CD-ROM Looks at World Religions

A Harvard University professor has created a multimedia CD-ROM that she hopes will enliven the study of religion in colleges, high schools and houses of worship.

The CD, “On Common Ground: World Religions in America” (Columbia University Press), is the result of a three-year effort by the Pluralism Project, a research organization funded by the Lily Endowment to examine ways religious diversity is affecting America.

“Pluralism is an achievement, it’s not just a given, and it requires relationship, it requires engagement around a common table, so to speak, of our civic society,” said professor Diana Eck, chairwoman of Harvard’s Committee on the Study of Religion.

Users of the CD can surf through three major sections. In one, “A New Religious Landscape,” they can choose from 18 cities and regions to learn about the religious diversity of each, listed by practice center location--church, mosque, temple. Fifteen religions are profiled in the “America’s Many Religions” section, including Bahaism, Jainism, Zoroastrianism and Buddhism.