ABOUT ME
Chris Murray Jr. is a National Board-Certified Social Studies Teacher in Montgomery County MD, where
he has taught over 1,000 high school students in World Religions. In the summer of 2016 Chris launched
“Religious Literacy for Educators,” becoming the first school district in the USA to offer a professional
development program of this type. Chris’ work in religious literacy education has been profiled in the
Washington Post, on CBS News, and has led to invitations to speak with the US Department of
Education, US Department of State, and the White House. Chris has an MA in Holocaust Studies, MEd in
Special Education, MS in Curriculum Design and Instruction, and BA in History (Education & Asian
Studies).
ABOUT THE PROGRAM
This course provides K-12 educators and other personnel of school systems working with students with a solid foundation in the diverse religious landscape of the American school system and the tools and skills needed to apply such knowledge into their schools to create a safe and respectful school environment. Increased knowledge about religion enables educators to recognize religious identities and understand how students might want, or not want, those identities to be acknowledged in the classroom. This 10-week course will dive deep into the lived religious traditions present in schools and address the misconceptions and fears that feed the recent spikes in identity-based bullying in our
schools.
Start Date: February 14, 2022
• 10-week asynchronous online course (ending April 22, 2022)
• Bi-weekly synchronous check-in’s will be held throughout the course
• Guest speakers
This course costs $600, and includes an earned micro-credential.
Charles C. Haynes, Senior Fellow For Religious Freedom
"Religious Literacy for Educators" is essential for classroom teachers charged with the mission of helping students learn what it means to live in a pluralistic democracy. Religious literacy combats fear and ignorance, the root causes of hate and division. Can we live with our deepest differences? In this course, teachers get valuable tools for answering this vital question.
Dr. Richa Agarwala, Outreach Coordinator Chinmaya Mission Washington Regional Center
"Since the inception of the Religious Literacy for Educators course, I have had the pleasure of hosting (except during the pandemic), interacting with, and teaching Hinduism to hundreds of educators where the information was presented in a simple way and cleared a lot of misconceptions about Hinduism prevalent in the West.
William Aiken, Consultant on Global and Peace Issues
"I've had the pleasure of working on behalf of the local Buddhist community with Christopher Murray and the Montgomery Co Public Schools religious literacy program. It provided the Buddhist communities an opportunity to better support their children by helping these teachers grasp the culture, values and practices of their Buddhist students and to get a first-hand experience of some of their customs.
