Kezevino Aram

Kezevino (Vinu) Aram serves as a Co-Moderator and Executive Committee Member of Religions for Peace. She previously served as Member of the International Youth Committee of Religions for Peace. Aram is a Child Health Practitioner and Director of Shanti Ashram in Coimbatore, India.

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Palwasha L. Kakar

Palwasha L. Kakar is the interim director for religion and inclusive societies at the U.S. Institute of Peace. Kakar joined USIP after four years with the Asia Foundation, where she was the Afghanistan director for women’s empowerment and development. Prior to joining the foundation, Kakar led the Gender Mainstreaming and Civil Society Unit in the […]

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Ethnographic Religion Reporting

When asked to make predictions about newswriting for 2021, Kevin D. Grant, co-founder & chief development officer of the nonprofit news organization GroundTruth Project, forecasted the end of “parachute journalism.” For both practical and ideological reasons, Grant believed the practice of sending journalists into a community they are unfamiliar with to tell a story after traveling […]

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Reporting on New Religious Movements (NRMs)

“New Religious Movement” is one of those tricky, catch-all terms that can refer to lots of different communities, including ones that have very little in common. Broadly, a New Religions Movement (NRM) is a religious group that came into existence more recently (typically somewhere around the 19th century or later). Other terms include alternative spiritualities, […]

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Reporting on Modern Paganism

In June 2022, after a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Circle Sanctuary’s Pagan Spirit Gathering (PSG) was back at the Pulaski County Fort Leonard Wood Shrine Camp in Waynesville, Missouri. Featuring daily concerts, ritual workshops and scores of pagan vendors offering sacred art, jewelry, magickal tools, drums, altar paraphernalia, candles, psychic readings, […]

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Heather Choate Davis

Heather Choate Davis is a writer, musician and theologian based in the Los Angeles area. She is co-creator of Concordia Seminary’s annual Faith and Film Festival, a gathering to screen and ponder Christian themes in contemporary cinema.

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Patricia Karpas

Patricia Karpas is co-founder of Meditation Studio, a mindfulness meditation app. She is also the host of Untangle, Meditation Studio’s original podcast that shares stories from experts and thought leaders about how mindfulness practices change us. She is a former media executive at CNBC, NBC and AOL.

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