Heidi Ravven, professor of religious studies, participated with other Ford Foundation grantees in the first meeting of the Progressive Religion and Values Working Group on January 19 at the foundation in New York City. The group, convened by Constance Buchanan, senior program officer for education, sexuality, and religion at Ford, has been asked to explore ways that progressive ideas about religion and values can be communicated more effectively in the media and the public debate. The taskforce is chaired by Karen King (Harvard Divinity School).
Other members of the group are: Leila Ahmed, Harvard Divinity School; Kwame A. Appiah, Princeton University; Daniel Boyarin, University of California, Berkeley; Sheila Davaney, Iliff School of Theology; Heidi Hartmann, Institute for Women's Policy Research; Anne Klein, Rice University; Sharon Kleinbaum, Congregation Beth Simchat Torah; Ebrahim Moosa, Duke University; Elaine Pagels, Princeton University; Manel Vasquez, University of Florida; Abdullah An-Na'im, School of Law, Emory University. The next meeting of the Working Group is slated for some time in the spring.
