The Center for Multi-Religious Studies
The Center for Multi-Religious Studies (CMRS) at Starr King School for the Ministry (SKSM) is a premier hub for the academic and vocational exploration of multi-religious identity and practice.
The CMRS offers:
- The Tapestry: a repository of multi-religious articles, media, curricula, and educational materials
- Sponsored sessions within the SKSM Annual Symposium and other public programs
- House of Dates, an ongoing event series co-sponsored by The Sarah and Hajar Series and in partnership with Muslim and Jewish voices from diverse backgrounds and histories
The CMRS Supports:
- Courses in a diverse array of religious and spiritual traditions
- Certificates in Multi-Religious Studies and Psychedelic Justice and Companioning
- Multi-Religious chaplaincy training in coordination with the Chaplaincy Concentration
About the Center
The first of its kind, the CMRS offers research, symposia, and public programs that advance scholarship and dialogue about multi-religious spiritual formation, ritual arts, education, and their interrelated dimensions.
Bringing together progressive religious leaders, scholars, and social activists, the CMRS represents a radical approach to the study of the world’s diverse religious traditions within their own contexts, emphasizing interreligious dialogue, pluralism, and the SKSM pedagogical model of Educating to Counter Oppressions and Create Just Communities.
Welcome from the Director
“Many of us have grown into settings where religious identity and formation are of a binary nature: we’re Christian or Muslim, Buddhist or Hindu, Jewish or Bahá’í, spiritual but not religious,” says Dr. Som Pourfarzaneh, Assistant Professor of Islamic and Digital Media Studies at Starr King and Director of the Center of Multi-Religious Studies. “The CMRS intends to nurture the study of non-binary multi-religious identity, where all faiths and spiritualities are welcome as equal partners in educating to counter oppressions and creating just and sustainable communities.”
History
The CMRS was founded in 2021 to further the study of multi-religious identities, practices, ritual arts, and education, and honors the legacy of Dr. Ibrahim Farajajé‘s ministry in organic multi-religiosity.
Courses
Sample courses offered by affiliated faculty include:
- The Multi-Religious Intensive
- Introduction to Islam
- Transformative Ritual Craft
- Advanced Topics in Ritual
- Multi-Religious Dialogue
- Queer Studies: Multi-Religious Perspectives
- Queer Liberation Theologies
- Introducing Hindu Doctrines
- Womanism and Earth Justice
Events
Upcoming
Soul Medicine for a Fractured World
Thursday, December 4 at 5:30 pm PT (8:30 pm ET)
Join us in conversation with author, activist, and former SKSM faculty member, Dr. Liza J. Rankow, about her new book Soul Medicine for a Fractured World: Healing, Justice, and the Path of Wholeness.
Past
Psychedelics and the Seminary Lecture Series 2022
February 15, March 1, March 29, & April 19, 2022
Psychedelics and the Seminary Lecture Series 2023
February 28, March 7, March 28, April 4, & April 25, 2023
House of Dates: Jum’ah/Shabbat Worship
December 15, 2023
House of Dates: Spiritual Leadership in Times of Crisis
February 16, 2024
House of Dates: Soul Care for the Sacred Activist
March 15, 2024
House of Dates: The Land in Our Bones
April 26, 2024
House of Dates: Transformational Solidarity
October 17, 2024
Threads of Liberation – Sponsored Panel Discussion
November 8, 2024
House of Dates: Movement Chaplaincy
December 5, 2024
Film Screening: Where Olive Trees Weep
May 1, 2025