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• Strategic multifaith engagement shapes the Elon campus experience
• Across disciplines, Elon faculty integrate multifaith understanding into the classroom

Campus organizations and programs at 福利亚洲国产精品 extend multifaith engagement beyond the classroom and into the community, a primary goal of the university鈥檚 Multifaith Strategic Plan, which strives to 鈥渟upport opportunities for multifaith learning and engagement for all members of the academic community.鈥�

鈥淓lon has done incredible work in enfranchising multifaith as an academic as well as a student affairs initiative, aligning and even blending those areas in meaningful ways that enhance the student experience,鈥� said Amy Allocco, director of the Multifaith Scholars Program and a professor of religious studies.

The Multifaith Scholars Program, a two-year program founded in 2016, emphasizes interdisciplinary learning as student scholars undertake original research projects and study in global contexts connected with religious diversity and multireligious societies.

Learning by teaching

The scholars program also includes aspects of community engagement. For example, students help with youth nights, work in the community garden and teach English as a second language at the Burlington Masjid.

鈥淪tudents are learning how to ethically engage in communities across lines of religious, cultural, and linguistic differences and to engage with cultural humility, like going to a space where you need to learn the appropriate ways of dressing and behaving,鈥� said Sandy Marshall, associate professor of geography, who works with the scholars at the Masjid. 鈥淎ll those types of intercultural learning skills are invaluable for students.鈥�

The goal of the English language classes, the multifaith scholars say, is to get people from an elementary English level to a place where they can have conversations and take more advanced courses. They held their first graduation from the classes in 2025. Marshall says that over the last several years, the language classes have grown, particularly due to the initiative of scholars like Alyssa Carney 鈥�26, an international & global studies and religious studies double major from Allendale, New Jersey.

Marshall asked Carney to lead the class, which has now grown to 15-25 people per session.

Realizing the extent of the work, Carney leaned on her cohort in the Multifaith Scholars Program to help, noting that it turned into an experience she never expected.

鈥淚t’s a vulnerable part of somebody’s life, because I know that isn’t easy for them to come to a bunch of young college students, as older adults, and not know the language and ask for help,鈥� said Carney. 鈥淚 also love the exchange of all of it. They teach me probably way more than I teach them. I learn not only Arabic words, but also about their lives.鈥�

Owen Hayes 鈥�26, a history major from Holly Springs, North Carolina, minoring in and 聽is one of the Multifaith Scholars helping Carney at the Masjid.

鈥淭he most impactful part for me is seeing their improvement and them being happy with themselves, that they are achieving their goals, just being a small part of that,鈥� he said.

Community celebration

Elon鈥檚 connection to the Masjid also includes celebratory events like Eid al-Fitr, marking the conclusion of Ramadan, a month during which Muslims fast from dawn to dusk and gather for nightly meals known as iftars. It includes members of the Elon community and members of the Burlington Masjid and is part of the Truitt Center for Religious and Spiritual Life鈥檚 festival series, religious programs that create space not only to mark holidays, but to deepen understanding of culture, meaning, traditions and values.

Behind the festival series are multifaith interns, Elon students who work to create space, build and cultivate relationships, lead programs and facilitate learning opportunities about religious and spiritual identities and experiences on campus and beyond.

鈥淥ne of the learning outcomes of the internship is for students to learn to curate spaces for religious and spiritual celebrations that are authentic expressions of those traditions, as well as spaces for education and community building,鈥� said Hillary Zaken, director of multifaith programming and engagement.

Lizeth Torres-Tomas 鈥�27, a political science and sociology double major with minors in and Latin American studies, is one of the multifaith interns who says the program has helped her understand and nurture her own purpose.

鈥淩eligion is taboo for a lot of people,鈥� said Torres-Tomas, who is from Hendersonville, North Carolina. 鈥淏ut when we create spaces where people can talk about their faith or uncertainty, we鈥檙e contributing to their well-being.鈥�

In the clinic and kitchen

Multifaith community work extends across religions for Elon students. Students in Elon鈥檚 Department of Nursing can work clinical hours with a nurse in Cone Health鈥檚 , which supports people of all faiths and community organizations. Students have completed clinical hours with Freedom鈥檚 Hope, Salvation Army and SAFE 鈥� Southern Alamance Family Empowerment.

Campus Kitchen, a program through the Kernodle Center for Civic Life was founded in 2011 and focuses on providing meals to Allied Churches of Alamance County. Students work in three shifts: harvesting produce at Loy Farm, cooking the food at Lakeside Dining and then serving the meals at the church. The program provides about 100 meals per week.

Megan DeMarco 鈥�26, a human service studies major from Midland Park, New Jersey, is the director of Campus Kitchen and says the goal is to address food insecurity in areas around college campuses.

鈥淲hen I did my first Allied Churches shift, it was definitely more of an impact on me seeing the actual people and clientele that were helping,鈥� DeMarco said. 鈥淭hat’s why a big thing that we push is for our volunteers to go to all three shifts.鈥�

Brian Pennington, director of the Center for the Study of Religion, Culture and Society, says that Elon鈥檚 multifaith strategic planning and implementation process has achieved a level of integration that helps set a new national standard.

鈥淲hen an institution can engage students thoughtfully on questions of meaning, purpose, faith and doubt at the same time that it asks them to think critically about religion as a powerful force that impacts history, society, and politics, it is really doing the hard work of training leaders for a future that looks increasingly complex,鈥� Pennington said.

This story is the third in a series of stories focusing on 福利亚洲国产精品鈥檚 Multifaith Strategic Plan.聽

Six rising juniors have been named members of the tenth class of Multifaith Scholars, a two-year fellows program for juniors and seniors that offers a closely mentored, experientially rich and intellectually rigorous educational opportunity for students with significant potential.

After a highly selective application and interview process, students are awarded $5,000 annually to support research and study in global contexts connected with religious diversity and multi-religious societies. Students who show great potential as academically curious and socially engaged leaders committed to their own ongoing development and the enhancement of their local and global communities are selected each spring.

鈥淚 am delighted to welcome these six impressive rising juniors into the Multifaith Scholars program and look forward to supporting their compelling projects over the next two years,鈥� said Amy Allocco, director of the Multifaith Scholars program. 鈥淭heir research interests include music and Christian religious experience, linguistic anthropology and the vocabulary of faith, religious diversity in clinical settings, gender and religious roles in Asian art, the intersection of biomedicine and traditional healing practices and the history of Black churches here in Alamance County.鈥�

In addition to pursuing their faculty-mentored undergraduate research projects and undertaking academic coursework in religious studies and interreligious studies, the scholars will extend the program鈥檚 ongoing community partnership with the Burlington Masjid. Through the partnership, scholars teach English classes, participate in youth and social events with the local Muslim community, join community garden workdays, volunteer with the food pantry and take part in potlucks and iftar meals during Ramadan.

鈥淚t is wonderful to welcome such a strong class with such diverse academic interests,鈥� reflected Brian Pennington, director of the Center for the Study of Religion, Culture, and Society, which supports the Multifaith Scholars program. 鈥淎s we approach the tenth anniversary of the MFS, it is gratifying to see so many clear signs of the program’s maturity and significance: our largest class ever, the inclusion of seven new faculty mentors, and students majoring in three disciplines never before represented in MFS.鈥�

The 2026-2028 Multifaith Scholars

Addison Anderson

Majors: History, Sociology

Minors: Museum Studies, Public History, and Interreligious Studies

Mentor:聽Amanda Kleintop (History and Geography)

Project Title: History and Memory of Alamance County鈥檚 Black Churches

Proposed Research: Examine the relationship between Alamance County African American churches and local politics in North Carolina from Reconstruction through 1900.

Blair Berenson

Major: Anthropology

Minors: Jewish Studies, Sociology, Philosophy and Interreligious Studies

Mentors:聽Amy Allocco (Religious Studies) and Devin Proctor (Sociology & Anthropology)

Project Title: An Anthropological Approach to Cross-Generational Shifts in Hindu and Jewish Perspectives of Faith in the US

Proposed Research: Conduct fieldwork in Jewish and Hindu communities in Atlanta to understand how different generations articulate the concept of faith.

Katie Castelo

Major: Biochemistry

Minors: Neuroscience, Spanish, and Interreligious Studies

Mentor:聽Cathy Quay (Nursing)

Project Title: Bridging Faith and Medicine: Improving Cultural Awareness of Religious Practices in the Healthcare System

Proposed Research: Explore the healthcare industry鈥檚 approach to death and ways it can be more open to diverse religious practices.

Faith Elliott

Major: Neuroscience

Minors: Expressive Arts and Interreligious Studies

Mentors:聽Lynn Huber (Religious Studies) and Morgan Patrick (Music Theory)

Project Title: Neurotheology: An Interdisciplinary Study into Sacred Music and Feelings of Well-Being

Proposed Research: Examine the historical significance of music and understand and measure the behavioral impact associated with an emotional, transcendent spiritual experience and the well-being that results from listening.

Mariama Jalloh

Major: Public Health

Minors: Biology and Interreligious Studies

Mentor:聽Sandra Darfour-Oduro (Public Health)

Project Title: Faith, Healers, and Health: How Religious Beliefs and Community Trust Shape Healthcare Decisions in West African Communities

Proposed Research: Examine how religious leaders and traditional healers influence healthcare decisions in communities in Ghana, and how public health programs can partner with these practitioners to improve health education outcomes.

Ryleigh Rouse

Majors: Art History, Religious Studies

Minors: Museum Studies and Public History and Asian Studies

Mentor:聽Kirstin Ringelberg (Art History)

Project Title: Religion鈥檚 Impact on Japanese Women: Through an Art Historical Lens

Proposed Research: Employ art as a lens to examine how religion shaped gender perceptions and Japanese women鈥檚 roles.

Jassal鈥檚 research centers on the dynamic relationships among person, place and divinity in South Asia, particularly in the Himalayan region of Uttarakhand in northern India. Through years of ethnographic fieldwork, he has explored how Hindu communities actively construct and experience sacred worlds through ritual practices such as shrine-building, pilgrimage, festival celebrations and spirit possession.

A key theme of the lecture was the idea that Hindu deities are not fixed but relational and mobile, often requiring 鈥減lacemaking鈥� practices to remain connected to human communities. Jassal discussed how rituals鈥攊ncluding the relocation of deities to more suitable or accessible sites鈥攕erve as what he described as 鈥渢echnologies of healing鈥� that reshape social realities. These practices, he argued, reveal the agency not only of human participants but also of non-human actors, such as deities themselves.

In addition to the lecture, Jassal shared a short documentary film, offering students a vivid, sensory perspective on his research. The film emphasized the importance of sound, movement, and atmosphere鈥攅lements that written ethnography alone cannot fully capture. Students noted that this visual component deepened their understanding of the material, making the lived realities of ritual practice more tangible.

The day prior to his lecture, Jassal participated in a casual lunch with students, creating space for informal conversation about his work, academic journey and the role of storytelling in research. Attendees described him as engaging, passionate and genuinely enthusiastic about student curiosity and dialogue. Following lunch, Jassal also visited Amy Allocco鈥檚 4000-level Religious Studies seminar, 鈥淕hosts Demons, and Ancestors in Asian Religions,鈥� where students had been assigned chapters of his book and came prepared to engage directly with his research. During the class, students asked questions about Jassal鈥檚 fieldwork, methods, and key concepts like placemaking, creating an interactive and discussion-based environment. The session allowed students to connect course material with a guest scholar, deepening their understanding through conversation and critical engagement. Jassal emphasized the importance of intellectual openness and positionality in ethnographic research. His reflections encouraged students to think critically about how knowledge is produced and whose voices are amplified.

By the end of the lecture, it was clear that Jassal鈥檚 work not only expands scholarly conversations about religion and anthropology but also resonates deeply with students exploring questions of culture, practice, and representation. His visit left a lasting impression the importance of bringing diverse worlds into conversation.

The series is a multi-volume set that surveys the social and cultural construction of specific subjects across six historical periods, from Antiquity to the Modern Age. Otieno鈥檚 chapter, titled 鈥淧overty and Gender: A Cultural History,鈥� appears in Volume 6 of the Anthology, 鈥淎 Cultural History of Poverty,鈥� edited by Steven Beaudoin and Richard Axtell, which covers the Modern Age.

The chapter thoughtfully applies insights from Womanist and African feminist thinkers to examine poverty and gender as central global ethical issues. It discusses how Nnobi women in Igboland, Nigeria, historically challenged gender and patriarchal norms by leveraging religio-cultural categories to gain wealth and influence. Highlighting the persistence of the gender pay gap, it notes that labor and wages are largely male-centered and thus discriminate against non-male agents.

By explaining how women and LGBTQ individuals navigate these constraints, Otieno argues that women and other genders tend to produce unusual labor market outcomes, which are still measured using male statistics and language, thereby greatly undermining their effort, productivity and value.

The chapter also advocates viewing poverty as a collective moral issue rooted in communities rather than in individual agents, emphasizing how labor markets continue to erode traditional religio-cultural practices across Africa and Asia, such as the selection of trokosi shrine guardians in Ghana and the exploitation of widows and their inheritance in various African contexts.

Covering broad global issues faced by women, the chapter underscores how systemic poverty affects women worldwide. It calls for just treatment and community-focused socioethical interventions to address the disproportionate impact of capitalist systems on non-male laborers and their labor.

Related Articles

• Strategic multifaith engagement shapes the Elon campus experience
• Elon welcomes ninth class of Multifaith Scholars

At 福利亚洲国产精品, faculty say preparing students means helping them understand the people they will interact with throughout their lives, and that includes the influence of faith and religious identity.

That commitment to multifaith understanding is a primary goal of the university鈥檚 Multifaith Strategic Plan, which strives to 鈥渟upport opportunities for multifaith learning and engagement for all members of the academic community.鈥�

鈥淓lon鈥檚 Multifaith Strategic Plan is a promise to our students, faculty, staff and the wider community that we will take them seriously as whole, complex people,鈥� said Brian Pennington, director of the Center for the Study of Religion, Culture, and Society.

The multifaith experience

The Multifaith Scholars Program is a two-year program, founded in 2016, that emphasizes interdisciplinary learning as student scholars undertake original research projects and study in global contexts connected with religious diversity and multireligious societies.

鈥淥ur work is richer when we have students bringing questions from their own disciplines,鈥� said Amy Allocco, director of the program and professor of religious studies. 鈥淚t is a sign of a vibrant campus ecosystem when not only students but also their mentors can see their interests and expertise 聽intersect with questions of interreligious contact, religion and society.鈥�

Allocco says that the breadth of disciplines represented by students and mentors participating in the program has widened each year. The current cohort includes students with diverse majors such as psychology, theatrical design, history, economics consulting, political science, religious studies, and international and global Studies. Owen Hayes 鈥�26, a history major with minors in political science and religious studies, is a 2024-2026 Multifaith Scholar studying the historical and contemporary relationship between Christian missionaries and Indigenous Australians.

鈥淚’ve always been interested in understanding the interreligious encounters of the world, like global Christianity and understanding how different communities can come together and understand such an important religious concept in such different, varying ways, but still have that belief of Christianity,鈥� Hayes said.

The interreligious studies minor also allows students to analyze the historical and contemporary encounters between and interactions among religious communities and traditions.

鈥淓lon has done incredible work in enfranchising multifaith as an academic as well as a student affairs initiative and aligning and even blending those areas in meaningful ways that enhance the student experience,鈥� Allocco said.

Multifaith in the classroom (and clinic)

In the Department of Nursing, faculty don鈥檛 just train future healthcare professionals on specific medical assessments but, as Assistant Professor of Nursing Lori Hubbard says, they 鈥減repare students for the diversity in the populations they will serve,鈥� including religion.

鈥淒iversity in people is understanding their religious background, because religious practices are often infused into health practices and health beliefs,鈥� said Hubbard, who teaches the Healthcare Relationships course, which focuses on understanding diverse backgrounds in healthcare.

The course is just one component of the Department of Nursing鈥檚 commitment to equitable healthcare teaching, which is incorporated throughout the curriculum.

鈥淔rom birth to death and everywhere in between, the people that are going to be important in a person鈥檚 wellness or their healing may come from their church body,鈥� said Hubbard, who says they also want students to understand the role of the chaplain in a hospital setting. 鈥淧eople may have members of a church congregation bring them meals, they may have pastors and friends visit to pray with them. A person’s support network is a social determinant of health.鈥�

In December 2025, a faculty team consisting of Pennington, Jeanmarie Koonts, assistant professor of nursing; Molly Green, assistant professor of public health, and Helen Orr, assistant professor of religious studies, was awarded a $60,000 Faith & Health Campus Grant from Interfaith America to promote awareness of how religious diversity impacts healthcare space and medical decision-making.

Engineering a multifaith course

Along with nursing, several Elon courses across disciplines integrate multifaith understanding. Orr is co-teaching a new course, Engineering A Better World, with Professor of Engineering Sirena Hargrove-Leak on ethical practices in engineering.

鈥淩eligion is an important category for a lot of people, and it informs not only beliefs, but also everyday practice and ritual, including when people fast, how they dress and how they interact in professional spaces,鈥� Orr said. 鈥淥ne of our sessions in the course focuses on the value of multi-faith spaces in professional working environments. Those spaces can be beneficial both for religious people and non-religious people, while also encouraging us to think about how environments themselves can be designed to be more inclusive.鈥�

Hargrove Leak says the engineering curriculum requires an ethics course and, historically, faculty advised students to choose an ethics course through the Core Curriculum. The downside, she says, is they may not connect what they’re learning to engineering practice. This new course, she says, connects the dots directly.

鈥淭he work of engineering professionals has the potential to impact people directly; therefore, ethical practice is critically important,鈥� said Hargrove-Leak.

Communicating religion

While Orr and Hargrove-Leak鈥檚 course is new this semester, Professor of Journalism Anthony Hatcher has been studying and teaching the intersection of religion and media for more than 20 years. His course Religion and Media analyzes how the two interact through media coverage of religious issues and themes, religion’s use of television and the Internet and media portrayals of religious people and traditions.

Hatcher began teaching the course in 2003, coming from a longtime interest in the intersection of the two subjects.

鈥淚t has always sparked my interest how religion intersects not only with a news item, but how it intersects with popular culture,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 tell my students, 鈥業f there is a secular entity of some sort, there is a religious corollary to it.鈥欌��

Finding religious connections in culture is endless for Hatcher, who says he never runs out of material for the course. For one assignment, students must attend a house of worship outside of their own faith and do a research project on the experience. The projects range from more well-known religious practices to lesser-known, like a student who visited a coven of witches in Hillsborough, North Carolina

鈥淚 make it clear: this is not a religion class. I’m not here to teach you about the scripture,鈥� Hatcher said. 鈥淲hen they go (to these houses of worship), it’s not just a religious thing. I say, 鈥榃hat kind of media did they use? Do they have cameras? Do they have a single microphone? Do they use screens and slides? Is it a majestic organ? What are you seeing there? Did they give you a paper program? Everything that’s media.鈥� It gets them thinking about all the mediated ways that they experience religion.鈥�

The course is open to all majors, and Hatcher says it can be relevant for all professions.

鈥淭he subject matter is so important,鈥� Hatcher said. 鈥淚t’s like how study abroad is mind-broadening. I think understanding where somebody else comes from, especially if faith is a big part of who they are, is a big deal.鈥�

And for Pennington, Elon鈥檚 approach to multifaith learning is an example for others to follow.

鈥淲e live in a moment where we can clearly see that the faith commitments and religious practices interact with our global politics, our legal systems, our media environments, and our healthcare systems,鈥� said Pennington. 鈥淏y attending to multifaith education across academic departments and programs, Elon is leading the way in preparing its students for a rapidly evolving world.鈥�

This story is part of a series of stories focusing on 福利亚洲国产精品鈥檚 Multifaith Strategic Plan.聽

Vasudha Narayanan, distinguished professor in the University of Florida’s Department of Religion, introduced Allocco鈥檚 keynote. Allocco focused her lecture on pampaikk膩rar, musicians who play the twin-headed set of drums known as pampai and sing to invoke the deities in diverse Hindu devotional contexts. Drawing on material from her recently completed sabbatical fieldwork project in Tamil-speaking South India, she highlighted the role of pampaikk膩rar as both musicians and ritual specialists who invoke deities through sound. She argued that these practitioners innovatively adapt their performances in response to changing aesthetic preferences, devotional needs and social contexts while both maintaining credibility and inspiring the 鈥済od-feeling鈥� referenced in the title of her presentation. Allocco also reflected on her own research methods, emphasizing how fieldwork relationships as well as lived traditions shape scholarly questions and, by extension, outcomes.

Following her address, Allocco met with graduate students for an hour-long seminar on methodologies for the study of religion, where emerging researchers had the opportunity to ask questions about ethnography and research ethics as well as their own projects. Participants read two of Allocco鈥檚 journal articles, which had been selected by conference organizers as the starting point for this seminar.

On Saturday morning, Allocco delivered welcome remarks to inaugurate the full day of paper sessions. The symposium was sponsored by the University of Florida鈥檚 Department of Religion with support from its Center for the Humanities and the Public Sphere.

While university administrators and faculty report that the word 鈥渕ultifaith鈥� is often associated solely with belief in transcendent beings, they emphasize that, at Elon, it encompasses a broader invitation for the community to explore questions of meaning, value and purpose across religious, spiritual, ethical and secular worldviews.

The Multifaith Strategic Plan, developed in 2023, aligns with the Boldly Elon Strategic Plan and outlines four guiding goals:

• Increase religious diversity
• Foster a more equitable and inclusive campus community
• Support meaningful multifaith learning and engagement opportunities
• Articulate the educational value of multifaith diversity, equity and inclusion for all.

Together, they say, these goals build upon Elon鈥檚 longstanding traditions while expanding how the university honors and supports worldview diversity. The strategic plan affirms that graduates should be equipped to navigate a world shaped by differences in religion, belief systems, values and ways of life and that such preparation begins on campus.

Spirit of shared meaning

One of the most visible expressions of this commitment is Numen Lumen: Senior Baccalaureate Reflection, held Under the Oaks during Commencement Week. Reimagined in 2022, the ceremony reflects the Elon motto 鈥渘umen lumen,鈥� meaning 鈥渟piritual light鈥� and 鈥渋ntellectual light.鈥�

Rather than a traditional sermon, the gathering centers on shared reflection, celebration and inspiration, featuring student voices alongside readings and blessings drawn from a wide range of religious and cultural traditions.

鈥淭his will be a place for seniors to be able to come together with their friends and reflect together on their Elon journey,鈥� said Rev. Kirstin Boswell, university chaplain and dean of multifaith engagement, when the redesign was introduced. 鈥淏accalaureate is being reimagined as a space of pure celebration of the diversity within our graduating class.鈥�

That same spirit of shared meaning is visible each December during the Festival of Lights and Luminaries, one of Elon鈥檚 most cherished traditions. The event brings the campus community together to learn about and honor a variety of religious, spiritual, ethical and cultural traditions, reinforcing the idea that multifaith engagement is not limited to formal spaces but woven into the rhythm of campus life.

This reflection is more than just once a year; it’s weekly. Every Thursday from 9:50 to 10:20 a.m., the Elon community is invited to Numen Lumen: A Thursday Inspiration, where they can hear聽members of the community share pieces of their stories, enjoy live music and artistic expression, and share in coffee and refreshments.

鈥淭丑别蝉别 events are an invitation for every community member, regardless of religious, spiritual, or ethical tradition and worldview, to encounter perspectives and practices beyond our own,鈥� said Hillary Zaken, director of multifaith programming and engagement. 鈥淭hey are unique spaces that are genuine and authentic celebrations of these important holidays, and at the same time make space for our community to practice skills of respectful engagement, learn about and honor diverse identities, and lift up the Truitt Center鈥檚 work to show that spiritual and intellectual growth belong together.鈥�

Learning spaces

Through facilitated dialogue, educational programming and student leadership opportunities, Elon encourages exploration of worldview diversity as an essential component of a liberal arts education.

For example: the Ripple Interfaith Conference, a student-led initiative advised by Zaken that has grown steadily since its founding 10 years ago by an intern in the Truitt Center for Religious and Spiritual Life. Designed to empower and inspire interfaith student leaders, Ripple convenes participants from diverse religious, spiritual and ethical identities for dialogue and community-building.

The 2026 theme, 鈥淎 Recipe for Interfaith,鈥� invited participants in February to explore how connection is built through shared practices, particularly food. By examining meals, recipes and storytelling, the conference highlighted how everyday experiences can foster understanding across differences

鈥淚nterfaith engagement, like cooking, requires curiosity, patience and a readiness to experiment,鈥� said Lauren Bedell 鈥�26, co-director of the 2026 conference. 鈥淩ipple is designed to serve everyone, and its cook time is lifelong.鈥�

Food and faith

Food also plays a role in Elon鈥檚 multifaith commitments. Harvest Table, the university鈥檚 dining partner, works closely with campus stakeholders to accommodate religious observances and dietary needs.

Passover meals are available in Lakeside Dining Hall during the Jewish holiday, to-go bags support students observing Ramadan and Lenten fish is served on Fridays for those abstaining from meat. The Phoenix Flavors Vending Machine in the Truitt Center includes Kosher, Halal and pareve options, while the allgood station in Lakeside offers Halal chicken daily.

Elon鈥檚 commitment to multifaith engagement also shows in the religious and spiritual organizations that contribute to campus community and belonging. Through the Truitt Center, students can connect with recognized student groups representing diverse traditions and practices. These include communities such as Catholic Campus Ministry (CCM), which offers weekly Mass, retreats and service opportunities; Elon Hillel and Chabad, which provide social, cultural and spiritual support for Jewish students; and the Elon Muslim Society, where students celebrate Islamic traditions and engage in interfaith dialogue.

There are also Christian ministries like Campus Outreach, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship and Fellowship of Christian Athletes, as well as contemplative and wellness groups like Iron Tree Blooming (meditation) and the Yoga Club鈥攁ll open and welcoming spaces for students across different identities.

Buddhist Life offers opportunities for understanding and awareness of the Buddhadharma, including the Sand Mandala event each fall where a Buddhist monk visits Elon for three days and used colored sand to create a sand mandala, a Tibetan Buddhist symbol that fosters both healing and peace for those who view it. Elon enables Hindu students to engage with the religious tradition through events, services and forums, including the annual tradition of Diwali. A small, vibrant and diverse Pagan community is also supported at Elon.

Efforts reflect how Elon continues to honor its traditions while expanding multifaith engagement in intentional and meaningful ways. Through ceremony, dialogue, learning spaces and everyday practices, Elon affirms its commitment to preparing graduates who can engage thoughtfully and respectfully in a diverse and interconnected world.

鈥淓lon鈥檚 Multifaith Strategic Plan is a promise to our students, faculty, staff, and the wider community that we will take them seriously as whole, complex people,鈥� said Brian Pennington, director of the Center for the Study of Religion, Culture, and Society. 鈥淚t is also a commitment to our students that an Elon education will prepare them to lead in a world where interreligious understanding is crucial to a sound global community.”

This story is the first in a series of stories focusing on 福利亚洲国产精品’s Multifaith Strategic Plan.聽

Their presentation, 鈥淯sing Simulation to Bridge Faith and Health in a Non-Traditional Setting,鈥� highlighted a unique, interdisciplinary approach to simulation design that integrates healthcare, ethics and religious studies. Developed as part of Koonts’ Bridging Faith and Health work, in collaboration with interdisciplinary partners Elon faculty members Brian Pennington and Helen Orr, and supported by Interfaith America, the project addresses a growing need to prepare future nurses to navigate complex patient situations where religious beliefs, patient autonomy and evidence-based practice intersect.

The session showcased a multi-module educational initiative and an accompanying simulation experience designed to foster interprofessional collaboration, communication, and clinical judgment in ethically challenging scenarios. By engaging learners in realistic, non-traditional simulation environments, the project aims to strengthen students鈥� ability to deliver patient-centered care while respecting diverse values and beliefs.

Conference participants responded enthusiastically to the presentation, particularly its emphasis on:

• Addressing moral distress in clinical practice
• Enhancing interprofessional education (IPE)
• Expanding simulation beyond traditional clinical settings
• Promoting culturally and spiritually sensitive care

This work is part of a broader, Interfaith America grant-funded initiative that will continue over the next two years, with plans to expand the simulation model and contribute to the growing body of knowledge in faith-health integration and simulation-based education.

The conference brought together educators and simulation specialists from across the state to explore emerging trends such as artificial intelligence, virtual reality and innovative teaching strategies. Elon鈥檚 contribution reflects the department鈥檚 ongoing commitment to excellence in nursing education, leadership in simulation and preparation of practice-ready graduates.

Pamela Runestad, assistant professor of anthropology, has been named the 2026-2028 Scholar for the Center for the Study of Religion, Culture, and Society (CSRCS). During her term, Runestad will focus on resources for faculty and staff with community engaged experiences in their courses. Additionally, she will help build CSRCS capacity for student research, internships and foster campuswide engagement. Runestad will assume her position on June 1, 2026.

鈥淚’m really excited to bring together expertise from CSRCS and PERCS regarding best practices for class site visits to religious sites so that we have resources for faculty and staff who facilitate community engaged experiences as part of their courses. I hope these will be useful for in-house courses and winter term courses abroad,鈥� Runestad said.

CSRCS Director Brian Pennington says that Runestad鈥檚 鈥渆xpertise in Japan and in medical anthropology will bring new skills and insights to the CSRCS. Her commitments to student learning and to campus culture are well known, and we will be excited to welcome her on board.”

Runestad is a Food Studies faculty member and is a medical anthropologist who began to combine interests in biology, social studies, and culture while teaching in Nagano, Japan, from 2000 to 2006. She moved to Honolulu to study medical anthropology in 2006 and returned to Japan for her doctoral research on HIV/AIDS, supported by Fulbright-Hays and the Crown Prince Akihito Scholarship Foundation, from 2009 to 2013. She is particularly interested in medical narratives, and biocultural aspects of infectious disease, chronic conditions and nutrition.

鈥淎s a medical anthropologist, I’m also excited to contribute to the 鈥楤ridging Faith and Health鈥� microcredential and related conversations about interdisciplinary health and human experience on campus. My own research explores socio-cultural and religious components of maternity clinic strategies to engage patient-clients as the birthrate continues to decline in Japan,鈥� said Runestad. 鈥淪ometimes religious underpinnings of everyday practices are difficult to discern or are more complicated than they appear at first glance. Attending to those underpinnings can make root causes of social issues clearer.鈥�

This year鈥檚 symposium, 鈥淪ensorial Cosmologies and Cultural Resistance in Latin America,鈥� explored聽political strategies, activism, and theoretical interventions聽for combatting cultural homogenization in Latin America and the Caribbean.聽Presenters engaged themes such as religion, cosmology and critical theory; gender justice and eco-feminism; and migration from the global south and racial inequality in the USA.

Seventeen scholars from across the US joined 福利亚洲国产精品 faculty conveners Federico Pous (World Languages and Cultures), Leyla Savloff (Sociology and Anthropology), and Juan Leal Ugalde (World Languages and Cultures) to feature work on counternarratives and cultural resistance offered by Indigenous cosmogony and artistic creation. Presentations included 聽topics such as 鈥淐atholic Feminism and Reproductive Justice in Argentina,鈥� 鈥淩esistance in Apu Kolki Hirka,鈥� 鈥淩evival in the Sikiru Movement,鈥� and 鈥淭rans Migrant Women鈥檚 Spatial Practices in Queens.鈥�

鈥淭he quality of papers presented, and the intellectual conversation we held at the symposium were very stimulating,” said Federico Pous, associate professor of Spanish. “We are currently preparing a dossier for the very well-known journal Acontracorriente, in which most of the participants at the symposium will publish an article on the topic of sensorious cosmologies. I hope to continue organizing academic encounters like this one in the future.鈥�

This year鈥檚 keynote presentation, 鈥淐ontemporary Audiovisuality as a Site of Cosmological Inscription,鈥� was delivered by Ana M. Ochoa, professor of music and ethnomusicology at Tulane University. Her lecture outlined her collaborative work on audio production among indigenous filmmakers in South America.

鈥淭he global politics of migration calls us to think how media, audiovisual and sound technologies are not simply a way to broadcast entertainment, art, or events. They have been part of the fabric of a sensorial cosmological transformation in the make-up of life聽and how we think of it,鈥� said Ochoa. “This is not only the case when, for example, indigenous peoples film聽their myths, or participate in transnational art events to affirm their cultures and聽cosmologies, but also as we trace the historical links between extractivism, the soundscape of life, and audiovisual sensoriums.鈥�

CSRCS Director Brian Pennington emphasized that supporting Elon faculty scholarship is a primary purpose of the symposium.

鈥淪ymposium participants, led by Drs. Savloff and Pous, have already developed a detailed roadmap for publishing these papers, and we are excited about the important collection that will result,” said Pennington.

For more information, visit the On the Edge Symposium webpage.