The Pluralism Project at The

History, Goals, and Staff

History

    The Pluralism Project at the University of Michigan-Dearborn is a study of religious diversity in southeastern Michigan.  It grows out of the University's affiliation with the Harvard University Pluralism Project. The people of the City of Detroit and its suburbs in Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb counties constitute one of the largest and most important centers of population in the United States.  Much of this population has had a long association with the automotive industry and labor unions which have shaped the area's culture, social life, ethnic composition, politics, and economy. While these factors have significantly influenced the religious landscape of the region, the growing diversity of religious traditions has, in turn, helped to mold Detroit.  The Pluralism Project at the University of Michigan-Dearborn is documenting how these factors have influenced and created one of the most dynamic religious landscapes in the United States today.

    The Pluralism Project was developed by Diana L. Eck at Harvard University to study and document the growing religious diversity in the united States, with a special view to its new immigrant communities.  With the passage of the 1965 Immigration Act, eliminating national origins quotas, groups of people whose entrance had been restricted since the 1920s began to arrive. Today the United States is probably the most religiously diverse nation on earth.  When the Pluralism Project began in 1991, it focused on the changing religious landscape of the Boston metropolitan area.  Since then it has expanded and is now documenting similar patterns across the United States.  The research is providing descriptions of old and new Islamic mosques, Sikh gurdwaras, ethnic Christian churches, Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist temples, and centers of Zoroastrian, Taoist, Baha'i, Native American, Afro-Caribbean, and New Age spirituality.  In addition, the Project is examining how Americans are incorporating this religious diversity into traditional interfaith organizations and responding to it in the context of public institutions, including schools, hospitals, and government.

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Pluralism Project Staff

 Claude F. Jacobs, Ph.D. teaches anthropology in the Department of
 Behavioral Sciences at the University of Michigan-Dearborn.  He is a member
 of the American Anthropological Association, the Anthropology of Religion
 Section of the AAA, the Association of Black Anthropologists, the American
 Academy of Religion, the Latin American Studies Association, and serves on
 the Planning Committee for the Muslim, Christian, Jewish Leadership
 Symposium sponsored by the National Conference for Community and Justice.
 He has written articles on African American religion and is co-author of
 The Spiritual Churches of New Orleans: Origins, Beliefs, and Rituals of an
 African American Religion.  He is the Director of the Pluralism Project at
 the University of Michigan-Dearborn.

 William McNeece, M.A. is Adjunct Lecturer in Sociology in the Department of
 Behavioral Sciences at the University of Michigan-Dearborn. He has written
 and lectured on contemporary religious movements in the United States.  He
 has also done
 ethnographic research as a part of the U.S. Department of Labor Youthwork
 Project.  He has been the treasurer of the Michigan Sociological
 Association and was on the editorial board of the Michigan Sociological
 Review. His photography has been exhibited nationally and he has been the
 photographer for the Detroit Council of the Arts and the Detroit Recreation
 Department Summer Youth Art/Work Program.  Recently he printed Charles
 McGee's photographs for the exhibit "Seeing Seventy" at the Detroit
 Institute of Arts. He is the Director of Photography for the Pluralism
 project at the University of Michigan-Dearborn.

 Hashim Al-Tawil, Ph.D. teaches art history and art at Oakland Community
 College and Henry Ford Community College, and is also Cultural Coordinator
 with the Arab American and Chaldean Council.  An artist with an
 international reputation, his works have been exhibited widely in major
 museums and galleries.  His scholarly research focuses on cultural and
 religious identity in art.  He is a member of the International Art
 Association Bureau, the Art History Association, USA, the Farmington Hills
 Multicultural Multiracial Committee, and serves on the Board of Directors
 of the Greater West Bloomfield Art Council.  He is Associate Director of
 the Pluralism Project at the University of Michigan-Dearborn.

 World Religions in Metropolitan Detroit Photographic Exhibition Consultants:

 Paula A. Drewek, Professor of Humanities and Religious Studies, Macomb
 Community College
 Kurt R. Metzger, Director of the Michigan Metropolitan Information Center,
 Wayne State University
 Kenneth R. Gross, Director, Alfred Berkowitz Gallery, The University of
 Michigan-Dearborn
 Joseph, T. Marks, Curator, Alfred Berkowitz Gallery, The University of
 Michigan-Dearborn

 Supporters:

 The Pluralism project at The University of Michigan-Dearborn
 World Religions in Metropolitan Detroit
 has been made possible with support from:

 The Harvard University Pluralism Project
 The University of Michigan Arts of Citizenship Program
 The University of Michigan-Dearborn Diversity Grants Program
 Mrs. Clover Downs
 Dr. Michael P. Kane
 Mr. Todd Moskovitz
 Dr. Joyce L. Weiss
 Mrs. Sheila Wright