Harvard Professor Diana Eck urges graduates to embrace religious pluralism in the U.S. and our world today, at 138th Berea College Commencement today

5/23/2010

Speaking at Berea College’s 138th Commencement today, Dr. Diana Eck, Professor of Comparative Religion and Indian Studies at Harvard University, urged those graduating to become bridge builders in the religious landscape that makes the “Christian” nation of the United States the most religiously diverse country in the world today. “Your challenge is to navigate the swift currents and treacherous waters of religious differences,” said Dr. Eck, and to embrace the new religious pluralism in our country that she called “a tribute to our Constitution.” To do so, she said, means an “energetic engagement” with different faiths; “an active seeking of understanding” of those faiths; and “dialogue, listening and learning while holding fast to your own deepest beliefs.”

Eck, whose research includes extensive study of America’s religious diversity
made her remarks prior to the awarding of degrees to 195 seniors. An additional 33 seniors also took part in today’s exercises who are expected to complete requirements for degrees by Sept. 1 or upon completion of a 3-2 engineering program.

Dr. Eck also was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Berea College.

Awards were presented to two graduates and three College faculty and staff members at the ceremonies. Each year, Berea College presents the Wood Achievement Awards to a top male and female in the graduating class who “have achieved outstanding scholarship and have made excellent contributions to the life of the College.” In the class of 2010, the Hilda Welch Wood Award for outstanding achievement by a female student went to Meiping Sun, of Laiyang, China, who received a bachelor of arts degree with a triple major in economics, mathematics and biology. The T.J. Wood Award for outstanding achievement by a male graduate was given to Mohammed Yusuf of Dhaka, Bangladesh, who received a bachelor of arts degree with a double major in physics and mathematics.

Berea’s highest faculty honor, the Seabury Award for Excellence in Teaching, was given to Dr. Barbara Wade, professor of English. Dr. Wade holds a bachelor’s degree from Baylor University, M.A. from the University of Tennessee and Ph.D. from Washington University. She has been a member of the Berea faculty for 33 years. Dr. Fred de Rosset, professor of Spanish in the Department of Foreign Languages and a member of the Berea faculty since 1975, was this year’s recipient of the Paul C. Hager Award for Excellence in Advising. The 2010 Elizabeth Perry Miles Award for Community Service was presented to Melissa Osborne, senior administrative assistant in the Academic Vice President and Provost’s Office, for her compassionate activities on behalf of others on campus and beyond during life’ significant moments – whether a birth, a crisis, or the death of a loved one – for more than 30 years, and for generating community support of blood drives, food drives and other opportunities for service.

Earlier in the day, Rev. Clifford Cain, Professor of Philosophy and Religion at Franklin College, spoke at the Sunday morning Baccalaureate Service held at 10:30 a.m. in Phelps Stokes Chapel.

The day’s other public events included the Nurses Pinning Service at 8 a.m. in Union Church and a reception at 4 p.m. on the College quadrangle for graduates and guests.

Diana L. Eck has taught at Harvard University for more than 30 years. In addition to her current position of Professor of Comparative Religion and Indian Studies in the College of Arts and Sciences, she also serves on the faculty of the Harvard Divinity School.

Her work on India includes the books “Banaras, City of Light,” (1983) and “Darsan: Seeing the Divine Image in India” (1982). Her other focus has been on the challenges of religious pluralism in a multi-religious society. Her book “Encountering God: A Spiritual Journey from Bozeman to Banaras” (1993) explores issues of Christian faith in a world of many faiths and, more broadly, the issues of religious diversity that challenge people of every faith. “Encountering God” won the 1994 Melcher Book Award of the Unitarian Universalist Association and the 1995 Louisville Grawemeyer Book Award in Religion, given for work that reflects a significant breakthrough in our understanding of religion.

In 1991, Eck launched the Pluralism Project to document and interpret the growing presence of the Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, Sikh, Jain, and Zoroastrian communities in the U.S. The research project has involved students and professors at Harvard and in a dozen affiliated colleges and universities in research on America’s new religious landscape. Eck’s most recent book, “A New Religious America: How a ‘Christian Country’ Has Become the World’s Most Religiously Diverse Nation,” (2001) addresses the challenges for the United States of the more complex religious landscape of the post-1965 period of renewed immigration.

In 1998, Eck received the National Humanities Medal from President Clinton and the National Endowment for the Humanities for her work on American religious pluralism. In 2002, she received the American Academy of Religion Martin Marty Award for the Public Understanding of Religion, and in 2003, received the Governor’s Humanities Award from the Montana Council for the Humanities in her home state of Montana.

Over her career, Eck also has worked closely with churches on issues of interreligious relations, including her own United Methodist Church and the World Council of Churches. She is currently chair of the Interfaith Relations Commission of the National Council of Churches.

Eck received her B.A. from Smith College, M.A. from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, and her Ph.D. from Harvard University.

Rev. Clifford Cain is a theologian, teacher, and a minister whose clergy credentials are recognized by the American Baptist Churches, USA, the Disciples of Christ, and the Presbyterian traditions. He has served on the faculty at Franklin College since 1981. In 2002-2003, he was the Visiting Lilly Professor of Religion at Berea College. Rev. Cain was educated at Muskingum University, Princeton Theological Seminary, Vanderbilt University and Rikkyo University in Tokyo, Japan, Rev. Cain holds doctorates in theology and in environmental studies.

Berea, the South’s first interracial and coeducational college, focuses on learning, labor, and service. Berea charges no tuition, admitting only academically promising students, primarily from Appalachia, who have limited economic resources. All students must work 10 hours weekly, earning money for books, room and board. Graduates from Berea go on to distinguish themselves and the College in many fields, living out the College’s motto “God has made of one blood all peoples of the earth.”

CONTACT:

Tim Jordan, director
Berea College Public Relations (859) 985-3028