Religion, the Arts, and Social Change

Diane L. Moore is the Associate Dean for Religion and Public Life (RPL) and a lecturer on religion, conflict, and peace at Harvard Divinity School (HDS); a senior fellow at the Center for the Study of World Religions; and a faculty affiliate of the Middle East Initiative and the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation. She focuses her research on enhancing the public understanding of religion from the lens of critical theory. In her role as Associate Dean for RPL, she oversees the Religion, Conflict, and Peace Initiative and the Religious Literacy and the Professions Initiative. She collaborated with colleagues at Oxfam on the Religious Literacy and Humanitarian Action Research Project, which was funded by the Henry Luce Foundation. She also served on a task force at the US State Department in the Office of Religion and Global Affairs in the Obama Administration to enhance training about religion for Foreign Service officers and other State Department personnel. In 2021, Moore was invited by the Vatican to serve on a four person team of international scholars to consult on drafting the vision statement for the University of Meaning, a new project initiated by Pope Francis. Her book Overcoming Religious Illiteracy: A Cultural Studies Approach to the Study of Religion in Secondary Education was published by Palgrave in 2007. She serves on the editorial boards of the journals CrossCurrents and Religion and Education. Moore has received several commendations for outstanding teaching from Harvard Extension School and in 2014 she received the Petra T. Shattuck Excellence in Teaching Award. In 2014 she also received the Griffiths award from the Connecticut Council for Interfaith Understanding for her work promoting the public understanding of religion. In 2005–06 she was one of two professors chosen by HDS students as HDS Outstanding Teacher of the Year.