Religion in Place: Local Knowledge and Practice in Applied Religious Studies

In cities, suburbs, and rural areas throughout the United States, scholar/practitioners in applied religious studies are working to build more just and inclusive communities for people of all religions and none.  Based at both universities and nonprofit organizations – and working closely with diverse community partners – these scholar/practitioners facilitate interfaith dialogue, build faith-based social justice coalitions, conduct community-based research, enhance the public understanding of religion, and create space for new voices in the public sphere.  Their work is necessarily grounded in what the anthropologist Clifford Geertz has described as “local knowledge” – in an intimate, personal engagement with the everyday lives and concerns of one’s diverse neighbors – and can therefore help us reimagine religious studies as a community-based, civically-engaged academic field.  This panel discussion will bring together scholar/practitioners working in a range of distinctive communities, for an open conversation about local knowledge, place-based practice, and the future of academic religious studies.