religious studies in secondary schools



	Our mission Religious Studies in Secondary Schools is a coalition of public, private independent, and Catholic secondary school teachers from hundreds of schools across the United States and Canada committed to the idea that education is not complete without the academic study of the world's religious traditions and the ethical values, literatures, and cultures so inextricably linked to them. How We Began RSiSS grew out of efforts by Tom Collins, in the mid-1990s, to gather his colleagues from across the country to study important religious texts. The purpose was 1) to give us a better understanding of the religions we were teaching, 2) to help us be more effective in dealing with our students, and 3) to put us into important contact and dialogue with our colleagues throughout North America. Collins worked with Tom Pike, the head of school at St. Francis High School in Louisville, Kentucky, to put together a series of workshops to study important religious texts with nationally recognized scholars of religion. In 2000, Collins and David Streight, with whom he had taught on the west coast a decade earlier, formalized the coalition of colleagues that had begun to work together. RSiSS gained 501 (c) 3 status as a tax-exempt educational assocation in 2001. Today, RSiSS has a board of directors from Catholic, public, and private independent schools from across the United States; the coalition sponsors or co-sponsors 4 or 5 workshops a year. Where We've Been We just finished three successful events, in Alexandria, VA (Love, Kindness, and Compassion in the Ethics/Philosophy Course), inWashington, D.C. (Islam and the Qur'an), and at Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania (Religion and Ecology), as well as our annual meeting, this year in Atlanta, co-sponsored by the Program in Religion and Secondary Education at Harvard Divinity School. Standards for the Teaching of Religion We're doing some work in the coming months on standards for the teaching of religion in secondary schools. What should be essential in the teaching we do? What is important, but not essential? If you have beliefs in this regard, please let us know. The more input we have, the better the discussion is. Ecology and Religion site Our suggested resources for the important link between religions and ecology is now growing. Check it out by clicking on the bottom line of the menubar above, or here. Our Wish List Ugh! Our fax machine fried a couple of months ago. We'd prefer to replace it with a used, even obsolete, laptop computer, provided it's got working fax software. Care to make a tax-deductable donation. Let us know. Donations? Speaking of donations, Religious Studies in Secondary Schools is a tax-exempt, 501 (c) 3 educational association. Your dollar donations will help us provide quality programs for teacher training. Let us know if you want to help. ........................................................................................ Our goal at RSiSS is to be a resource to our fellow educators and their students. RSiSS is a coalition. No membership dues, just people in the field willing to work to help the cause. Contact us (info@rsiss.net) to help, or for more info.