Religious Literacy Frameworks

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The curriculum at ReligionAndPublicLife.org invites students into a conversation about the civic competency of religious literacy. We draw upon national educational standards regarding the academic study of religion. To achieve these goals in a constitutionally sound way, we will apply the following four civic approaches to the academic study of religion.

• Diversity over Uniformity

  The rule of law has often been used to suppress freedom of religion and discriminate against religious minorities. However, history shows that the rule of law can be effectively used to promote mutual understand...

• Measure Religious Literacy Outcomes

  As religious literacy educators, we use the KSAM method to measure the impact of four religious literacy outcomes: Knowledge, Skills, Attitudes, and Motivations, as articulated by Nathan C. Walker, Alice W. Chan...

• Pluralism

  Aware of the limitations of using only a “diversity” framework, Michael D. Waggoner and Nathan C. Walker, wrote in The Oxford Handbook of Religion and American Education that pluralism advances the idea that...

• The 3Bs of Religious Identity Formation

  The faculty at ReligionAndPublicLife.com recognizes that individuals and communities construct their religious identities in complex ways.  Benjamin P. Marcus, special advisor to The Foundation for Religious L...

• The 5Cs of News Media and Minimizing Harm

  Professor H. Fred Garcia identifies the 5Cs that can often be found in news stories: conflict, contradiction, controversy, colorful language, and a cast of characters.  When applied to the study of religion ne...

• The Four Premises of Religious Literacy

  Professor Diane L. Moore, advisor to the Foundation for Religious Literacy, and director of the Harvard Religious Literacy Project articulate four basic assertions about religions and the study of religion. Thes...