ReligionWise Introduction

What is ReligionWise and why should you listen? Also--what to expect this inaugural season!

For more about the Institute for Religious and Cultural Understanding, visit www.religionandculture.com.

Transcript

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Chip Gruen: 0:09

Welcome to ReligionWise, my name is Chip Gruen. I'm the Director of the Institute for Religious and Cultural Understanding at Muhlenberg College, and I will be the host for this podcast. It is my pleasure to welcome you into this newest programming initiative of the Institute. The basic premise of ReligionWise, is that there are professionals out in the world who think about religion quite a lot. They might be scholars, teachers, they might work in museums, and they interact with religion in lots of different ways and affect the way that we think about religion in the world. One of the challenges that we face, however, is that the connection between the work of these individuals, and the public conversation more generally on religion is not always clear. Our goal in this podcast is to help draw out the connections between the classroom, the library, or any of these professions to the lived experience of those who don't think about religion professionally. So the general outline that we will follow on ReligionWise is to start in the particulars the expertise of our guests, whether they be a scholar or a teacher, or work in a cultural institution, like a museum or the theatre. Then ask, so what? That is, how is this work more generally relevant or important? And then finish by asking what are the implications for this work for listeners in their interactions with diverse religious and cultural phenomenon our world. In this the inaugural season of ReligionWise, we'll talk about a wide variety of issues with prominent scholars and thinkers in the field of religion. We'll think about Sikhism in America, a history of anti-Semitism and philosophy of religion. This has been ReligionWise, the podcast produced by the Institute for Religious and Cultural Understanding of Muhlenberg College. For more information, and additional programming, please visit our website at religionandculture.com. There, you'll find our contact information, links to other programming, and have the opportunity to support the work of the Institute. ReligionWise, is produced by the staff of the Institute for Religious and Cultural Understanding of Muhlenberg College, including Christine Flicker and Carrie Duncan. Please subscribe to ReligionWise wherever you get your podcasts. We look forward to seeing you next time.