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Ethics, Religion, and Civil Discourse
National Endowment for the Humanities
California State University, Fresno
October 13-15, 2011

The National Endowment for the Humanities is sponsoring a two-year project based in the Philosophy Department at Fresno State to research increased religious diversity in public schools.  This call for papers is for our inaugural academic conference, which will be followed by an edited volume and summer workshop for teachers including curricular recommendations.  In 1955 Will Herberg defined Religion in America as Protestant-Catholic-Jew following the successful integration of Catholic and Jewish immigrants.  Then the Immigration Reform Act of 1965 led to the arrival of thirty million new non-European immigrants.  In our classrooms we often remain ignorant about the traditions of our students, which include Islam, Sikhism, Hinduism, Pentecostal Christianity, Jehovah’s Witness, Latter-day Saints, and others.  How should teachers approach these new issues of religious diversity?  When are accommodations preferable to assimilation?  How can education
 improve our ability to solve shared problems across religious and political lines?  Must distant geopolitical conflicts be re-enacted on local school campuses?  In what ways can academics from multiple disciplines help K-12 educators to model civil discourse?  We seek paper proposals on: civility and religious tolerance; civil society and the public sphere; the First Amendment; religion and ethnicity; recent demographic changes; local case studies; and the role of History education and Literature education.  Please submit a CV and proposal (maximum of 500 words) to Dr. Andrew Fiala <[log in to unmask]> and Dr. Vincent Biondo <[log in to unmask]> before July 15, 2011.  We are able to provide a limited amount of financial support for travel, so scholars, teachers, students, and community members who would like to participate should include such requests with their application.


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Dr. Vincent F. Biondo
Department of Philosophy, Religious Studies, and Pre-Law
and Middle East Studies Program
California State University, Fresno
2380 E Keats Ave M/S MB105
Fresno, CA 93740-8024
Phone: 559-278-6644
Homepage: http://zimmer.csufresno.edu/~vbiondo/
Religion and Daily Life Project: http://www.abc-clio.com/product.aspx?id=53274