Are you an educator or parent who is seeking resources to expand your student or child’s religious literacy? Here are some resources for the 10+ age range.
The resources on this page are organized in order to show or discuss:
- The influential role of religion in social, economic, and culture spheres throughout history
- The diversity within and across religions and religiously unaffiliated beliefs
- Science and religion
- Interfaith dialogue
- Media literacy and religious literacy
- Religious extremism
- The importance of communicating assertively, without being passive or aggressive to protect yourself and speak confidently about your ideas, actions, and who you are
This page is updated on an ongoing basis. If you have a resource that you would like to share, please email me. If possible, I would be very happy to share your work.
Quick resources that can be shared with students
Influential role of religion in social, economic, and culture spheres throughout history:
- A video that shows the movement of religions and historical influence they have over numerous geographical contexts over time: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2512088/Watch-major-religions-conquered-entire-world-5-000-years–90-seconds.html
- PBS Learning Media that shows you the geographical presence of religions today: https://www.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/sj14-soc-religmap/world-religions-map/
The diversity within and across religions and religiously unaffiliated beliefs:
- TrueTube, videos that showcase the diversity within and across beliefs visually. Often presented from a student’s perspective
- Videos to help students understand the diversity that exists within religions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-YQXRrNo70&t=74s, https://www.facebook.com/MvslimInspires/videos/1171243186278954 (Alternatively, there is a quiz that students can take to test their understanding about the use of the veil or headscarf – http://veil.unc.edu/resources/quiz/ – which stems from a project at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill).
- National Geographic Education offers lesson plans and videos on religions here: http://www.nationalgeographic.org/lesson/?q=religion&per_page=25
- British Humanist Association sharing a video on “What is a humanist ceremony?” This is an important video to share in order to ensure your world religions class and religious literacy discussion is inclusive and teaches about other beliefs and worldviews apart from religious ones in society: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzTXicmkrQ4
- First Nations Spirituality: Understanding perspectives on smudging https://www.nfb.ca/film/smudge/
- The importance of sharing minority views: Sample videos to show that can discuss this include https://www.nfb.ca/film/invisible_nation/trailer/invisible-nation-trailer/
Science and religion:
- Actress Miyam Bialik discusses the possibility for scientific individuals to also be religious individuals here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZh1MrDHLoY
Interfaith dialogue:
- A video illustrating interfaith cooperation between an imam and a priest after a Muslim terrorist attack: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFh85K4NFv0
Media literacy and religious literacy:
- A short interview to outline the difference between religion, culture, and politics, and the importance of equipping students with religious literacy alongside media literacy: http://www.worldpolicy.org/blog/2017/02/17/talking-policy-leila-ahmed-being-muslim-america
Religious extremism:
- Extreme Dialogue offers testimonial videos from individuals who were previously an extremist and lesson plans on how to discuss it in class.
Assertive communication:
- A website for college-age students with relevancy for all age groups: https://ivypanda.com/blog/assertiveness-in-and-out-of-college-life-challenges-infographic-with-tips/
W. Y. Alice Chan 