Funded by the Wabash Center , 18 participants from across three continents gathered online for across two days in order to discuss strategies and approaches for teaching philosophy of religion inclusively. Gereon Kopf hosted the entire, two-year grant project online using cloud-based file-sharing and videoconferencing.
The inaugural August session convened the participants to consult on the pilot projects to be launched in their Fall 2020 courses. Two years of pilot projects and discussion created data by which to answer the following questions:
1) How to make students from diverse backgrounds feel represented and at home in an increasingly diverse classroom environment?
2) How can we enable students in these diverse classroom settings to understand the beliefs and ways of thinking of their neighbors beyond the pervasive images and stereotypes characteristic of orientalism?
3) How might we enable faculty to teach global and critical approaches to the philosophy of religion in courses that provide a safe and brave learning environment?
4) How do we implement diversity, equity, and inclusion in our teaching of philosophy of religion?