Pluralism-list December 2015

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Re: [The Pluralism Project] Exciting News from the Pluralism Project

by Pluralism Project Staff

Dear Friends, Thank you to all who have already given generously to the Pluralism Project this year. We are grateful for your ongoing support and are glad to hear that you share our excitement about marking the Pluralism Project's 25th anniversary. (If you haven't heard the news, please see below for our announcement or read about it online <http://www.pluralism.org/newsletters/view/2015-12-16>.) For those who have not yet made a contribution, there is still time! To be included as tax-deductible for 2015, your gift must be postmarked or made online by next Thursday, December 31st. For more information on how to give, please visit www.pluralism.org/about/donation. Thank you again for your support. Best wishes to you and yours. Warmly, The Pluralism Project Staff -- The Pluralism Project at Harvard University 2 Arrow Street, 4th Floor Cambridge, MA 02138 617-496-2481 www.pluralism.org Twittter: @pluralismproj Like The Pluralism Project on Facebook <http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Pluralism-Project-at-Harvard-University/1…> ! View this newsletter online <http://pluralism.org/newsletters/view/December%2016,%202015> | Newsletter archive <http://pluralism.org/newsletters/> | Subscribe <http://pluralism.org/subscribers/add> | Unsubscribe <http://pluralism.org/subscribers/edit> [image: The Pluralism Project] HOME <http://pluralism.org> ABOUT <http://pluralism.org/about/> RESEARCH <http://pluralism.org/research/> EVENTS <http://pluralism.org/events/> PUBLICATIONS <http://pluralism.org/publications/> RESOURCES <http://pluralism.org/resources/> NEW <http://pluralism.org/new/> *Exciting News from the Pluralism Project* December 16, 2015 Dear Friends, In the coming year, the Pluralism Project will celebrate 25 years of work on the many critical issues of religious diversity in our society. Frankly, I could never have imagined 25 years ago where this work would take us. It seems like yesterday that I met for the first time with students to create a research seminar on World Religions in New England. I, like my students, was curious and eager to learn how the post-1965 immigration had impacted our local religious and interfaith landscape. Twenty-five years later, those site visits and seminar discussions have evolved into a thriving research and educational project. Our work in Boston spread to dozens of affiliate professors, hundreds of students, and countless religious communities and interfaith groups across the country—all of us taking stock of America's new religious diversity, our expanding sense of the "we," and the multiple ways in which the efforts of diverse religious communities have created an "interfaith infrastructure" that will be increasingly important to the life of American cities and towns. Over the years, the Pluralism Project has been a leader in convening interdisciplinary and multi-sector conversations on critical issues facing our society—religious discrimination and workplace accommodation, religious diversity and public policy, women’s religious leadership, fear mongering and bridge-building in post-9/11 America. As we know, these issues have become increasingly divisive, both in the U.S. and in the rest of the world. Drawing from our history and experience, we are excited to announce that we will celebrate our 25th anniversary with an event here in Cambridge on September 22-23, 2016. We will bring Pluralism Project alumni and supporters together to assess where we have been and look toward the future. Please stay tuned for more information. Your continued support has made this possible. Thank you for being a vital part of the Pluralism Project’s work. Your gift today will help us expand upon this legacy. In honor of this milestone, our fundraising goal this year begins with $25,000. *Will you show your support <http://www.pluralism.org/about/donation> and be a part of this chapter in our history?* Finally, we are delighted and humbled by the news that the Pluralism Project was recently named co-recipient <http://www.pluralism.org/newsletters/view/2015-12-07> of the 2016 Guru Nanak Interfaith Prize from Hofstra University. This is an honor that we share with you, our partners in this work. Thank you again for your support. Warm regards, Diana L. Eck Professor of Comparative Religion and Indian Studies Frederic Wertham Professor of Law and Psychiatry in Society Director, The Pluralism Project *P.S. You can make a donation by check or online. For more information, please visit our website <http://www.pluralism.org/about/donation>. Thank you!* -- The Pluralism Project at Harvard University 2 Arrow Street, 4th Floor Cambridge, MA 02138 617-496-2481 www.pluralism.org Twittter: @pluralismproj Like The Pluralism Project on Facebook <http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Pluralism-Project-at-Harvard-University/1…>!

8 years, 4 months

Exciting News from the Pluralism Project

by The Pluralism Project

Exciting News from the Pluralism Project December 16, 2015 HTML version: http://pluralism.org/newsletters/view/2015-12-16 Newsletter archive: http://pluralism.org/newsletters Dear Friends, In the coming year, the Pluralism Project will celebrate 25 years of work on the many critical issues of religious diversity in our society. Frankly, I could never have imagined 25 years ago where this work would take us. It seems like yesterday that I met for the first time with students to create a research seminar on World Religions in New England. I, like my students, was curious and eager to learn how the post-1965 immigration had impacted our local religious and interfaith landscape. Twenty-five years later, those site visits and seminar discussions have evolved into a thriving research and educational project. Our work in Boston spread to dozens of affiliate professors, hundreds of students, and countless religious communities and interfaith groups across the country—all of us taking stock of America's new religious diversity, our expanding sense of the "we," and the multiple ways in which the efforts of diverse religious communities have created an "interfaith infrastructure" that will be increasingly important to the life of American cities and towns.  Over the years, the Pluralism Project has been a leader in convening interdisciplinary and multi-sector conversations on critical issues facing our society—religious discrimination and workplace accommodation, religious diversity and public policy, women’s religious leadership, fear mongering and bridge-building in post-9/11 America. As we know, these issues have become increasingly divisive, both in the U.S. and in the rest of the world. Drawing from our history and experience, we are excited to announce that we will celebrate our 25th anniversary with an event here in Cambridge on September 22-23, 2016. We will bring Pluralism Project alumni and supporters together to assess where we have been and look toward the future. Please stay tuned for more information.   Your continued support has made this possible. Thank you for being a vital part of the Pluralism Project’s work. Your gift today will help us expand upon this legacy. In honor of this milestone, our fundraising goal this year begins with $25,000. Will you show your support [ http://www.pluralism.org/about/donation ] and be a part of this chapter in our history? Finally, we are delighted and humbled by the news that the Pluralism Project was recently named co-recipient [ http://www.pluralism.org/newsletters/view/2015-12-07 ] of the 2016 Guru Nanak Interfaith Prize from Hofstra University. This is an honor that we share with you, our partners in this work. Thank you again for your support. Warm regards,   [Image: ] Diana L. Eck Professor of Comparative Religion and Indian Studies Frederic Wertham Professor of Law and Psychiatry in Society Director, The Pluralism Project P.S. You can make a donation by check or online. For more information, please visit our website [ http://www.pluralism.org/about/donation ]. Thank you! ------------------------- This is the read-only email list of the Pluralism Project at Harvard University. To join or leave this mailing list, please email us at staff(a)pluralism.org, or visit the subscription edit page at http://pluralism.org/subscribers/edit

8 years, 5 months

Press Release: Pluralism Project and Serve2Unite Awarded Guru Nanak Interfaith Prize by Hofstra University

by The Pluralism Project

Press Release: Pluralism Project and Serve2Unite Awarded Guru Nanak Interfaith Prize by Hofstra University December 7, 2015 HTML version: http://pluralism.org/newsletters/view/2015-12-07 Newsletter archive: http://pluralism.org/newsletters For Immediate Release Two organizations dedicated to promoting tolerance and religious understanding through education, research and leadership training will share Hofstra University’s 2016 Guru Nanak Interfaith Prize, President Stuart Rabinowitz announced today. The Pluralism Project at Harvard University [ http://www.pluralism.org/ ], created in 1991, was inspired by the increasing religious diversity of the United States, diversity that its founder and director, Dr. Diana Eck, PhD, a professor of religious studies at Harvard, saw in her classes. Serve2Unite [ http://serve2unite.org/ ], a Milwaukee-based organization that focuses on youth and community outreach, was forged from tragedy, created by Pardeep Kaleka and the Sikh community after his father and five others were killed in a shooting at a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin in 2012. “These two organizations use education and dialogue to promote tolerance, compassion and religious understanding. Now more than ever, I can think of no work that is more important,” said President Stuart Rabinowitz. “Their unwavering commitment is a testament to the principles Guru Nanak represents.” Dean Bernard Firestone of Hofstra College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, said this year’s recipients were chosen to reflect that there is no single approach to promoting interfaith understanding. “The Pluralism Project and Serve2Unite show that there are many ways to meet the challenge and embrace the opportunity presented by religious diversity,” Firestone said. “The most important thing is that people of different backgrounds communicate – whether it is through scholarly research, grassroots community outreach, leadership training or creative expression.” The $50,000 Guru Nanak Interfaith Prize is bestowed every two years to recognize significant work to increase interfaith understanding. A formal award presentation is planned for spring 2016. The first Guru Nanak Interfaith Prize was awarded in 2008 to His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso. “I am humbled and honored to be able to accept this on behalf of The Pluralism Project,” Dr. Eck said. “A prize offered in the name of Guru Nanak is a very special honor indeed. I am also very pleased that we will be sharing the prize with Serve2Unite.” The Pluralism Project has engaged religious practitioners, students, scholars, interfaith and civic leaders for nearly 25 years around national and international research and education about religious diversity. Its projects include online resources, symposia and trainings, seminars and consultations, producing documentary films, case studies and profiles of interfaith organizations nationwide. Among the groups it has profiled [ http://pluralism.org/reports/interfaith_view/641 ], is co-recipient, Serve2Unite. Pardeep Kaleka, is an inner-city school teacher and former police officer who launched Serve2Unite after his father, Satwant Singh Kaleka – the president of the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, was killed in 2012. In just three years, Serve2Unite has expanded its programming from two Milwaukee schools to 20, with more than 600 active participants in its student leadership chapters. Under the direction of Arts @ Large, an umbrella arts-education organization that annually engages more than 7,000 students, teachers, and their families in the Milwaukee area, Serve2Unite helps young people create communities built on interfaith and intercultural understanding through community service, artistic projects, and guided dialogue, both in person and online. “We at Serve2Unite are extremely honored and humbled by the award,” Kaleka said. “Serve2Unite was founded upon the same ideology that Guru Nanak established the Sikh Religion upon; equality for all, regardless of caste, class, color, creed, or culture. Our mission is to carry this torch of justice forward in utter defiance of fear, ignorance, and hatred; to cultivate courage, wisdom, love, and human kinship on our earth.” The Guru Nanak Interfaith Prize was established in 2006 by Ishar Bindra and family and named for the founder of the Sikh religion. It is meant to encourage understanding of various religions and encourage cooperation between faith communities. Guru Nanak believed that all humans are equal, regardless of color, ethnicity, nationality or gender. In September 2000, the Bindra family endowed the Sardarni Kuljit Kaur Bindra Chair in Sikh Studies at Hofstra University in honor of the family’s matriarch. Tejinder Bindra, who is also a member of the University’s Board of Trustees, noted when the award was inaugurated that Guru Nanak espoused a message of universal brotherhood at a time of increasing religious intolerance during 15th and 16th century India. “It is in this spirit that the Guru Nanak Prize was initiated,” Bindra said. “If one can experience that universality then there is absolutely no room left for differences in race, color, caste, creed, religion or gender, and then as the Sikh scripture tells us ‘I see no stranger’.” “The awardees may or may not be Sikh and may represent any of the multitudes of faiths or, for that matter, even no particular faith at all,” he said. It is their dedication that brings humankind to their shared destiny, common purpose and roots that they honor.” https://news.hofstra.edu/2015/12/07/2016-guru-nanak-prize-awarded-to-plural… ------------------------- This is the read-only email list of the Pluralism Project at Harvard University. To join or leave this mailing list, please email us at staff(a)pluralism.org, or visit the subscription edit page at http://pluralism.org/subscribers/edit

8 years, 5 months

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Pluralism-list December 2015