Religion in the Public Sphere will launch a brand-new website in May 2012 – watch this space!
New in 2012: The Religious Diversity Youth Leadership Project
The University of Toronto Multi-Faith Centre, together with the Religion in the Public Sphere Initiative and Centre for Community Partnerships has won a 3-year, $500,000 grant from Citizenship and Immigration Canada to bring together students, faculty, community leaders and youth in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) to build networks of communication, inquiry, and action around the problems and possibilities of living in a religiously diverse society.
Beginning in 2012, the Project will provide opportunities for young adults across the GTA to cultivate civic responsbility and leadership as they work against exclusion and marginalization arising from issues related to religious diversity. The Project will also provide leadership and community engagement opportunities for students and young adults working within GTA community organizations in raising awareness of how open communication about religious diversity is connected to Canadian values and civic responsibility.
Read more about the Project’s activities, plus a special invitation to teachers to join us…
What the RPS does
Join us for intellectual exchange and informed critical debate among University of Toronto faculty and students researching the role of religion in public life. We are examining how religion manifests in public spaces, institutions, and interactions, and thinking about the challenges and possibilities of religious diversity in Toronto and around the globe.
- Annual Public Forum with distinguished panelists discussing the annual theme
- Research Fellows
- RPS Interchange: Conversations with artists, scholars, policymakers and professionals who address religion in their work
- RPS Service-Learning Course for upper-year undergraduates: community service plus theory and critical thought
- Lunchtime Reading Group and Blog for informal discussion of must-read works
Located in the Department for the Study of Religion at the University of Toronto, our purpose is to cultivate interdisciplinary conversations about religion, politics, and the secular, and provide opportunities for greater intellectual exchange and informed critical debate among University of Toronto faculty and students researching the role of religion in public life. With a yearly theme shaping our programs, we provide scholarly resources for examining how religion manifests in public spaces, institutions, and interactions, and more specifically for understanding the challenges and possibilities of religious diversity in Toronto and around the globe. Our public events and partnerships help us convey and discuss this research with audiences outside the University.
Who and Where We Are
RPS facilitates the gathering of faculty, students and the public into several research communities, and our activities are supported by extensive partnerships throughout the university. The RPS director is Professor Pamela Klassen. In 2010-11, the acting director was Professor Frances Garrett.
Department for the Study of Religion
University of Toronto
Room 311, 170 St. George Street
Toronto, ON M5R 2M8
(416) 978-2615
Project Coordinator: Siri Hansen
religion.publicsphere@utoronto.ca
