All posts tagged: Pluralism Project

Harvard religion professor Diana Eck on pluralism’s changes, challenges

Harvard religion professor Diana Eck on pluralism’s changes, challenges

Published by Sam

(RNS) — Diana Eck, longtime Harvard University comparative religion professor and founder of its Pluralism Project, is retiring on July 1. After concluding her last class in April, Eck, who also was a professor of Indian studies, has a busy farewell tour of sorts that has included an honorary lecture on “Teaching India in a Changing World.” She’s preparing to be honored at numerous other May events, including receiving an award from Harvard Divinity School, where she also is a professor, and being a featured speaker at the 50th anniversary celebration of Harvard’s undergraduate concentration in the comparative study of religion. She spoke with Religion News Service in a Monday (May 6) interview about the state of religious pluralism, how the language about religions has changed, and her personal connections with different faiths. The interview was edited for length and clarity. You mentioned in a Nieman Reports article back in ‘93 that houses of worship were named “Churches: Buddhist” and “Churches: Islamic” in the Yellow Pages. How have things changed as far as the language …

Harvard Pluralism Project’s Diana Eck retires after decades of research, promoting dialogue

Harvard Pluralism Project’s Diana Eck retires after decades of research, promoting dialogue

Published by Sam

(RNS) — Diana Eck, for decades, has been the academician-activist who has delved into the world’s religions and encouraged others to discover and learn about the faiths of their neighbors. Now, 49 years after she arrived as an instructor at Harvard University, the professor of comparative religion finds herself answering the same question she posed to her “Ritual and the Life Cycle” class on its last day in late April. “What is the hardest thing that you’ve ever encountered and how did you face it?” Eck, 78, asked the class. Weeks later, in an interview with Religion News Service, she realized it was a good question for her to answer as well. “I think the hardest thing has been the realization that though we have — I have and my students have — been very involved in trying to lift up the ways in which people in our society are coming together — in interfaith initiatives, interfaith councils, interfaith projects, literally all across America,” she said, “but to realize that despite our vision of how …