Institute for Comparative Religion in Southern Africa,Dept. of Religious Studies, University of Cape Town, South Africa

ERB Related Activities
In addition to developing resources for the study of religions and reconfiguring the study of religion from a southern African perspective, ICRSA has developed applied research projects in religion education by negotiating national policy, providing materials for teachers, conducting workshops, and participating in the International Network for Interreligious and Intercultural Education.

With funding from the National Research Foundation (formerly, the Centre for Science Development), the Education Development Trust, the University Research Committee, and publications, ICRSA has undertaken two major projects:

(1) the Comparative Religion Project, which has produced a database on religions of South Africa, a three-volume annotated bibliography, a history of comparative religion in southern Africa, and case studies on the production, interpretation, and contestation of sacred space in southern Africa;

(2) the Religion and Public Education Project, which has produced a widely-distributed report on policy options, a teacher-training manual, and textbooks, and has conducted pilot projects in local schools and teacher-training colleges to develop new programmes and materials for religion education. In addition to academic and action research, ICRSA has sponsored public lectures, seminars, community workshops, and occasional publications.