September 12, 2024
Director, Religion and Public Life Center
Dear Friends,
I am honored to begin this academic year as director of the Boniuk Institute’s new Religion and Public Life Center. In a time of rising polarization and deepening inequalities, it has never been more important to understand the role of religion in public life. According to the Pew Research Center, 84% of the world is estimated to be religiously affiliated, and this number only grows higher if we include unaffiliated people who engage in some form of religious practice or belief (2010).
In contrast to modern predictions of privatization and secularization, religion touches almost every social institution in our global context, from governments and law to family, education, health, and the economy.
Religion not only informs individual identities but also how humans group themselves and relationships between groups. Even if you are not personally religious, you only have to look at the morning news headlines for ample evidence of how religion impacts our most intimate and personal lives, our social lives, and our political lives.
Yet far too often, discussions of religion’s social, political, and identity-shaping roles lack nuanced understanding of religious people, communities, and traditions. Instead, conversations remain locked in stereotypes and generalizations. At the same time, religion rarely receives the same academic attention that other social and cultural forces receive—and this only adds to the myopia. We need research on religion that adds value to public discourse and upholds the highest values of the university: values of intellectual integrity, research excellence, critical inquiry and free exchange. The Boniuk Institute’s Religion and Public Life Center is poised to deliver just that. Here at the Religion and Public Life Center (RPLC), we aim to investigate how religion shapes and is shaped by the world we live in and how religion motivates human action. We want to be a hub for multidisciplinary research, pedagogy, and public engagement: so that we can better understand religion’s impact in contemporary global public life and equip others to confront common challenges within our plural, interconnected world.
In the coming year, I am excited to represent the next stage of growth for the Boniuk Institute for the Study and Advancement of Religious Tolerance. Please stay tuned to the BI newsletter for my monthly column reflecting on religion and public life and for forthcoming details about our fall lineup of events and activities!
Rachel C. Schneider
Director, Religion and Public Life Center