Social Studies

Amy Coney Barrett with her family, President Trump, and First Lady Melania Trump in the Oval Office

Amy Coney Barrett and the Internal Diversity of American Catholic Women

By Lauren R. Kerby and Mary Perez

When Amy Coney Barrett was nominated to the Supreme Court, her religious identity as a conservative, charismatic Catholic immediately became a subject of intense scrutiny. The public conversation about Barrett’s identity reveals the internal diversity of how American Catholics think about what it means to be a Catholic woman, mother, and even feminist. Drawing on a varied selection of recent news articles, this lesson offers an opportunity for students to 1) practice recognizing internal diversity and 2) ask new questions about a topic as a result.

Seated Buddha statue surrounded by candles

Buddhism(s), Meditation(s), and Colonialism in Burma

By Nicholas Scrimenti

This lesson illustrates the key principles of internal diversity, historical change, and cultural embeddedness using Erik Braun’s article about Burmese meditation vis-à-vis British colonialism. The story of how British colonialism in Burma shaped the way meditation was taught and practiced in Burma, as well as its subsequent export to the United States, is a clear object-lesson in the tenets of religious literacy.

James Baldwin speaking from a lectern with microphone, black and white

#ScholarStrike: James Baldwin and Educating Against Society

By Lauren R. Kerby

On September 8-9, 2020, academics across the country, including faculty and staff at the Religious Literacy Project, are participating in teach-ins for racial justice known as the #ScholarStrike. I assigned these readings from James Baldwin, Patricia Hill Collins, and Tressie McMillan Cottom to my students at Harvard Divinity School to start our semester studying the history of education and religion in the U.S. For others interested in these questions, I offer them as resources for thinking about how critical pedagogy can serve the goals of racial justice. 

Protesters holding signs saying No Justice, No Peace, and Black Lives Matter

#ScholarStrike: Anti-Black Racism and Internal Diversity in American Christianity

By Lauren R. Kerby

On September 8-9, 2020, academics across the country, including faculty and staff at the Religious Literacy Project, are participating in teach-ins for racial justice known as the #ScholarStrike. As part of our contribution, we offer this lesson plan about American Christians’ responses to Donald Trump and the George Floyd protests as a resource for teachers seeking ways to connect religion and race in their discussions of current events. 

Screenshot of Class page on disrupting assumptions and map of Muslim populations in the world from Pew Research Center

How I Taught About Islam in Six Days

By Sean Radcliff

When I set out to teach a class on the “major world religions,” I knew that so much would have to end up on the cutting room floor. I knew that I’d have to be efficient in order to cover the “most important aspects” of each religion. With that in mind, I planned out my whole year in advance – something I had never done before. I’d have 12 blocks of 90 minutes each to teach about Islam. It still wasn’t a lot of time, but I organized what I thought was a really solid unit. But as we were getting close to finish the 3rd quarter of the student year, COVID-19 disrupted all of my plans.