Suggested Texts and Resources for Teaching Religious Pluralism

The following represents an ever-growing list of resources that can be used in the classroom to teach religious pluralism, interfaith cooperation, interfaith literacy, and related topics. The readings come from IFYC’s coursework as well as consultation and feedback with university and seminary faculty who are teaching similar courses in classrooms across the country.

Religious Pluralism and the Challenges of Religious Diversity

Eck, Diana. A New Religious America: How a “Christian Country” Has Become the World’s Most Religiously Diverse Nation. San Francisco: Harper Collins, 2001.

Eck, Diana. Encountering God: A Spiritual Journey from Bozeman to Banaras. Boston: Beacon Press, 1993.

Karabell, Zachary. Peace Be Upon You: Fourteen Centuries of Muslim, Christian and Jewish Conflict and Cooperation. New York: Vintage, 2008.

Marty, Martin E. The One and the Many: America’s Struggle for the Common Good. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1997.

McGraw, Barbara A and Jo Renee Formicola, eds. Taking Religious Pluralism Seriously: Spiritual Politics on America’s Sacred Ground. Waco, Texas: Baylor University Press, 2005.

Patel, Eboo. Acts of Faith: The Story of an American Muslim, the Struggle for the Soul of a Generation. Boston: Beacon Press, 2007.

Patel, Eboo. Sacred Ground: Pluralism, Prejudice, and the Promise of America. Boston: Beacon Press, 2012.

Patel, Eboo, and Cassie Meyer. “Defining Religious Pluralism.” The Journal of College and Character 11, No. 2 (2010): doi:10.2202/1940-1639.1259.

Putnam, Robert. “E Pluribus Unum: Diversity and Community in the 21st Century.” Journal of Scandinavian Studies, 2007: 137-174.

Putnam, Robert and David Campbell. American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2010.

Varshney, Ashutosh. Ethnic Conflict and Civic Life: Hindus and Muslims in India. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2002.

Wuthnow, Robert. America and the Challenges of Religious Diversity. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2005.

Interfaith Cooperation

Fasching, Darrel J and Dell Dechant. Comparative Religious Ethics: A Narrative Approach. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, Ltd., 2001.

Heckman, Bud and Rori Picker Neiss, eds. Interactive Faith: The Essential Interreligious Community Building Handbook. Woodstock, Vermont: Skylight Paths Publishing, 2008.

Katz, Rebecca Mays, ed. Interfaith Dialogue at the Grassroots. Philadelphia: Ecumenical Press, 2008.

Little, David, ed. Peacemakers in Action: Profiles of Religion in Conflict Resolution. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007.

McCarthy, Kate. Interfaith Encounters in America. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2007.

Niebuhr, Gustav. Beyond Tolerance: Searching for Interfaith Understanding in America. New York: Penguin Group, 2008.

Patel, Eboo and Patrice Brodeur, eds. Building the Interfaith Youth Movement: Beyond Dialogue to Action. Lanham, Maryland: Rowan & Littlefield, 2006.

Patel, Eboo, et al. “Interfaith Leadership: Bringing Religious Groups Together.” In Crossing the Divide: Intergroup Leadership in a World of Difference, edited by Todd L. Pittinsky. Boston: Harvard Business Press, 2009.

Smock, David R., ed. Interfaith Dialogue and Peacebuilding. Washington, DC: United States Institute of Peace Press, 2002.

Interfaith Literacy

Brooks, Joanna. The Book of Mormon Girl: A Memoir of an American Faith. New York: Free Press, 2012.

Cohen, Joshua and Ian Lague, ed. The Place of Tolerance in Islam. Boston: Beacon Press, 2002.

Davis, Adam, eds. Hearing the Call Across Traditions: Readings on Faith and Service. Woodstock, Vermont: Skylight Paths Press, 2009.

Epstein, Greg. Good Without God: What a Billion Nonreligious People Do Believe. New York: Harper Collins, 2009.

Esack, Farid. Qur’an, Liberation, & Pluralism. Oxford: One World Press, 2002.

Hanh, Thich Nhat. Living Buddha, Living Christ. New York: Riverhead Books, 1995.

Heschel, Abraham Joshua. “No Religion is an Island.” In No Religion is an Island: Abraham Joshua Heschel and Interreligious Dialogue, edited by Harold Kasimow and Byron L. Sherwin, 3-22. Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 1991.

King, Martin Luther. “The World House.” In A Testament to Hope, edited by James M. Washington, 617-633. San Francisco: Harper Collins, 1986.

Knitter, Paul. Introducing Theologies of Religion. Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 2002.

McLaren, Brian D. A New Kind of Christianity: Ten Questions That Are Transforming the Faith. New York: HarperCollins, 2010.

Moore, Diane L. Overcoming Religious Illiteracy: A Cultural Studies Approach to the Study of Religion in Secondary Education. New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2007.

Patel, Eboo and Cassie Meyer. “Teaching Interfaith Literacy.” The Journal of College and Character. 12, No. 4 (2011): doi:10.2202/1940-1639.1836.

Peace, Jennifer Howe, Or N. Rose and Gregory Mobley, eds. My Neighbor’s Faith: Stories of Interreligious Encounter, Growth, and Transformation. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2012.

Prothero, Stephen. Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know–and Doesn’t. New York: Harper Collins, 2007.

Sachs, Jonathan. The Dignity of Difference: How to Avoid the Clash of Civilizations. New York: Continuum International Publishing Group, 2003.

Stedman, Chris. Faitheist: How an Atheist Found Common Ground with the Religious. Boston: Beacon Press, 2012.

Religious Diversity and Interfaith Cooperation on Campus

Astin, Alexander, et. al. Cultivating the Spirit: How College Can Enhance Students’ Inner Lives. San Francisco: JosseyBass, 2011.

Basham, Katie, and Megan Hughes. “Creating and Sustaining Interfaith Cooperation on Christian Campuses: Tools and Challenges.” The Journal of College and Character, 13, No. 2 (2012): doi:10.1515/jcc-2012-1900.

Diamond, Miriam Rosalyn. Encountering Faith in the Classroom: Turning Difficult Discussions into Constructive Engagement. Sterling, Virginia: Stylus, 2008.

Edwards, Mark U., Jr. Religion on Our Campuses: A Professor’s Guide to Communities, Conflicts, and Promising Conversations. New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2006.

Jacobsen, Douglas, and Rhonda Hustedt Jacobsen. The American University in a Postsecular Age. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008.

Jacobsen, Douglas, and Rhonda Hustedt Jacobsen. No Longer Invisible: Religion in University Education. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012.

Nash, Robert, et. al. How To Talk About Hot Topics on Campus: From Polarization to Moral Conversation. San Francisco: Joseey-Bass, 2008.

Patel, Eboo and Cassie Meyer. “The Civic Relevance of Interfaith Cooperation for Colleges and Universities.” The Journal of College and Character 12, No. 1 (2011): doi:10.2202/1940-1639.1764.

Patel, Eboo and Cassie Meyer. “Engaging Religious Diversity on Campus: The Role of Interfaith Leadership.” Journal of College and Character X, No. 7 (2009): http://journals.naspa.org/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1436&context=jcc.

Patel, Eboo and Cassie Meyer. “Introduction to ‘Interfaith Cooperation on Campus’: Interfaith Cooperation as an InstitutionWide Priority.” The Journal of College and Character 12, No. 2 (2011): doi:10.2202/1940-1639.1794