BIAnnual Report 2016-2017
Conducting Research, Training Scholars, and Engaging Communities
Message from the Director First, thank you for your support of the Religion and Public Life Program (RPLP) over the past two years. We have accomplished quite a lot since the release of our last report in January 2016. While I was on sabbatical (during the fall of 2016 and spring of 2017), the RPLP maintained its high level of activity: conducting top-notch research, training scholars, and engaging communities through programming. Both 2016 and 2017 brought unusual challenges that were felt across the nation and in Houston, and the RPLP responded. Following the announcement of the immigration ban, several fellows got together and wrote an op-ed for a Texas newspaper on how faith communities can make a difference by engendering hospitality. Five days after Hurricane Harvey’s landfall in Houston, the RPLP changed the topic of a previously scheduled event to cover the role of faith communities in Harvey’s aftermath. In addition to the many program activities from the past two years that are highlighted in this report, I’d like to bring special attention to three items: the new RPLP website, a new RPLP research topic, and a new RPLP outreach initiative. Website If you have not done so already, I encourage you to visit our new website at rplp.rice.edu. As we transitioned to Rice University’s new web platform, we took the opportunity to gather feedback and ideas to implement a more modern, comprehensive, and user-friendly site. Research In terms of our research arm, we are moving into an arena that is new to our team: the work-faith interface. Our new study, "Faith at Work: An Empirical Study," is motivated by the fact that 63.1 percent of Americans aged 16 and up are in the paid labor force, and, at the same time, 78 percent of Americans identify with some religious tradition. In this study (described further on page 3), we will use focus groups, a survey, and one-on-one interviews to bring forth the stories that add depth and meaning to the conversation about faith and work. Religious and Civic Leader Gatherings These gatherings for community leaders, informally organized over the past several years, now constitute an official new RPLP outreach initiative. We bring together conversation partners in an intimate setting to share research resources for the common good of our city, nation, and beyond. These gatherings are typically held on the day of an RPLP public event, providing leaders with the opportunity to discuss—in a more relaxed way—the central topic of the structured panelist conversation that evening. The RPLP will continue to respond to the events affecting our city, nation, and world. Through our efforts, we hope to bring about real change—and we hope that you will join us in these efforts. Our programming is entirely funded by private donations. Please see page 13 for more information on how to make a contribution to the RPLP. Thank you for your continued support,
Elaine Howard Ecklund Herbert S. Autrey Chair in Social Sciences Professor of Sociology Founding Director, Religion and Public Life Program Rice University
OUR Vision
To facilitate and promote deeper and better conversations about the role religion plays in society by: • Conducting cutting-edge, multidisciplinary research • Training scholars • Engaging local, national, and global communities
2 Religion and Public Life Program
CONDUCTING CUTTING-EDGE, MULTIDISCIPLINARY Research The RPLP works to encourage, produce, and disseminate cutting-edge research that will facilitate more informed, and therefore more productive, discussion of issues related to religion and public life. Our major research initiatives have spanned several important topics and questions, including: How can scientists and minority religious communities work together to bring underrepresented groups into science? How do U.S. immigrants from different religious traditions understand what it means to be an American? How do scientists in different national contexts understand the relevance of religion to scientific work? How do religious communities contribute to, challenge, or change structures of racial inequality? Three new grant-funded initiatives were launched in 2017: "Faith at Work: An Empirical Study" RPLP director Elaine Howard Ecklund and Denise Daniels of Seattle Pacific University received a grant to study the relationship between faith and work. This national study will include focus groups, a survey, and interviews. Through this data collection, the researchers hope to explore how different workplaces and socioeconomic backgrounds influence whether and to what degree people integrate faith into their work, as well as issues of religious discrimination in the workplace. The study will provide the first broad baseline to inform how religious individuals see faith informing their work, the opportunities and challenges they face as a result, and what congregations and their leaders may do to support the appropriation of faith to daily work among the congregation. Elaine further outlined her hopes in leading this project: "Our goal is that detailed data collection and carefully designed outreach efforts will put easy-to-understand data into the hands of as many U.S. clergy as possible and create networks of clergy who are trained to meet the spiritual needs of working men and women from various demographic groups, across multiple occupational domains, and at various income levels." The advisory board for "Faith at Work" met for the first time in the RPLP offices on November 2, 2017. A mix of academics and practitioners, the board provided guidance on early drafts of the focus group, survey, and interview guides. The RPLP will convene this group again in 2020—during year three of the four-year project—in order to evaluate project success and provide input on dissemination plans.
"Faith at Work" advisory board members discuss the study's research questions.
"Communicating Outlooks for a New Global Religion and Science Synergy: The Interpretive Challenge" (CONGRESS I) Using what was learned through the "Religion Among Scientists in International Context" (RASIC) study, which was completed in early 2016 (see more on the next page), the RPLP now has the ability to reach a large audience in new ways. CONGRESS I is an outreach initiative aimed at using and disseminating empirical findings on the relationship between science and religion to dispel myths and misconceptions, challenge long-held assumptions, and empower scientists around the world to change and expand the dialogue between scientific and religious communities. Funded by the Templeton Religion Trust, this project will include data analysis, the writing of two books, a range of research and outreach activities aimed specifically at scientists, and communication efforts geared toward a broader audience of social scientists and the general public. One of the two books was recently accepted for publication with Oxford University Press and will be co-authored by several current RPLP fellows.
2016-2017
3
"Reaching Evangelical American Leaders to Change Hearts and Minds" (REAL CHANGE) The RPLP has been awarded a grant from the Templeton Religion Trust for this research and outreach project. With RPLP director Elaine Howard Ecklund leading, this project will help evangelical leaders understand evidence-based research findings on the relationship between religion and science, and expand the scope of conversation to include historically black congregations, Asian congregations, and Latino congregations. REAL CHANGE will utilize both survey and interview data already collected by the RPLP team in the "Religious Understandings of Science" (RUS) study. The RUS data on evangelical pastors shows that these leaders are a receptive and open audience, often utilizing social scientific research findings in their sermons. To disseminate empirical research findings on science and religion, and develop avenues through which evangelical faith communities can gain greater access to this information moving forward, this project will use four mechanisms: an advisory board of evangelical leaders, new interviews conducted with evangelical scientists, a book for evangelical leaders, and a conference for Christian leaders. Past projects with continued activities and outputs: "Religious Understandings of Science" (RUS) RUS explores how religious Americans think through complex scientific issues. This project involved observing religious services, as well as conducting 319 personal interviews with religious individuals from a variety of faith traditions, including Catholics, Jews, evangelical Christians, Muslims, and mainline Protestants. To complement the depth of these personal interviews, we conducted a broad, nationally representative survey of more than 10,000 Americans. A book based on the study’s findings, Religion vs. Science: What Religious People Really Think, was released on December 1, 2017 with Oxford University Press. RPLP director Elaine Howard Ecklund and RPLP non-resident research fellow Christopher P. Scheitle co-authored the book. "Religion among Scientists in International Context" (RASIC) RASIC is the first-ever cross-national study of religion and spirituality among scientists. As part of this research effort, members of the RPLP team conducted a survey of 22,525 scientists and in-depth interviews with 609 of these scientists. The project was led by RPLP director Elaine Howard Ecklund with Kirstin Matthews, Baker Institute Scholar and science policy specialist, and Steve Lewis, Baker Institute Scholar and Asia specialist. The study produced numerous outputs for the social science community: 20 academic articles (currently in various stages of publication), two major conferences (one in Houston and one in London), and more than 50 lectures and presentations for academics interested in the science-faith interface. On the basis of such a large amount of data, the CONGRESS I initiative will allow for continued translation of the RASIC data to the broader public. "Ethics among Scientists in International Context" (EASIC) Funded by the National Science Foundation, EASIC was a purely qualitative study with over 200 interviews conducted with physicists in the U.S., U.K., and mainland China. Interviewers asked questions pertaining to conceptions of responsibility, observations of misconduct, collaboration among colleagues, commercialization of science, and personal ethical background. Several articles from the project have been published in academic journals, including "Gossip as Social Control?: Informal Sanctions on Ethical Violations in Scientific Workplaces" in Social Problems. Researchers also wrote a commentary piece for Physics Today, "Study Highlights Ethical Ambiguity in Physics." "Religion, Inequality, and Science Education" (RISE) Does religion (especially evangelicalism and Catholicism) keep minorities out of science? Do different racial minority groups within Christian traditions differ in their support for science? This research explored these and other related questions through a series of focus groups, participant observations, and in-depth interviews at three congregations in Houston, Texas. RISE was conducted with a small grant from Rice University.
4 Religion and Public Life Program
Independent projects led by our fellows: "Religion and Differential Justice: An Examination of Faith, Race, and Crime" For his dissertation research, RPLP postdoctoral fellow Bob Thomson explored the associations between race, religion, and outcomes related to the criminal justice system. His study reveals how religion and politics influence attitudes about the police among whites, how the presence of black Protestant churches assuages the effects of disadvantage on crime in the South, and how race moderates the effects of religious attendance on health after incarceration. His future work will continue to explore outcomes related to racial and social justice. "Getting Enlightened: A Comparative Study of Buddhist Temples in Mainland China and the U.S." This study compares how members of a Buddhist temple in the U.S. and a Buddhist temple in mainland China construct their religious, ethnic, and gender identities. This work illuminates how national contexts and religious organizations operate together, shaping Buddhists' lived experiences. In conducting this research for her dissertation, RPLP senior graduate student fellow Di Di spent extensive time traveling between the U.S. and mainland China to collect data. "Defining Sikhism: Boundaries of Religion and Ethnicity Among Sikhs in the United States" For her master's thesis research, RPLP graduate student fellow Simranjit Khalsa compared how Indian Sikhs and members of Sikh Dharma, a predominantly white Sikh community, construct their religious and ethnic identities. Simranjit has won multiple awards for this research, including the 2016 Balkishan Das Singhal Award given by Rice University's Center for the Study of Women, Gender, and Sexuality. Simranjit is now pursuing a comparative study of Sikhism in the U.S. and the U.K. for her dissertation research. "Making Black Lives Matter: Religion and Race in Contemporary Struggles for African American Identity" RPLP graduate student fellow Cleve Tinsley's dissertation research examines the relationship between religion and African American struggles for subjectivity by comparing three salient identity modes in contemporary African American culture: black Christians, black Greeks, and black activists and artists. His project argues that a more general understanding of the essential character of African American religion requires a more robust sociological approach to its study in order to account for some of its complexity, nuances, and movements. "Faith, Place, and the Poor: Religious Social Service Provision in the New Welfare State" For his master's thesis, RPLP graduate student fellow Dan Bolger is conducting a comparative case study of two faith-based social service providers to explore how religious organizations fit into the U.S. social safety net. The project, which compares a Christian agency in a high-poverty community to another Christian agency in a low-poverty community, was awarded a Pre-Dissertation Research Grant by Rice University's Social Sciences Research Institute. "Beyond Islamophobia: The Impact of Discrimination and Hate Crimes on the Everyday Lives of Muslim and Sikh Americans" In this study RPLP graduate student fellow Sharan Kaur Mehta will compare the experiences of Muslim and Sikh Americans in the current climate of Islamophobia. By using participant observations and interviews, Sharan will examine how the rise in hate crimes and discrimination against Muslims and Sikhs in the U.S. impacts their lived experiences, and how these everyday struggles shape their religious, ethnic, and national identities. "Latino Congregations and Youth Educational Expectations" For her master's thesis, RPLP graduate student fellow Esmeralda Sanchez conducted a study that examined the association between multilevel religious dynamics (e.g., church attendance, denominational affiliation, and congregational characteristics) and Latino youths' educational expectations via a hierarchical linear modeling approach. For her dissertation, Esmeralda plans to expand upon this work to study Latino congregational civic engagement in shaping education policy and providing supplementary educational opportunities.
2016-2017
5
R P L P researc h B y t h e N umbers , 2 0 1 6 and 2 0 1 7 :
3
books published
14
lectures
22
articles in academic journals
30
conference presentations
Impacts | Selected Outputs From Our Research Post-baccalaureate fellow presents the RISE project While serving as an RPLP post-baccalaureate fellow, Dan Bolger highlighted findings from the RISE study in a presentation at the Conference on Medicine and Religion in Houston in March 2016. The presentation, based on focus group data, was entitled "Pastoral Views on Faith and Medicine: A Comparative Study."
Journal publishes graduate student fellow's research RPLP graduate student fellow Esmeralda Sanchez had an article published in Sociology of Religion in the summer of 2016, along with several co-authors. The article, "Latino Congregations and Youth Educational Expectations," focuses on the role Latino churches and faith leaders play in shaping educational expectations of Latino youth. Op-ed featured in Christianity Today Following the March for Science on April 22, 2017, Christianity Today published an op-ed by RPLP director Elaine Howard Ecklund that draws on her 10 years of research on science and religion. The title of the article sums up Elaine’s findings: "The March for Science Isn’t Anti-Religion. Most Scientists Aren’t Either."
Research heard across the pond While living in the U.K. in order to collect data for her dissertation research, RPLP graduate student fellow Simranjit Khalsa presented data from the RASIC study on November 28, 2017. The Faraday Institute for Science and Religion, based at the University of Cambridge, hosted Simranjit for her presentation entitled "Beyond Gould: The Tenuous Separation of Science and Religion in India." National Public Radio (NPR) piece highlights RUS study NPR ran a story in their "Cosmos & Culture" section called "Can Celebrity Scientists Change the Way People Think about Science and Religion?" The story drew on findings from the RUS study, specifically how the views of Francis Collins and Richard Dawkins can affect how people think about the relationship between science and religion. A 2017 paper by RPLP non-resident research fellow Christopher P. Scheitle and RPLP director Elaine Howard Ecklund, published in Public Understanding of Science, addressed these findings from the RUS research.
6 Religion and Public Life Program
Training Scholars To foster cross-disciplinary research on religion in the public sphere, the RPLP has brought together a diverse team of researchers at different stages of their academic careers, representing a variety of academic interests. We have expanded the types of scholars housed within the program (please see descriptions below), and in 2017 we initiated a new position within the program. Di Di, a graduate student fellow of the RPLP for the past five years, serves as the inaugural Senior Graduate Student Fellow (2017-2018). This fellowship provides funding for a doctoral student to complete a sixth or seventh year of the Ph.D. program. The student is someone whose work involves religion in the public sphere, and who can meaningfully contribute to the research, training, and outreach missions of the RPLP. In addition to being trained to conduct and translate research, all fellows participate in weekly RPLP Fellows Meetings. These meetings serve two functions. Half of the meetings are devoted to a specific training module, for example conducting research at religious organizations or recruiting interview respondents. The other half of our meetings link to our community engagement arm: a speaker from Rice or from the academic community is invited to share his or her research on religion and public life. Our fellows have the opportunity to hear what is going on beyond the work of our team and engage in dialogue on another scholar's work. Read more about a past fellows meeting on page 11 of this report. Undergraduate student fellows participate in data collection, processing, and analysis as well as provide writing support for books and articles. Undergraduate student fellows help develop and support our programming, and host our scholar and civic leader guests. Graduate student fellows are generally housed in one of Rice University’s core academic departments. They are supported by their academic department but may receive additional funding through the RPLP to attend conferences or do research. Graduate student fellows have access to RPLP research and work on articles with RPLP faculty, as well as actively participate in data collection and analysis.
Erin Wilson of the University of Groningen pres-
ents "Religion, Secularism, and the Politics of Visiting graduate student fellows are currently enrolled in a masters or Ph.D. program at an outside institution. While affiliated with the RPLP, they continue the Refugee Crisis" at an RPLP Fellows Meeting. to conduct their own research and seek input and feedback from the RPLP team. They also contribute to the RPLP's community engagement mission.
Postdoctoral fellows are intimately involved in the design and completion of RPLP research and have the opportunity to lead events. They receive training in media, op-ed writing, and research communication. They also spearhead their own research initiatives on religion. Visiting research associates are postdoctoral scholars affiliated with the RPLP, actively contributing to research and programming. Non-resident research fellows are faculty at other institutions who typically have been affiliated with the RPLP in the past. They are involved in RPLP research in an ongoing capacity by contributing to articles and sharing findings with the public through media and presentations.
2016-2017
7
R P L P S C H O L A R S B y t h e N umbers , 2 0 1 6 A N D 2 0 1 7 :
26
scholars trained and mentored
38
fellows meetings
Impacts | Selected Highlights From Our Scholars Colton Cox ’18 In the days immediately following Hurricane Harvey, the RPLP asked all its fellows to engage with the community in a special way: to document the ways they saw religion showing up in Houston during the storm and, in particular, what local religious communities were doing in the aftermath. In the words of RPLP director Elaine Howard Ecklund, "the best tools of a university-based program on religion and public life are documentation and dissemination." Colton Cox was one of many who stepped up during a particularly difficult time to forward the vision of the RPLP. Serving as an undergraduate fellow since the summer of 2015, Colton has become a true advocate for the RPLP. He will graduate from Rice in May 2018 with degrees in sociology and policy studies and a minor in Jewish studies.
RPLP does not exist in the 'ivory tower' of academia, but rather truly values forming interpersonal connections with religious organizations in Houston when they and their congregational communities are in their most trying times.
Reflecting on his work for the RPLP following the hurricane, Colton shared the following: "Despite the great tragedy that Harvey was, the storm allowed Houstonians to come together in a way that has perhaps never been seen before. I became enthused when the RPLP team was encouraged to go out and observe how this social synergy played out in a wide variety of Houston congregations. This kind of work reminded me that RPLP does not exist in the 'ivory tower' of academia, but rather truly values forming interpersonal connections with religious organizations in Houston when they and their congregational communities are in their most trying times." Dan Bolger Dan Bolger joined the RPLP as a post-baccalaureate fellow in 2015 and stayed on as a graduate student fellow upon entering the sociology Ph.D. program at Rice in 2016. Before joining the RPLP, Dan worked as a mental health counselor and First Generation student advisor. These experiences, along with the training he received through the RPLP, helped prepare him to ask questions about the social world and serve as a project leader for the RPLP’s RISE study (see more about this study on page 4). Although Dan has helped with a number of RPLP projects, he sees his work managing the RISE study as especially important to his success as a graduate student and junior scholar: "I learned a lot through the RISE project about the rigors of various phases of the qualitative research process—from selecting cases to conducting interviews and now analyzing data. It is exciting to see an original set of questions about how religion intersects with views on science and medicine turn into publications. Similarly, I think my experience with RPLP has prepared me well to ask some of my own research questions."
8 Religion and Public Life Program
Pamela Prickett Interacting with religious Pamela Prickett was a postdoctoral fellow in the Deleaders and members of partment of Sociology at Rice as well as an RPLP postdoctoral fellow from 2015 to 2017. She uses ethnodifferent faith traditions at graphic methods to study Islam, poverty, and commuRPLP events has reminded nity change, with particular attention to how people’s urban religious experiences vary by gender and race. Her me of the potential impact first book, Believing in South Central: Everyday Islam in an Inner City, draws research can have on peoon more than five years of in-depth fieldwork in an African-American ple's real, everyday lives. Muslim community to understand changing notions of religious social support. Her next book looks at the cultural work the unclaimed dead do for society. While at Rice, Pamela helped lead several RPLP events. In July 2017, Pamela joined the sociology faculty at the University of Amsterdam. Of her time with the RPLP, Pamela says: "Working with [the RPLP director] and the RPLP team has reinvigorated my commitment to reaching wider audiences. I love my research, but it’s not enough to only share it with other academics. Interacting with religious leaders and members of different faith traditions at RPLP events has reminded me of the potential impact research can have on people’s real, everyday lives. I’m so grateful for the experience."
Our Scholars, 2016-2017
SPRING 2016
FAll 2016
SPRING 2017
FAll 2017
2016-2017
9
ENGAGING Local, NATIONAL, and Global Communities Located at Rice University in Houston, one of the most culturally diverse and religious metropolitan areas in the country, the RPLP is working to facilitate informed and civil dialogue about religion among students, scholars, religious leaders, and community members. The RPLP hosts a variety of events designed to advance dialogue about religion and public life. Programming includes public events on the Rice campus and off campus, as well as Religious and Civic Leader Gatherings. In conjunction with our events, the RPLP also reaches various communities through newsletters and articles in the media. Additionally, over the past two years the RPLP has aimed to strengthen ties with various sectors of the Houston community through an advisory committee, called the Friends of the RPLP Committee. Including representatives from the medical, legal, and business communities of Houston, among others, this committee has advised the RPLP on ways to tap into their professional fields and networks. For example, the RPLP strengthened its ties with the Texas Medical Center by cosponsoring a Grand Rounds at Houston Methodist Hospital, an event inspired and supported by this committee.
R P L P E N G A G E M E N T B y t h e N umbers , 2 0 1 6 A N D 2 0 1 7 :
23
panel events and gatherings
143
mentions in the media
During the RPLP's "Gender and Faith at Work" event, RPLP director Elaine Howard Ecklund (center) interviewed Katelyn Beaty (left) and Andrea Ramirez (right).
10 Religion and Public Life Program
882
social media followers
1,225
people reached through in-person programing
RPLP postdoctoral fellow Pamela Prickett shares her research during an RPLP event, "Houston Congregations Engaged: Efforts to End Local Poverty."
Impacts | Selected Examples of Community Engagement Friends of the RPLP Committee member gives praise Elias Bongmba is the Harry and Hazel Chavanne Chair in Christian Theology and a professor of religion at Rice. He has served on the Friends of the RPLP Committee since 2016. Elias commented on the research arm: "The [RPLP] promotes research on different aspects of religious life … like science, immigration, medicine, race, and gender. These are important issues today for any academic community in a globalized world. Adherents and non-adherents of religious communities care deeply about [how religion connects to] these issues, have and express opinions about them, or in some cases, many know very little and want to know more. This is where scholars and fellows at RPLP play a delicate and evidenced driven balance as they gather and examine data that will give insights into what people think and how best to engage them…all in a critical academic environment." Hebah Farrag presents "The Spirit in Black Lives Matter: New Spiritual Community in Black Radical Organizing" at an RPLP Fellows Meeting on September 15, 2017 Hebah Farrag is the Assistant Director of Research at the Center for Religion and Civic Culture at the University of Southern California. In addition to managing the center’s grant-funded research, she also conducts her own research on religion and new social movements. Presenting to the RPLP fellows and to community members, Hebah began by highlighting the type of language used in the media to describe the Black Lives Matter movement (BLM): words like political, violent, and extreme. She contrasted these words with images from BLM protests and demonstrations: a young girl, alone, facing dozens of armed officers; a woman dressed in white burning sage. In her research, Hebah explores the dimension of BLM that emphasizes radical inclusion and self-care. Within BLM, according to Hebah, "they center the most marginalized in their spaces," meaning that attention and care is given to those who are often marginalized or ignored by society at large. During her fieldwork, Hebah heard from BLM leaders that people "can’t engage in the political advocacy work without healing and a space for healing." Sharing her research with our fellows, Hebah brought to light a central component of BLM that often goes unnoticed and unrecognized.
Panelist M. Hasna Maznavi addresses the crowd during the RPLP's Community members continue the conversation on "The Black "Islam and Public Life: Addressing Stigmas and Stereotypes" event. Church and Politics" during the post-event reception.
2016-2017
11
RPLP hosts panel event on September 15, 2016: "Islam and Public Life: Addressing Stigmas and Stereotypes" The RPLP aims to facilitate programming around timely topics in the news and culture. In fall 2016, given the rhetoric surrounding Muslims that was appearing in the U.S. media, the presidential election, and in the public generally, we felt it was important to organize a discussion of the experiences of Muslims in American life. RPLP postdoctoral fellow Pamela Prickett drew on her five years of fieldwork in an African-American Muslim community to lead and moderate the event. The panelists, who each shared their unique perspectives, were: Imam Wazir Ali of Masjid Warithud-deen Mohammed and Masjid Al-Qur’an; Craig Considine, a sociologist at Rice University; and M. Hasna Maznavi, founder and president of The Women’s Mosque of America. Rice's Boniuk Institute for the Study and Advancement of Religious Tolerance cosponsored this event with the RPLP. Two academics and one pastor share their views on "The Black Church and Politics" on February 1, 2016 As the 2016 presidential campaign ramped up, the RPLP wanted to provide a space for scholars, local religious leaders, and community members to reflect on the important role of the black church in influencing political rhetoric and the politicians themselves. Almost 200 people came to Rice’s campus on February 1, 2016 to hear from the event’s speakers: the Rev. Marcus D. Cosby of Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church; Korie Edwards, a sociologist at the Ohio State University; and Omar McRoberts, a sociologist at the University of Chicago. This event, in particular, engaged communities well after the panelists left their seats that If one of the goals of RPLP is to offer evening. An RPLP undergraduate fellow at the programs that advance dialogue about time shared what happened as he was heading religion in the public sphere, then this home: "There were two women on the bus who attended the [Black Church and Politics] goal was certainly achieved last night. event. They talked about the ideas that were presented. If one of the goals of RPLP is to offer programs that advance dialogue about religion in the public sphere, then this goal was certainly achieved last night. We should continue to engage the public with these relevant issues and invite panelists who have the experience and authority to speak on the topic." In addition Rice’s student-run newspaper, the Rice Thresher, published an article about the event the day after, helping our discussion of civic and social activism within the black church to reach an even larger audience.
12 Religion and Public Life Program
SUPPORT THE RPLP The extensive programming of the Religion and Public Life Program is entirely funded by private donations. If you would like to support our program by making a financial contribution, please contact Kiki Cooper, director of development for social sciences, at kiki.cooper@rice.edu or 713-348-4482.
Stay Connected @RiceRPLP
/religionandpubliclifeprogram
rplp.rice.edu
2016-2017
13
Rice University Religion and Public Life Program–MS 28 6100 Main St. Houston, TX 77005