Article by Matt Hoffman, Director of the Center for Religion, Spirituality, and Pluralism, Featured in Interfaith America's Online Magazine

"Maryland Students Step Out of Their Comfort Zones and into Authentic Community," written by Matt Hoffman, director of the Center for Religion, Spirituality, and Pluralism, was featured on November 10 in Interfaith America's online magazine.

In the article, Hoffman shared how UMBC is continuing to put interfaith work in action via an Advancing Pluralism grant from Interfaith America. "One of the core themes of this past year in The Gathering Space for Spiritual Well-Being at UMBC has been exploration and newness," explains Hoffman. "As the office rolled out two new programs, Bridge Builders and Interfaith Fellows, it was clear that encouraging students to go outside of their comfort zones could be one way to help shift campus culture and create community through authentic relationships."

The UMBC Bridge Builders Program is co-led by Dr. Ciara Christian, co-director of the Center for Social Justice Dialogue, and is a semester-long program focused on dialogue across differences, related to pressing global issues in religious/spiritual spaces, while the UMBC Interfaith Fellows Program is a stipended year-long fellowship program, with curricular (non-credit) and co-curricular experiences to develop student leaders committed to engaging across religious and spiritual traditions.