Ethics, Religion, and Civil Discourse in Central California

FAIN: AC-50106-11

CSU, Fresno (Fresno, CA 93740-0001)
Andrew Gordon Fiala (Project Director: June 2010 to September 2014)
Vincent F. Biondo (Co Project Director: June 2010 to September 2014)

A conference, curriculum development workshops, a new college course, and an edited conference volume on the range of ethical and religious responses to increased religious diversity in Central California.

This project will promote civil discourse about religion and religious diversity. With support from the College of Arts and Humanities and the interdisciplinary Ethics Center at Fresno State, the project will sponsor an academic conference in the first year. This will be followed, in year two, by a curricular workshop organized in conjunction with the School of Education. Humanities scholars from campuses throughout the state of California will participate in both conferences along with practitioners of interfaith dialogue and K-12 educators. The project will produce a book that can be used for teaching about religious diversity. It will build partnerships among humanities scholars at campuses across California. It will contribute humanities scholarship to growing interfaith and inter-religious networks in California. And it will result in curricular innovations: a course on “Religion in California” and suggestions for connecting humanities scholarship to the K-12 curriculum.