Partnership with The School of Religion
at Claremont Graduate University (CGU)
In the Spring of 2007, the Cal State L.A. Religious Studies Program commenced an inter-institutional partnership with The School of Religion at Claremont Graduate University. The School of Religion is one of the premier institutions of its kind, noted for its curricular innovations intended to address the needs of religious pluralism in the twenty-first century world. More information on The School of Religion and its programs can be accessed here.
Geographically, Cal State L.A. is the closest of the California State University campuses to Claremont, a proximity that makes possible joint programs and joint research. The differences between the two schools—one primarily undergraduate, one graduate; one a state institution, the other private; one located in the heart of downtown Los Angeles, the other in its freeway-connected suburbs—create the structural complementary necessary for a fruitful collaboration.
The partnership is currently focused on the following initiatives:
Joint Conferences and Symposia: In March 2008, the Cal State L.A. Religious Studies Program and Claremont’s School of Religion co-hosted a two-day symposium on Religion in Los Angeles, Religion in the Americas, Religion in the Era of Globalization, exploring the interrelated ways in which the multiple communities of twenty-first century Los Angeles navigate diverse religious identities. The full symposium program can be accessed here.
Community Outreach: The School of Religion has pioneered a model for community relationships through its Councils and recruits students from the religious communities they represent. The School of Religion and its Councils are assisting the Cal State L.A. Religious Studies Program in developing similar community-outreach and service-learning components. More information on The School of Religion’s Councils can be accessed here.
Curriculum Development and Program Integration: The Religious Studies Program has articulated an interdisciplinary curriculum focused on studying the interrelationships among religion, identity, and civic participation in ways specifically related to enhancing the understanding and analysis of the role of religion in community, professional, and public life in the era of globalization. The focus of Cal State L.A.’s undergraduate program in religious studies intersects strongly with the emphases of Claremont Graduate University’s School of Religion, and the two institutions plan to develop an articulated program in which interested and qualified Cal State L.A. students in religious studies could transition into the M.A. program at Claremont’s School of Religion by beginning their graduate work during their senior year. The two institutions will also strive to create scholarship opportunities for these Cal State L.A. students.
This innovative collaboration connects a teaching-oriented public university serving largely first-generation college students from the L.A. area with one of the nation’s leading graduate research universities. The National Endowment for the Humanities has already recognized the significance of the partnership between Cal State L.A.’s Religious Studies Program and Claremont’s School of Religion by awarding the two institutions a $75,000 program development grant and presenting the initiative to the U.S. Congress as a “We the People” project.
For further information about this partnership and its curricular and community-outreach initiatives, please contact the Cal State L.A. Religious Studies Program at relstudies@calstatela.edu and/or Claremont’s School of Religion at religion@cgu.edu.