Module 6: Religious Traditions and Site Visits
Gaining literacy about religious traditions different our own is an essential ingredient of effective dialogue across religious difference. Below are tutorial pages that offer a basic introduction to many of the traditions and communities encountered and/or discussed by SUSI scholars during the institutes. These introductions include brief overviews of the “3 Bs” (belief, behavior, belonging) of each tradition and their experiences in the U.S. religious landscape. The pages below also provide links to lecture slides and guides for visiting sacred spaces.
While these pages are useful for engaging in interreligious dialogue (between distinct traditions), they also may assist in intrareligious dialogue (within religious traditions). Many of the pages below will illustrate the significant diversity and orientations under such classifications as “Islam” or even institutional groups such as the “United Methodist Church.”
Note: Links will be provided as new content pages are created.
Native American Religions - including Arizona site visits and lectures by Mark Wallace and Christopher Jocks
Christianity - an overview and lecture by Len Swidler
Quakerism - including site visit to Arch Street Quaker meetinghouse in Philadelphia and lecture notes by Rebecca Mays
Evangelicalism - including site visit to Per Faaland’s church in Philadelphia
African American Christianity - including site visit to Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Philadelphia
Methodism - including sites visits to various United Methodist churches in Pennsylvania and Minnesota
Pentecostalism - including site visit to the Dream Center Church (Assemblies of God megachurch) in Phoenix, Arizona
Amish and Mennonites - including site visit to Amish farm in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania and notes by Rebecca Mays
Catholics - including visits to various Catholic sites in Pennsylvania and Minnesota and lectures by Leonard Swidler and Katie Oxx
Latter Day Saints (Mormons) - including site visits to Philadelphia’s LDS church and lecture by Kathleen Flake
Judaism - including sites visits to various Philadelphia synagogues and lecture notes by Nancy Fuchs-Kreimer
Islam - including sites visits to various Philadelphia mosques and lecture notes by Ghassan Manasra, Khalid Blankinship, and Vivienne Angeles
African American Islam - background information and site visit to Harlem, New York with Zain Abdullah
African and Afro-Caribbean Religions - includes site visit to a Philadelphia botanica and lecture notes by Terry Rey
Hinduism - including temple site visits in Pennsylvania and Minnesota; lecture notes by Deven Patel
Buddhism - including site visits to temples in Pennsylvania and Minnesota; lecture notes from Justin McDaniel
Sikhism - including site visit to Sikh gurdwara in Phoenix, Arizona
Baha'ism - including site visit to Philadelphia’s Baha’i community
Secular Humanism
