items of interest

with contributions from Kim Shippey, Gary W. Sheets, Jane Lichtenberg

"I had never really awakened to the importance of interfaith relations in my own country until my university changed and was virtually a brand new place," said Harvard professor Diana Eck in a talk last month to the Religion Communicators Council of Boston.

She pointed out that Harvard has a very large Asian population (maybe a quarter of the university), a large Islamic society, a vibrant Jewish community, a variety of Christian groups including Korean, Asian, and Hispanic Christian Communities, and Hindu and Baha'i groups.

"All of them have contributed to a texture of religious difference at the university that's typical of what has happened in colleges across the country," she said. "Many colleges are equipped with one white chapel in the middle of campus that doesn't really do anymore. We have to refigure who we are and try to shape a chaplaincy that is up to the task of being part of a modern college in the US."

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