Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know-And Doesn't Stephen Prothero New York: Harper Collins/ Harper San Francisco, 2007 A spring 2007 seminar marking the seventyfifth anniversary of the Folger Institute in Washington, DC, celebrated "Shakespeare in American Education" from 1607 to (nearly) the present, and a very strong case was made by conference participants for the centrality of Shakespeare for educators But an even stronger case could be made for the historical influence of the Bible in American education According to Prothero's book, "America's first three colleges-Harvard (established 1636), William and Mary (1693) and Yale (1701)-were all founded primarily to educate clergy" (84) So much for the separation of church and state in "the land of the free" early on But over the years, as historian Henry Steele Commager has explained, "Religion prospered while theology slowly went bankrupt," and, to quote Stephen Prothero, chair of the religion department at Boston University, the "battle inside American Christianity between piety and learning [was] a battle that learning lost" If there is a problem today with religious ignorance in America-and there is, as Prothero clearly demonstrates-education is surely the solution, and this book deserves to be in the corrective vanguard Prothero's Religious Literacy, following the example of E D Hirsch's Cultural Literacy (1987), leaves no doubt that religious illiteracy is shamefully rampant in America today A Jay Leno audience could name all of the Beatles, for example, but could not name one of the twelve apostles Examples of stupid answers abound in this book: a majority of youngsters polled, for example, thought that Joan of Arc was Noah's wife and that Thomas Edison spoke the Lordly words of Genesis: "Let there be light" These spectacularly wrong answers involve America's most dominant religion, Christianity Those who could not name the four gospels or the Ten Commandments would certainly do no better with the Five Pillars of Islam Can America be a nation of believers if a majority of Americans do not really know what they supposedly believe? In a war-torn world of paranoia and religious fanaticism, citizens need to be well-informed about distinctions that motivate fanatics who may threaten security This could be simplified by the ignorant to a simple formula, such as "Know your enemy, Islam," but Islam itself, a religion historically known for its tolerance, is not the problem Ignorance is the problem Key concepts of more than passing relevance to the wars in the Middle East (Iraq and Afghanistan notably, so far) are defined in Prothero's eighty-page "Dictionary of Religious Literacy": "Sunni Islam," for example, is the majority branch in the Moslem world, except in Iraq and Iran, where "Shiite Islam" is the majority (at issue here is an ancient schism that developed after the death of the Prophet); the current conflict was influenced by "Wahhabism," a faction of ultraconservative Sunnis, and by the "Taliban," Islamic militants disguised as "students" of religion and the radical core of Al-Qaida, blamed for the attacks of 9/11 and driven by force out of Afghanistan by our avenging army …

Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know-And Doesn't

This timely article engages in a content analysis of South Carolina state policies that exclude resources from (un)documented Latinx immigrants This research explores how state policy enacts tropes of deservingness and constructs notions of good immigrants in order to exclude Latinx immigrants from educational opportunity and social mobility Drawing on a content analysis of 67 policy documents from the state’s legislative database from 2003-2017, the analysis revealed examples of explicit and implicit exclusion The main findings related to these forms of explicit and implicit exclusion, highlighting how policy discourse constructs notions of good immigrants in state policy and policy enactments restrict resources As Latinx populations reconfigure the landscape of the US South, states like South Carolina continue to embed racist, discriminatory language and actions into enacted and proposed policies This has severe implications for undocumented children and families and their access to public and social resources

/pdf/good-deserving-immigrants-join-the-tea-party-how-south-25u10k2ijo.pdf

‘Good, deserving immigrants’ join the Tea Party: How South Carolina policy excludes Latinx and undocumented immigrants from educational opportunity and social mobility

/pdf/social-and-emotional-learning-an-argument-for-religious-3mgbzirr1a.pdf

Social and Emotional Learning: An Argument for Religious Pluralism

Historically, undocumented students have been unable to attend public and private institutions of higher education in the United States. Lack of citizenship and/or financial aid precludes many from ever applying to college or other post-secondary institutions. This can create feelings of oppression, stigmatization, and/or inferiority for undocumented youth, who had no say in their ever coming to the United States. In the absence of a sustainable federal law that facilitates higher education attainment for this population, some states have enacted their own permissive policies. The present study utilizes a critical consciousness framework and a constant comparative approach to explore one permissive policy in a focal state. To this end, the authors attempt to answer the question of what motivates undocumented students, through the lens of critical consciousness, to engage in political activism, and what is the role of adult-allies? Findings support and extend our understanding of critical consciousness dimensions, vis-a-vis the revelation of ten themes and subthemes unique to this sample. Implications for policy, practice, and future research are also discussed.

What Facilitates and Supports Political Activism by, and for, Undocumented Students?

Hecho en South Carolina: K-12 Latinx Educators Made in, and Remaking, El Sur Latinx

This article presents a rationale as well as a proposal for a religious literacy curriculum in U.S. public high schools. Relying on the Religious Education curriculum currently in use in the United Kingdom, the authors sketch a religious literacy curriculum designed to help students thrive in a pluralistic and democratic society. In order to help young citizens develop the skills, dispositions, and knowledge to thrive in an increasingly global, pluralistic, and democratic society, they need to become religiously literate. For students to be religiously literate they must learn to respect the religious other as well as understand the role of religions in contributing to civic life.

Cultivating a Religiously Literate Society: Challenges and Possibilities for America's Public Schools

: BioJam is a political, artistic, and educational project in which Bay Area artists, scientists, and educators collaborate with youth and communities of color to address historical exclusion of their communities in STEM fields and reframe what science can be. As an intergenerational collective, we co-learn on topics of culture (social and biological), community (cultural and ecological), and creativity. We reject the notion that increasing the number of scientists of color requires inculcation in the ways of the dominant culture. Instead, we center cultural practices, traditional ways of knowing, storytelling, art, experiential learning, and community engagement to break down the framing that positions these practices as distinct from science. The goal of this work is to realize a future in which the practice of science is relatable, accessible, and liberatory. In our piece, we: describe the pedagogy, values, and practices that have shaped and reshaped BioJam since the project’s start in 2019; share the experiences of our teen collaborators in BioJam by showcasing their original works, including art, prose, and poetry; and share how programs like BioJam can emerge in a variety of cultural and geographic contexts, inviting readers to join our political, artistic, and scientific praxis.

BioJam Camp: toward justice through bioengineering and biodesign co-learning with youth

South Carolina is arguably the most restrictive state in the nation as it pertains to access to higher education for immigrant students, particularly undocumented and DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) students. As we show through personal interviews, this has had a detrimental effect on the lives of many immigrant students throughout the state. It also conflicts with the ideals of human rights in regard to access to higher education and equality which are laid out in the UNESCO Convention Against Discrimination in Education. Our analysis of South Carolina’s policies helps shed a light on the greater issues related to immigrant education rights across the nation and how they compare to the immigration policies of more welcoming developed nations. As the United States seeks to be a champion for human rights around the world, we need to confront our own problematic educational policies, which often leave many students behind.

/pdf/un-human-rights-violations-here-at-home-the-plight-of-krlw5fh7zs.pdf

UN Human Rights Violations Here at Home? The Plight of Undocumented and DACA Students in South Carolina, USA

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Cultivating a Religiously Literate Society: Challenges and Possibilities for America's Public Schools

BioJam Camp: toward justice through bioengineering and biodesign co-learning with youth

UN Human Rights Violations Here at Home? The Plight of Undocumented and DACA Students in South Carolina, USA