World Religions, taught by Upper School teacher Benjamin Bollinger-Danielson bases its course fundamentally around speakers representing different religions. Running on 11 years now, these presenters come in to share their own experiences with religion to the students. This speaker series plays a significant role in this class as it not only introduces different religions to the class but allows people to share their firsthand experiences to inspire the students.

“It’s not just what these religions are, but more what it means to be a part of these religious communities that we want the students to understand,” said Bollinger-Danielson.

Bollinger-Danielson coordinates some of the speakers, but the series itself revolves primarily around students bringing in speakers. These speakers range from fellow members to leaders of their own religious communities, many of whom come back each following year.

Recently, for example, Methodist minister Linda Koelman of the North Minneapolis Methodist Church as well as Eric Gibson of the Diamond Way Buddhist Center came in, and in the past a former student, Salwa Drake ‘11, managed to bring in the famous rapper Brother Ali to talk about the impact of Islam on his life.

Bollinger-Danielson said that “these speakers really do well to explain what being a part of their religions mean and how it affects them,” adding more depth to knowledge of a religion than one would receive by simply reading of those practices in the course textbook.

Senior Eduardo Flores stated that the Gibson really “inspired” him. Flores went on to say, “He described that religions are very personal and individual things. He grew up and decided to become a Buddhist during his teenage years because it just fit him, then he went on to found a Buddhist center here in St. Paul.”

World Religions still has many speakers to come, as every semester features around 18 to 20 speakers, while only two have come in so far.