Ms. Neely and Mr. Iuliano Attend Workshop at Harvard

Kelly Neely, Middle and Upper School Humanities Department Co-Chair (History) and Global Studies Diploma Program Director and Joe Iuliano, Assistant Head for Academic Affairs, attended a four-day summer workshop at Harvard University Divinity School in pursuit of professional development for their teaching practice in Brimmer’s Upper School History Department. The workshop, titled “Religious Nationalism in a Global Context,” was sponsored by multiple study centers at Harvard and was hosted by the Divinity School.

 

Preparation for this workshop included a 10+ hour self-guided Canvas course, which provided background understanding of history, current events, pedagogy, and research frameworks and models important to the building of understanding and the ability to design effective teaching practice to promote student learning.

 

The program offered the expertise and insight of researchers from Aurora University, Pennsylvania State University, Princeton Theological Seminary, University of Notre Dame, University of Washington, journalists, and program specialists from Harvard Divinity School and North Shore Community College. The presenters touched on the political, historical, anthropological, and cultural characteristics of religious nationalism here in the United States and offered case studies of this phenomenon on every continent. Ms. Neely and Mr. Iuliano enjoyed the opportunity to learn from and with their secondary and post-secondary education teaching colleagues, participate in many thoughtful discussions, and gain insight into this compelling current movement across the world.

 

The Harvard University Davis Center annually sponsors a summer workshop for teachers from around the country and from neighboring countries as well. After applying in the spring and gaining invitations to the program, Ms. Neely and Mr. Iuliano participated in the workshop with more than 40 educators from as nearby as MA, as far away as Los Angeles, CA and many places in between. According to the Davis Center’s description, “This year, the Global Studies Outreach (GSO) Workshop will provide teachers with a space to think, learn, and ask questions about religious nationalism in a variety of contexts. From India to Russia, Ethiopia to the United States, educators will learn about the ways religious nationalism manifests around the world and will explore, collectively, pedagogical responses to religious nationalism and how to teach about it in diverse classrooms.”