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NATIONAL INTERFAITH ACADEMIES IN KANSAS CITY
Pilot Program 2007 June 13-27
| In 2007 June, Kansas City hosted the nation's first Interfaith Academies, one for religious professionals, one for students, run concurrently, with international participation. Funded by the Henry Luce Foundation, partners for the Academies were the Pluralism Project at Harvard University, Religions for Peace-USA, the Saint Paul School of Theology where the participants were housed, and the Greater Kansas City Interfaith Council, with several members addressing the Academies about our local work. With a faculty drawn from around the country, CRES arranged for visits to six religious sites and numerous other programs that enriched the academic experience -- a tour of the Nelson-Atkins, the movie night with the public, a public panel on religion and the media, a panel on lesser-known faiths, arrangements for Hindu and the Cowboy, the press conference and other media attention, Sunday vespers, greetings from elected officials, arrangements for professional evaluation, etc. |
| At the Pluralism Project, we consider Kansas
City to be truly at the forefront of interfaith relations This is — in
no small part — due to the tireless efforts of Vern Barnet, whose work
and writings have been an inspiration to all of us at the Pluralism Project.
—Ellie Pierce, principal
researcher for The Pluralism Project at Harvard University
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