions that emerge from the pluralistic context._595259d4-bde8-11e7-8f55-a19d9842c8d93.3Church-State IssuesExplore the recasting of traditional church-state issues in a wider context._59525ad8-bde8-11e7-8f55-a19d9842c8d93.4ChurchesGovernmentsMeaningsDiscern the emerging meanings of religious pluralism._59525bc8-bde8-11e7-8f55-a19d9842c8d94Religious CommunitiesPublic InstitutionsTo discern, in light of this work, the emerging meanings of religious "pluralism," both for religious communities and for public institutions, and to consider the real challenges and opportunities of a public commitment to pluralism in the light of the new religious contours of America._59525cb8-bde8-11e7-8f55-a19d9842c8d92017-10-30http://pluralism.org/about/OwenAmburOwen.Ambur@verizon.net