Interfaith Leadership for the 21st Century Workplace Fall 2021 (Archive)

Seminar:

Interfaith Leadership for the

21st Century Workplace

Thursdays, September 30 and October 7

6:30 – 8:00 p.m. in RNS 310

Play Video Fall 2021 Interfaith Leadership for the 21st Century Workplace Seminar

Register today!

According to the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI), most Americans encounter religious diversity at work far more frequently than in other aspects of life. Therefore employers need employees who work effectively with people who hold views different from their own. Navigating religious diversity is critical to the work of diversity, equity, and inclusion yet it is an often-neglected dimension of that work.

To help become adequately prepared for the reality of religiously diverse workplaces students, faculty, and staff are invited to join national interfaith leader Eboo Patel, a member of the Biden-Harris interfaith team and the 2021-22 Fellow with the Lutheran Center, as he leads a four-session interactive seminar about interfaith leadership in the workplace and in all the places where we live out our vocations. Sponsored in part by: the Network for Vocation in Undergraduate Education (NetVUE).

Participants who complete all components of the seminar can include this experience on their resumé! We will list the names of completed participants on a public website that can be directly linked in a resumé (see website with participants from the spring seminar).

Last spring, we offered an inaugural version of this seminar via Zoom and over 100 students, faculty, and staff registered! Below are some testimonies from spring participants on their takeaways from the seminar.

“It made me realize that religion is still very much a taboo subject in the workplace. While we are starting to talk about other forms of diversity, such as racial and ethnic diversity, and LGBTQ+ diversity, religious diversity is still too often left out of the conversation. Having interfaith dialogue in the workplace can create a better more accommodating and more accepting environment for all employees.”

“Learning about how interfaith dialogue or even tension can operate in the workplace was helpful to me as I prepare to enter the workforce soon. Thinking about how interfaith cooperation may be important to my own field of work was also helpful.”

“Working with people of other religions can be as practically challenging as ideologically. It is important that everyone’s lifestyles/traditions are accounted for in an inclusive community.”

Each seminar session will focus on interfaith competencies identified by Patel and Interfaith Youth Core (IFYC). The sessions will also include the following five breakout sessions led by St. Olaf alumni, a Piper Center staff member, and a trained student leader:

Health Care/STEM
Social Impact/Education
Law/Policy/Government
Business
The Arts

Register for the seminar:

Students:

Register to participate in the seminar!

Faculty:

Faculty are invited to register as individuals and are also encouraged to involve their classes.

Please help us promote this seminar to your classes and advisees! Through this seminar, students will have the opportunity not only to learn interfaith skills and leadership but also to engage with Piper Center staff, alumni, and student leaders around applying these skills.

Register to participate in the seminar and/or indicate interest in involving one of your classes!

Staff:

Staff are invited to register as individuals and are also encouraged to promote this seminar to students in their programs and student workers.

Developing interfaith skills is not only important for your student workers in their future professions, but is also important for their work positions at St. Olaf, a 21st century workplace. Two of the expected learning outcomes for student employment at St. Olaf are diversity and preparation for real-world employment (GROW at St. Olaf Outcomes). This seminar will directly address those two outcomes by cultivating knowledge and skills in religious diversity and preparing students for a religiously diverse workforce.

Register to participate in the seminar and indicate interest in involving your students!