Center for the Public Understanding of Religion

Center for the Public Understanding of Religion

The Center for the Public Understanding of Religion (CPUR) was founded in 2012 to promote reasoned dialogue about religion and society and to help create a religiously literate public.  

By means of scholarly conferences, print and online publications, public roundtables, teacher training institutes, a database of local religious communities in Northern California, and a virtual museum, CPUR will explore topics such as the growth of religion on the internet, the role of religion in democratic discourse, and the place of religion in healthcare, corrections, and the military.  

CPUR seeks to provide a forum for the investigation and mapping of local religious communities, together with organizations associated with religious movements and worldviews; it also promotes an educational agenda focused on teaching about religion in the public schools.  The center looks forward to the creation of a post-baccalaureate Certificate in the Public Understanding of Religion, designed to create an expert workforce that is able to help organizations and industry be responsive to religious and secular views and trends.