Teaching Interfaith Understanding

This seminar, led by Laurie Patton, incoming president of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, and Eboo Patel, founder and president of Interfaith America, will examine the substantial theoretical questions inherent in teaching interfaith understanding and explore the practical work of translating these ideas into courses. Participating faculty members will have opportunities to develop teaching resources such as syllabi and course modules that may be shared online with colleagues at many other institutions. Each day, the seminar will focus on a particular dimension of interfaith understanding—such as models of interfaith collaboration and pedagogies for teaching interfaith cooperation—and will include both theoretical and applied work. The seminar will blend discussions of case studies, course syllabi, and experiential activities such as site visits.