In 2014, Dr. Bussie participated in a Teaching Interfaith Understanding faculty development seminar, run in partnership between the Council of Independent Colleges and Interfaith Interfaith America, and generously funded by the Henry Luce Foundation. At the seminar, she shared this assignment as one of her most effective longstanding teaching tools for regularly facilitating peer-learning and engaging students in class discussion. For information on future seminars, and to access more resources created by seminar alumni, visit The Council of Independent Colleges.

About This Assignment

The following assignment was developed by Dr. Jacqueline Bussie; she has used variations of this assignment for the last decade as a part of many different courses she teaches. The version below is the one she developed for her “Faith in Dialogue: Interfaith Leadership” course at Concordia College (Moorhead, MN) to help students engage with interfaith themes. Religious literacy, exploring personal theologies or philosophies of interfaith cooperation, and developing the skills and knowledge necessary for interfaith leadership are central components of this course.