Slides from the morning session
Montgomery County Days of Commemoration
2022-2023 MCPS Guidelines for Respecting Religious Diversity
Guidance on Constitutionally Protected Prayer and Religious Expression in Public Elementary and Secondary Schools (May 15, 2023) (https://www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/religionandschools/prayer_guidance.html)
Freedom Forum Institute — Freedom of Religion (https://www.freedomforum.org/freedom-of-religion/)
3Rs Ambassadors Curriculum (https://www.religionanded.com/3rs/)
The Future of World Religions: Population Growth Projections, 2010-2050 (https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2015/04/02/religious-projections-2010-2050/)
Maryland Profile from PRRI (American Values Atlas)
2020 Census of American Religion (https://www.prri.org/research/2020-census-of-american-religion/)
Links from Our Presenters – Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington
Jewish Heritage Month: https://www.jcouncil.org/page/ways-celebrate
Institute for Curriculum Services: https://icsresources.org/curriculum/ (Jewish History, Israel and the Middle East, Teaching about Religion)
Also, we welcome the opportunity to bring our Student to Student and Holocaust Education programs to your teachers’ classrooms this year. Please share these links liberally and encourage them to sign up!
https://jcouncil.org/get-involved/student-to-student (scroll down for our presentation request form)
https://jcouncil.org/form/invite-holocaust-speaker
Additional Links and Info
recently released U.S. National Strategy to Counter Anti-Semitism (May 2023)
Jewish communities have been in North America since the 1600s and are a part of the rich history of religious freedom in the United States. In 1790, George Washington wrote a letter to the Hebrew Congregation in Newport, RI expressing the commitment to religious freedom: “For happily the Government of the United States gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance, requires only that they who live under its protection should demean themselves as good citizens, in giving it on all occasions their effectual support.”
(more info: https://tourosynagogue.org/history/george-washington-letter/)
“The ‘silent salesman’: How kosher certification went mainstream” (Food Dive, April 13, 2022)
Recommended by our hosts:
https://www.alislam.org/ – the Official Site of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community
www.holyquran.io – easily searchable online Qur’an with English and Arabic
More Resources
The World’s Muslims: Unity and Diversity (Pew Research Center, 2012)
Understanding the branches of Islam (Brief from the European Parliament, 2015)
The Arti Ceremony (TrueTube Video)
Religion in India: Tolerance and Segragation (Pew Research Center, 2021)
Kunzang Odsal Palyul Changchub Choling Buddhist temple
Who will succeed the Dalai Lama? from The Economist (https://www.economist.com/
Religion for Breakfast Buddhism Playlist (11 videos)
Saint Sophia Greek Orthodox Cathedral
Orthodox Church in America (OCA) – https://www.oca.org/
Classification of Protestant Denominations (Pew Research Center)
Infographics from the Center for Global Christianity at Gordon Conwell Seminary
A very detailed chart of Christian denominations and Christian history
Post-Survey
Contact Info
Mitch Joy – mitchell.joy@mcpsmd.net
Kate Soules – ksoules@religionanded.com
Pluralism Project (www.pluralism.org) – covers a very wide range of religious traditions, with multiple thematic essays and articles for each
Religion for Breakfast (https://www.youtube.com/c/ReligionForBreakfast) – YouTube channel with a selection of religious studies content.
Family Trees for World Religions (https://www.thearda.com/world-religion/family-trees) – interactive family trees for Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, and Judaism (lists below the trees give brief background on each subgroup featured)
American Religion Timelines (https://thearda.com/us-religion/history/timelines) – includes Social Movements and Religion, Race/Ethnicity and Religion, and Women and Religion
BBC Bitesize* (https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/z88b9ty) – introductions for younger students, search the site for more resources beyond those collected on the linked page
TrueTube* (https://www.truetube.co.uk/) – videos designed for use in British Religious Education* classrooms, sortable by age (“keystage”) and topic
RE Online* (https://www.reonline.org.uk/knowledge/) – essays on several traditions, broken down into easily manageable sections
“______: A Very Short Introduction” Series – these are typically a good introduction and overview from scholarly perspective
Religion Matters: An Introduction to the World’s Religions (Stephen Prothero, 2020, WW Norton)
How to be a Perfect Stranger: The Essential Religious Etiquette Handbook (eds. Matlins and Magida, 2015)
*Religious Education is a compulsory school subject in England and Wales and therefore there are many high quality resources from UK organizations, especially for younger students. Despite the name of the subject, it is based on an academic, not devotional framework. However, there are some differences in approach that could occasionally come close to the First Amendment line, so review resources before using them with students.
Religious Worlds of New York Summer Institute – 3-week summer program (should be happening in 2024) open to teachers across the country
Dal al Islam Summer Institute – focused on Islam, 2-weeks in New Mexico
ReligionAndPublicLife.org – online learning community with self-paced and hybrid courses on topics related to religion, public life, pluralism, and interfaith engagement
Uberoi Foundation – teacher institutes on Dharmic traditions (Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism)
World Religious Through Their Scriptures (edX course)
RELIGION AND CURRENT EVENTS
Religion News Service (https://religionnews.com/)
The Conversation (Ethics and Religion Section) (https://theconversation.com/us/ethics)
ISJC (Institute for Islamic Christian Jewish Studies) (based in Baltimore)
Freedom Forum Institute (based in DC)
Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious Understanding (NY)
Encounter World Religions (Toronto)
Religion and Public Life (Harvard Divinity School)
