Exploring Culture Through Religion

Seabury Middle School students embarked on a virtual trip around the world this Spring semester via a study of World Religions and Culture. We've spent time learning about what makes up a person's culture, from the obvious things like nationality or food, to less obvious things like being a Girl Scout or traditions in our families. Students created "culture boxes" using magazine clippings to visualize their personal culture on the outside of shoeboxes. Inside they placed "artifacts" from their personal lives. We presented our culture boxes orally to practice our public speaking skills. This week we moved into a discussion of religion as an element of culture. Students explored religion as a concept and attempt to define the difference between religion and spirituality. Today's class involved a comparison of creation stories from the five major religions (Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, and Hinduism) as well as religions from several Native American and African nations. We are excited to begin visiting some of our neighborhood places of religion, beginning next week with a stop to the local Buddhist Temple!