How Religious Literacy Builds Global Competence And Civic Skills

In this episode of the Arizona Civics Podcast, host Liz Evans is joined by Dr. Tim Hall, educator and founder of Religion Matters, for a thoughtful conversation on religious literacy—what it is, why it matters, and how it can be taught responsibly in public schools. Dr. Hall explains how religious literacy helps students better understand history, civic life, global affairs, and one another in a pluralistic democracy. The conversation explores constitutional guardrails, classroom strategies, and trusted resources for educators who want to approach religion academically, not devotionally. What You’ll Learn What religious literacy means in a public school context Why religion is essential to understanding history, civics, and global issues How religious literacy supports global competence and civic engagement Constitutional guidelines for teaching about religion in K–12 classrooms The Six-Point Framework and the “lived religion” approach Why the Scopes Trial still matters nearly 100 years later Trusted, classroom-ready resources for educators Resources & Links Mentioned in the Episode Core Religious Literacy & Civics Resources National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) – Religious Studies Companion to the C3 Framework https://www.socialstudies.org First Amendment Center – Guidelines for Teaching About Religion https://www.freedomforum.org American Academy of Religion (AAR) – Definition of Religious Literacy https://www.aarweb.org Pew Research Center – Religion & Public Life https://www.pewresearch.org/religion Teaching & Curriculum Resources Tanbaum Center for Interreligious Understanding https://tanbaumcenter.org Harvard Divinity School – Religion and Public Life https://rpl.hds.harvard.edu Religion & Education Collaborative https://religionandeducationcollaborative.org Religion Matters (Dr. Tim Hall) https://religionmatters.org Global Competence Resources World Savvy https://www.worldsavvy.org Asia Society – Center for Global Education https://asiasociety.org/education Project Zero (Harvard Graduate School of Education) https://pz.harvard.edu Historical & Civic References The Scopes Trial (1925) – Religion, science, and public education Declaration of Independence – Religious influences on the Founders First Amendment Religion Cases – Including cases related to the Pledge of Allegiance The Arizona Constitution Project Check Out Our Free Lessons on Arizona History and Government! Follow us on: Twitter Linked In Instagram Facebook YouTube Website Interested in a Master's Degree? Check out the School of Civic and Economic Leadership's Master's in Classical Liberal Education and Leadership