{"id":1842,"date":"2026-11-13T12:39:18","date_gmt":"2026-11-13T12:39:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/spiritualparent.org\/?p=1842"},"modified":"2026-11-13T12:39:18","modified_gmt":"2026-11-13T12:39:18","slug":"through-the-lens-of-pluralism-how-one-diverse-maryland-campus-is-using-photography-to-bridge-religious-divides","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spiritualparent.org\/?p=1842","title":{"rendered":"Through the Lens of Pluralism: How One Diverse Maryland Campus is Using Photography to Bridge Religious Divides"},"content":{"rendered":"

BALTIMORE<\/strong> \u2014 At a crowded conference table with fellow University of Maryland students and campus leaders, Keven Guruswamy carefully lifted a photograph of his personal bookshelf. Displayed neatly across the wooden slats was his collection of Bibles, some bound in Tamil, others in English. Some he had acquired on his own, while others were cherished gifts, including one from his late grandmother. <\/p>\n

For Guruswamy, a senior psychology major and Seventh-day Adventist, the image captured more than just books; it represented a lifelong education. Growing up in a religiously mixed family that included both Hindus and Christians, he said, introduced him early on to "the beauty of interfaith cooperation."<\/p>\n

That photograph was just one of many brought to a two-day retreat in mid-October as part of "Picturing Pluralism," a semester-long photography and dialogue project. The initiative brought together roughly 30 students and 10 faculty and staff members from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC). Designed to foster meaningful connections in a national political climate that has often felt fraught and polarized for college students, the program aims to build bridges across faith lines on a remarkably diverse campus.<\/p>\n

Faculty members interviewed for this report describe UMBC as one of the most religiously diverse campuses in the United States, pointing to a vibrant student culture that spans multiple Christian denominations, Islamic traditions, Jewish movements, Sikh communities, and Dharmic groups. Organizers and participants note that student-led organizations have recently hosted diverse gatherings ranging from Muslim women\u2019s fellowships and Sikh cultural festivals to queer Orthodox Jewish meetups and South Asian Christian organizations.<\/p>\n

Yet the university, founded in the 1960s and currently enrolling approximately 13,530 students, operates without some of the traditional religious infrastructure found at older or larger institutions. According to Matt Hoffman, director of the campus Center for Religion, Spirituality and Pluralism, UMBC lacks a formal campus chapel. Because dedicated spaces for prayer and religious practice are limited, multiple faith communities must share the same physical facilities.<\/p>\n

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On Fridays, the multi-use hall managed by the Center for Religion, Spirituality and Pluralism becomes a bustling microcosm of this shared existence. Muslim students roll out prayer mats and erect temporary dividers for gender-separated prayers, while Catholic students gather nearby for rosary sessions and worship music, and Jewish students prepare for Shabbat dinners and evening services. <\/p>\n

Lisa Huberman, the social action engagement associate at UMBC Hillel, often arrives on Friday afternoons to help students set up their Sabbath gatherings just as Muslim prayers are concluding in the same room. <\/p>\n

"It\u2019s very much like a delicate dance," Huberman said. "Even just basic functions of existing, even in a mundane way, we\u2019re always negotiating. But it also means there is an opportunity to encounter difference in close proximity at UMBC."<\/p>\n

This intricate dance takes place against a backdrop of heightened national tension, as college campuses across the country remain flashpoints in broader disputes over identity, free speech, and inclusion. Just days before the photography retreat began, students on campus held vigils to honor the victims of the October 7, 2023, attacks in Israel and to protest the devastating war in Gaza that followed.<\/p>\n

While organizers acknowledged feeling sensitive to these intense political and emotional dynamics, they also stressed that they had prepared thoroughly for potential conflicts. Rather than running from these tensions, Huberman and Hoffman said they have come to view the close proximity of diverse groups as a unique educational opportunity.<\/p>\n

"The next level," Hoffman said, "is to ask, ‘What do we do with the diversity?’"<\/p>\n

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Enter \u201cPicturing Pluralism\u201d<\/h3>\n

"Picturing Pluralism" is a collaborative partnership between UMBC\u2019s Center for Religion, Spirituality and Pluralism and Interfaith Photovoice, an organization that pairs amateur photography with structured, facilitated dialogue to bridge religious, spiritual, and cultural divides.<\/p>\n

Joshua Polanski, director of engagement for Interfaith Photovoice, noted that his organization has successfully implemented its programs across diverse multicultural communities in places ranging from Michigan and Texas to Oman and Pakistan, working everywhere from corporate boardrooms to higher education institutions.<\/p>\n

The primary objective, according to visual sociologist and Interfaith Photovoice founder Roman R. Williams, is to "take someone that is maybe even barely an acquaintance and shift that relationship into something where they\u2019re gaining knowledge."<\/p>\n

The UMBC retreat was intentionally scheduled during the university\u2019s fall break, a time when the heavily commuter-oriented campus grows unusually quiet. Inside the familiar multi-use hall\u2014the same space typically utilized for weekly religious services\u2014participants gathered in small circles of five or six people. They brought personal photographs capturing prayer practices, meaningful objects, landscapes, or relationships, and used them to anchor deep discussions around belief, belonging, and the barriers they face on campus.<\/p>\n

The structure of the dialogue was disciplined and intentional. Each participant spoke for four uninterrupted minutes while the rest of the small group listened. Afterward, group members asked thoughtful questions, giving the speaker ample time to reflect before offering a response.<\/p>\n

Although many students initially appeared hesitant to share personal details with virtual strangers, the atmosphere shifted as the conversations progressed. Voices grew louder and more enthusiastic, and several participants became visibly emotional as they offered vulnerable reflections on their identities.<\/p>\n

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A Palestinian-American student shared a powerful self-portrait exploring her sense of self during an extraordinarily difficult historical moment, explaining that she had spent years feeling "too Palestinian to be American, or too American to be Palestinian."<\/p>\n

For Guruswamy, the exercise represented a meaningful evolution from "cultural competence" toward "cultural humility." The process, he said, "allows you the opportunity to be humble with one another."<\/p>\n

Onkarpreet Kaur, a second-year microbiology student, shared a photograph of the kara she has worn continuously for six years. The circular steel or iron bracelet is one of the five articles of faith traditionally required in Sikhism. Kaur explained that while the circular shape symbolizes continuity, it also serves as a poignant reminder of the physical distance she sometimes feels from her faith as a member of the diaspora, living far from the historic center of Sikhi in Punjab, India. Having kept the same bracelet for years because she does not know where to purchase a replacement near campus, she looks to it for grounding.<\/p>\n

"It just reminds me of my values," Kaur said. "It helps me get to the right path."<\/p>\n

Fatima Hafeez, a second-year political science student, contributed a photograph of St. Peter\u2019s Basilica in Vatican City. She described being deeply moved by the intense devotion of the Catholic pilgrims who traveled there, drawing a direct parallel to the Islamic pilgrimages of Hajj and Umrah, which she has experienced herself.<\/p>\n

"I love to hear what people think, how they process things," Hafeez said. "It\u2019s really easy to group people together," she added, noting that listening to personal stories serves as an essential reminder that "everyone is a human with their own individual experience."<\/p>\n

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The Impact<\/h3>\n

The retreat left a lasting impression on students from a wide variety of backgrounds. Duncan Winger, a second-year student designing an interdisciplinary course of study around holistic learning, said the experience transformed how he viewed everyday interactions across campus.<\/p>\n

Listening to a fellow participant describe the spiritual practice of praying while taking a daily walk opened Winger\u2019s eyes. Growing up in an atheist family and identifying as agnostic, Winger realized he could pass a stranger on a campus pathway without having any inkling of their profound internal life.<\/p>\n

That recognition, Winger said, "opens up empathy." It also taught him that he did not need to possess a comprehensive academic understanding of another person\u2019s religion before engaging with them in conversation. "I can still ask and be curious," he noted.<\/p>\n

Velma Funebe, a senior public health major, said the project caused her to rethink how she communicates her Christian faith. While she occasionally shares written reflections on religion and spirituality on LinkedIn, the retreat made her wonder if photography might offer a richer medium for expression. "I think people can take so much from just a picture," she said.<\/p>\n

At the same time, broader sociopolitical realities were never far from the surface. As the Trump administration\u2019s mass deportation agenda has impacted cities nationwide, some students born outside the United States remained cautious about being interviewed or photographed. Several participants shared photographs and explanations that subtly touched upon questions of immigration status and underlying fears.<\/p>\n

Whether these encounters will translate into lasting institutional change remains an open question, and organizers are quick to admit that photography alone is not a cure-all for campus polarization. <\/p>\n

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However, Abdul Samad Amjad, a Photovoice facilitator and community-based participatory research scholar born in Pakistan who now lives in Ohio, argued that the methodology gives participants an active role in diagnosing problems and envisioning solutions.<\/p>\n

"There are different stories being told," Amjad said. "But at the end, what I\u2019d realize, there is always this story of us, that collective story. Our shared humanity gets represented there."<\/p>\n

On the second day of the retreat, participants began the collaborative task of transforming their individual narratives into a joint public exhibition. Each student selected a single photograph they felt was essential, and the group evaluated the collective collection to identify any missing perspectives before writing accompanying captions.<\/p>\n

The resulting exhibition is scheduled to open on December 2 in UMBC\u2019s Albin O. Kuhn Library and Gallery, showcasing the students\u2019 collective reflections on belonging, unmet campus needs, and the type of inclusive community they hope to build moving forward.<\/p>\n

"My dream is that these spaces can be more beyond campus, too, and that we can all be more interconnected, to just be human with each other in rooms, across difference," Winger said.<\/p>\n

For Kaur, the transformation is already tangible. She arrived at UMBC uncertain about how people holding vastly different beliefs could manage to live alongside one another. Today, some of those very people are among her closest friends.<\/p>\n

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"We are living in the same space with different beliefs," Kaur said. "We coexist, but we are not blending with each other. We have our own identity, and it is so beautiful."<\/p>\n

While Williams cautioned against viewing these initial breakthroughs as definitive proof that photography can erase deep-seated societal divisions, he remains confident in the power of sustained human connection. Building authentic relationships, he emphasized, is a slow and deliberate process.<\/p>\n

"It\u2019s a theory of change, but we see it happen," Williams said. "Sometimes in very small ways."<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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