Welcoming (and Learning from) the Stranger: The Museum as a Forum for Interfaith Dialogue

ABSTRACT

In response to current tensions around U.S. immigration policies and the expression of diverse religious identities, the author presents a case study in which a university art museum engaged local children and adults to share images and stories of their experience as practitioners of five of the world’s major religions. These contemporary, local perspectives were presented through an exhibition combining ritual objects with documentary photographs; public performances of stories; and curricular resources designed to support middle school teachers in introducing Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam. The case study shows how museums with collections of ritual objects can activate them on behalf of society’s urgent need for interfaith dialogue and understanding to contribute to a more just and generous world.

KEYWORDS:

• Interfaith dialogue
• storytelling
• ritual objects
• documentary photography
• community-based

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

About the author

Ray Williams is the director of education and academic affairs at the Blanton Museum of Art, University of Texas at Austin. He has held similar positions at the Harvard Art Museums, the RISD Museum of Art, the Smithsonian’s Freer and Sackler Galleries, and the University of North Carolina’s Ackland Art Museum. His work has focused on how works of art can contribute to our understanding of religious diversity, participatory democracy, and empathetic communication. He also has extensive experience teaching health care and business professionals in museum settings.

Notes

1 Kriel, “‘Zero Tolerance’ Policy.”

2 Jordan, “Family Separation.”

3 Liptak and Shear, “Trump’s Travel Ban.”

4 Ketterer, “Arsonist Strikes.”

5 For more on discussions about teaching world religions in schools, see Wertheimer, Faith Ed.

6 For access to the online curricular resources, please see the Ackland Art Museum’s “The Five Faiths Project.”

7 For more on the changing religious landscape in the United States, see Eck, A New Religious America.

8 For more on frameworks for addressing religion in school curriculum, see Haynes and Nord, Taking Religion Seriously Across the Curriculum.

9 These documentary photographs and images of ritual objects from the Ackland’s permanent collection can be found online through Harvard University’s, The Pluralism Project. See Ackland Art Museum, The Pluralism Project.

10 For more on how art can support conversations about faith, see Hughes and Wood, A Place for Meaning.