World Religions Bibliography for Educators

RESOURCES

World Religions

Publications

Religion and Human Culture: A Secondary Social Studies Program about the Religious Traditions of the U.S. and the World

Developed by World Religions Curriculum Development Center. Developed in the early 1970s, this resource remains the best program for teaching about the world's religions in the public schools classroom. Although it is written for secondary Social Studies classrooms, primary and intermediate teachers can benefit from the curriculum's essential information for teaching about religion in the U.S. The program includes readings about each religion as well as a teacher guide about each tradition.

Contact: Wes Bodin, 7916 38-1/2 Avenue N, New Hope, MN 55427
(763) 545-9515

On Common Ground: World Religions in America

Developed by Diana Eck and the Pluralism Project. Columbia University Press. An amazing amount of information compiled and clearly presented in this CD-ROM. The CD-ROM contains pages of text, photographs, images, primary documents, and movies that explore the historical and contemporary growth of fifteen religions in the United States.
For more information or to order, go to: http://www.pluralism.org/ocg/index.php

Religion in American Life

Jon Butler and Harry S. Stout General Editors. Oxford University Press. This seventeen book series is a good introduction to religion in the United States for those with little background in American religious history. The series is divided into three sections that include: a chronological approach to the history of religion in America, nine volumes devoted to significant religious groups, and four specific themes--women, church and state issues, African-Americans, immigration--that are uniquely related to religion in American life.
For more information or to order, go to: http://www.oup-usa.org/rial

Web Sites

The Pluralism Project

Developed by Diana Eck to document and study religious changes in America. This easy to use website provides a plethora of links to useful resources. The place to start when researching curriculum or searching for information about most world religions.

Religious Studies in Secondary Schools Website

A good website for secondary teachers interested in teaching about religion. Includes sample syllabi from teachers around the country.

American Academy of Religion

A project developed by the American Academy of Religion to provide resources for teachers about religion. While aimed at secondary educators, the resources on the internet page offers links to great sites such as ERIC and databases with extensive data about several religions in the United States.

Divining America: Religion and the National Culture on TeacherServe

The National Humanities Center has compiled essays by leading scholars offering content overviews; discussion guidance; bibliographies; online resources (including suggestions for teaching about religion in public schools); and primary sources.

This page last updated September 6, 2001.