What efforts are being made to ensure that "The Religious State of the 918" is appropriately diverse and inclusive?
Answer
The informal advisory committee for the project will allow for inclusion of multiple perspectives at the planning stage. The number of participants in the panel discussion is limited to six because of budget restrictions, but a concerted effort is being made to ensure that the panel is as diverse as possible given that limitation. We have tentative plans to include Catholic and Protestant Christian churches, a Buddhist temple, a mosque, probably a synagogue, and possibly others in our tours. Plans for the spring symposium are less well developed at this point, but it is hoped that it will include additional perspectives. (We hope that in at least one part of the project, we can include secular voices and perspectives of neo-pagan and other lesser known religious groups.)