Interfaith Engagement
Issued by
ReligionAndPublicLife.org
REL 310 is an online training program to support college and graduate students admitted into the national Interfaith Engagement fellowship program. The program’s primary purpose is to prepare students to host a film screening of the PBS Documentary Three Chaplains on their academic campus. Students who complete the fellowship program earn a stipend and a professional certificate in interfaith engagement.
- Type Experience
- Level Foundational
- Time Months
Skills
Earning Criteria
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Fellows complete the following three-hour online training course at the social learning community, ReligionAndPublicLife.org. The training includes watching the one-hour film, studying the discussion guide, learning best practices for facilitating interfaith dialogue and engaging fellows from around the country who will be hosting their own film screenings.
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Fellows organize a campus film screening and seek campus co-sponsors from student groups and support from faculty, campus chaplains, and administrators. Fellows start the event by articulating best practices for dialoguing across differences and invite the audience to complete a pre-film survey via their cell phones. Fellows show the one-hour film and engage the attendees in a 30- to 45-minute discussion, including collecting results from the post-film survey.
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Fellows spend one hour reporting the screening results and providing the filmmakers and grantmakers feedback about campus and viewer engagement.
Standards
"Our approach to religion is academic, not devotional; we strive for student awareness of religions, but do not press for student acceptance of any religion; we sponsor the study about religion, not the practice of religion; we expose students to a diversity of religious views, but may not impose any particular view..."
The faculty at ReligionAndPublicLIfe.org draw upon two guidelines for the academic study of religion: (1) “Religious Literacy Guidelines for College Students.” American Academy of Religion, 2019. (2) “Teaching About Religion: AAR Guidelines for K-12 Public Schools.” American Academy of Religion, April 2010.
College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies State Standards, “Religious Studies Companion Document for the C3 Framework.” Silver Spring, MD: National Council for the Social Studies, 2013.