Critical Pedagogy

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

#ScholarStrike: James Baldwin and Educating Against Society

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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

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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. 

A group of HDS students talking

Nondevotional Conversations in the Classroom

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By Lauren R. Kerby

At the Religious Literacy Project, a fundamental component of how we teach about religion is what we call the nondevotional approach. For many people, this is a new way of talking about religion. Unless you’ve taken a religious studies class, you may have never been asked to observe and discuss religion in this way. And it can be confusing! But one thing that can help is to focus on what kind of conversation you want to have.

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

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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.

Image of hands typing on laptop next to colorful notebooks

Building Classroom Relationships Online

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By Kristofer Rhude

As we prepare for the next school year, it is likely that many teachers will be returning to an online format. Here at HDS, we will be online again ourselves. The RLP has experience creating online classrooms through Harvard Extension and HX for several years, and we are here to support you as you rethink what it means to teach in this new way. We’ve put together a few preliminary thoughts for you to consider as you prepare for next year, and we welcome further conversation.

Mural in San Juan showing Columbus' three ships sailing away from the New World through a sea of blood, bodies in their wake

Using Art to Make the Invisible Visible

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By Lauren R. Kerby

This lesson uses two different images of Christopher Columbus to challenge students to move beyond how they may have been taught to think about violence and peace. It asks them to identify cultural violence and cultural peace in images that may challenge what they think of as violent or peaceful. It also offers suggestions for how to connect these ideas to current events, including Black Lives Matter.