July 3, 2009 – Call for Participants: The Center on Religion & the Professions is forming new project teams for the upcoming academic year, to join existing teams. If you’re interested in training or research related to expanding professionals’ understanding of faith and spirituality in the lives of those they serve, please contact Center Director Debra L. Mason at MasonDL@Missouri.edu or (573) 882-9257. The 2009-2010 academic year’s work will focus on professional development tools and training.
Mason speaks to Kiwanis
June 17, 2009 – Debra L. Mason, director of the Center on Religion & the Professions, addressed more than 80 Kiwanis members during two recent speaking engagements. Mason spoke to a Columbia Kiwanis club on April 28 and to the Fulton Kiwanis Club on June 11, both on the topic of t
he Center, religious literacy and the professions.
In addition to directing the Center, Mason is a professor of journalism studies at the University of Missouri School of Journalism and executive director of the Religion Newswriters Association. She is a nationally recognized, award-winning and widely published specialist in religion journalism, with more than 25 years of professional teaching, research and reporting experience.
The Center on Religion & the Professions (CORP) was founded in 2003 with a mission of improving religious literacy among professionals, to help them serve a diverse public. It performs research and creates curriculum, resources and public programming to accomplish that goal. For more information about the Center, call (573) 882-9257.
Online "Religious Literacy" course under way
June 17, 2009 – “Religious Literacy for the Public and Professions,” a new online course offered through MU Direct: Continuing and Distance Education, is under way. The course (REL ST 3100) teaches students to engage and encounter religion in day-to-day life and in the professional workplace. Its primary goal is to examine religious diversity in private and professional contexts from a practical standpoint by examining a variety of case studies. The course is open to University of Missouri students who are absent from campus for the summer or unable to attend day classes and to nontraditional students.
The course is offered through the University of Missouri’s Department of Religious Studies. The course was created by the department and the Center on Religion & the Professions at University of Missouri. The instructor is Justin Arft. The eight-week class runs June 8-July 31.
Textbooks for the course include “Religion and the Workplace” by Douglas A. Hicks and “How to Be a Perfect Stranger: The Essential Religious Etiquette Handbook” by Stuart M. Matlins and Arthur J. Magida.
After the course is completed and assessed, a team from the Center on Religion & the Professions (CORP) will author a chapter for a monograph about the project that will be distributed nationally through the Institute on Religion in Curriculum and Culture of Higher Education.
The Center on Religion & the Professions was founded in 2003 with a mission of improving religious literacy among professionals, to help them serve a diverse public. For more information about the Center, contact Director Debra L. Mason at (573) 882-9257 or MasonDL@missouri.edu.
Enrollment open for religious literacy class
May 28, 2009 – There are a few days left to enroll in “Religious Literacy for the Public and Professions,” a new online course offered through MU Direct: Continuing and Distance Education. The course (REL ST 3100) teaches students to engage and encounter religion in day-to-day life and in the professional workplace. Its primary goal is to examine religious diversity in private and professional contexts from a practical standpoint by examining a variety of case studies. The course is open to University of Missouri students who are absent from campus for the summer or unable to attend day classes and to nontraditional students.
- See more about the course
- Enroll in the course
- See more about MU Direct: Continuing and Distance Education
Five seats remain available for the course, which is offered through the University of Missouri’s Department of Religious Studies. The course was created by the department and the Center on Religion & the Professions at University of Missouri. The instructor is Justin Arft. Students can register up to June 8 for the eight-week class, which runs June 8-July 31. MU summer registration is June 3-5. A late fee is assessed if registering June 5-8.
Textbooks for the course include “Religion and the Workplace” by Douglas A. Hicks and “How to Be a Perfect Stranger: The Essential Religious Etiquette Handbook” by Stuart M. Matlins and Arthur J. Magida.
The Center on Religion & the Professions was founded in 2003 with a mission of improving religious literacy among professionals, to help them serve a diverse public. For more information about the Center, call (573) 882-9257.
Workshop: Teen Relationship Education and Empowerment training for religious groups
May 18, 2009 – A workshop to train religious groups about addressing teen relationship violence will be held Aug. 22, 2009, in Columbia.
A faith-based initiative against teen relationship violence, the Teen Relationship Education and Empowerment (TREE) program was founded with a Missouri Foundation for Health grant to a coalition of local churches, community health professionals and MU.
Columbia’s Broadway Christian Church submitted the grant, with assistance from the MU Center on Religion & the Professions, which provides project development, outreach and administrative support.
Groups interested in building a TREE team should contact Kim Ryan at (573) 489-2729 or kkgryan@juno.com or Kendra Yoder at klyd29@mizzou.edu.
Additional information:
- Read about TREE receiving the grant (Columbia Missourian)
- Read about the Feb. 22 workshop (Columbia Missourian)
- Download press release about the grant
- Listen to interview about the project (KBIA)
- Read about the Missouri Foundation for Health awarding the grant
- Read about the activities of the project’s first group of teams
KBIA interviews CORP director about hate group
May 14, 2009 – National Public Radio affiliate KBIA interviewed Debra L. Mason, director of the Center on Religion & the Professions, on May 14 for a story about Westboro Baptist Church, which planned a protest in Columbia. In the wide-ranging interview, Mason addressed questions about whether the media should cover the group – known for its position against homosexuality and protesting at soldiers’ funerals – how they are related to other Baptists and whether they could be classified as a cult.
See more about the interview here.
In addition to directing the Center, Mason is executive director of the Religion Newswriters Association and is a professor of journalism studies at the University of Missouri School of Journalism. She is a nationally recognized, award-winning and widely published specialist in religion journalism and has more than 25 years of professional reporting, research and teaching experience.
The Center on Religion & the Professions (CORP) aims to improve religious literacy among professionals, to help them serve a diverse public. It performs research and creates curriculum, resources and public programming to accomplish that goal. For more information about the Center, call (573) 882-9257.
CORP achievements featured in J-School newsletter
May 12, 2009 – Recent accomplishments of the MU Center on Religion & the Professions
are featured in the May 2009 Missouri School of Journalism Graduate Studies Newsletter. These include speaking engagements by Dr. Debra Mason, CORP director; large turnouts at recent CORP-sponosred events; and information about the new “Religious Literacy for the Public and Professions” class to be taught online this summer.
Download the newsletter at the Missouri School of Journalism Graduate Program page, under Graduate Publications. The article appears on Page 11.
The Center on Religion & the Professions, which works to improve the religious literacy of professionals, including journalists, is an affiliate of the Missouri School of Journalism.
MU professor's book on work and faith featured
May 12, 2009 – Dr. Richard “Chip” Callahan‘s recent book, “Work and Faith in the Kentucky Coal Fields: Subject to Dust,” is this week’s Book of the Week in Books & Culture: A Christian Review, a Christianity Today publication. Callahan is an assistant professor in the 
Department of Religious Studies at University of Missouri. With a primary interest in religion in America, Callahan’s research explores the sphere of work and labor, including how occupational cultures, settings and relations of exchange both inform and are informed by religion.
His latest book uses oral histories, folklore, folksongs and vernacular spirituality to tell the history of how early 20th-century coal miners and their families lived their religion in eastern Kentucky’s coal fields. It is published by University of Indiana Press.
Making “The Office” Rounds
May 1, 2009 – Dr. Brick Johnstone, professor of health psychology at MU and head of CORP’s Spirituality and Health research team, spoke April 27, 2009, on “Spirituality and Health” at the Columbia Regional Hospital Bioethics Grand Rounds in Columbia. He also is scheduled to be interviewed in June 2009 by Emmy-nominated “The Office” actor Rainn Wilson for a segment on Wilson’s Web site, www.soulpancake.com, which discusses “life’s big questions.”
TREE program extending outreach – UPDATED
April 30, 2009 – The Teen Relationship Education and Empowerment (TREE) program has had several successful events in its first four months. These include a workshop with 10 churches represented, drama performances and others.
A faith-based initiative against teen relationship violence, TREE was founded in December 2008 with a $50,000 grant from the Missouri Foundation for Health. The grant went to a coalition of local churches, community health professionals and University of Missouri to create programming to help Columbia churches address teen relationship violence. Columbia’s Broadway Christian Church submitted the grant, with project development and administrative support from University of Missouri’s Center on Religion & the Professions.
The project kicked off with a Feb. 22 workshop with about 40 people gathering to learn about teen relationship violence, resources, and how religious communities can address the issue and help teens involved in violent relationships.
Recent local events include:
- Rock Bridge Christian Church – Parent/teen program, March 29
- Broadway Christian Church – Integration of “Choose Respect” video/curriculum into junior high “lock-in” event, April 4-5
- Troubling Violence Performance Project performance for TREE members and supporters, April 15
- Unitarian Universalist Church – Troubling Violence Performance Project performance for Our Whole Lives program, April 19
- TREE participants attended Green Dot Prevent Strategy workshop with sexual and domestic violence educator Dr. Dorothy Edwards, April 21-23
- Calvary Episcopal Church – Four-part series for their youth, April-May
- Steve McMullen, RAVE (Religion and Violence E-learning) team leader from New Brunswick, Canada, presented on the RAVE project to participating TREE churches and supporters, April 25
- Calvary Episcopal Church – Troubling Violence Performance Project visit to youth group, April 26
Upcoming:
- Calvary Episcopal Church – Troubling Violence Performance Project performance, May 3
- TREE representative speaks to the MU Council Against Violence Against Women, May 5, noon, Library Conference Room 159, University of Missouri
TREE representatives have additionally met with several church groups to talk about their event planning. Events are intended to grow from the February workshop and TREE resources, which include a lending library housed at The Communications Center, 1905 Cherry Hill Dr., Columbia. Participating churches and TREE representatives will meet again in June to share and brainstorm.
A Web site about TREE including links to resources will be available soon. New groups continue to want to be involved with the program, TREE Project Coordinator Kendra Yoder said.
The Missouri Foundation for Health grant was part of MFH’s Health Interventions in Non-Traditional Settings funding program, which provides two-year grants to faith-based and small secular organizations that address health needs in their communities.
Groups interested in building a TREE team for next year should contact Kim Ryan at (573) 489-2729 or kkgryan@juno.com or Kendra Yoder at klyd29@mizzou.edu.
Additional information:
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