Bonding and Bridging: An Equilibrium That Matters for Engaging Religious Diversity in a Pluralistic Society

To effectively lead with our religiously diverse national and global communities, colleges and universities must engage practices and conditions that promote student interfaith learning and development. Recent research highlights seemingly divergent factors that both play significant roles to help prepare students for productive engagement across lines of religious and worldview difference. In this article, the authors explore why providing collegiate experiences that offer both spaces and opportunities for students to bond with others of like worldviews as well as bridge relationships across worldviews are important to civic health. They also discuss ways campus educators might incorporate these experiences and highlight a narrative that illustrates the importance of interfaith leadership and development