During the 2020-2021 academic year, the COVID-19 pandemic underscored our global connectivity and fragility, casting the role of religion in world affairs in a new light. While governments and international institutions have too often failed to cooperate in the face of the crisis, religious communities and their partners have rallied in support of the most vulnerable in new ways. This past year, our research, teaching, and outreach at the center explored the religious dimension of these and other international developments.
Highlights include:
- The Religious Responses to COVID-19 project, which has blossomed into a worldwide network of practitioners sharing their experiences on the front lines of the pandemic.
- A 12-part conversation series addressing the changing role of public religion in the context of the pandemic.
- Center-wide engagement around the role of the Catholic Church in world affairs, including support for the Vatican COVID-19 Commission set up by Pope Francis.
- Programming with prominent scholars and practitioners to address the intersection of religion, race, politics, and foreign policy in the United States.
- The continued success of the Doyle Engaging Difference Program, which brings together faculty and students to address issues that cut across religious, cultural, racial, and other divides both inside and outside the curriculum.
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