Teaching Religion in Public (TRiP) is a project inspired by the public university classroom, where scholars and students of religion regularly participate in this vital civic experiment: to teach religion as an open question rather than a conclusive set of facts, in ways that are enhanced rather than impeded by our public and religious diversity.
TRiP’s collaborative projects to date include partnerships between graduate students and faculty reflecting on themes ranging from “Practice” to “Difficulty,” and cross-cultural and interdisciplinary investigation of topics such as “Scripture” and “THiNGS.” Recognizing that teaching itself is an interactive, relational process, dependent on different kinds of knowledge creators as well as experiences and expertise outside the classroom, we have created opportunities to learn in person from those who regularly work with different publics, including a dramaturge who facilitates the communal scripting and performance of interracial histories; the leader of an interfaith institute; the curator of Native American artifacts; the author of an innovative work of graphic scholarship; a scholar-practitioner who recreates potions and practices from medieval texts; and an expert in Afrofuturist literature.
TRiP’s initiatives also include the creation of the Engaging Religion teaching portals, and workshops that prepared undergraduate students to reflect on the difficult and challenging religious materials, including the Noli Me Tangere exhibit.