We don’t need no religion education, or do we?

Last updated on: August 29, 2014 at 1:31 pm by Bobby Ross Jr.

We don’t need no religion education, or do we? 2014-08-29T13:31:50-04:00 Bobby Ross Jr.

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I’m on the road this week, sunburned and tuckered out.

So rather than do a normal GetReligion critique, I’m going to ask a couple of journalism questions that are related to what we do here.

First question: Do you know any journalists who could benefit from advanced study of religion?

If so, I have terrific news. The Religion Newswriters Association invites journalists to apply to its Lilly Scholarships in Religion Program. According to an RNA news release, the scholarships give full-time journalists up to $5,000 to take any college religion courses at any accredited institution at any time.

What a deal!

More from the news release:

Religion headlines are dominating news coverage—politics, religion, Islam in America — now is the perfect time to dig deeper into today’s hottest stories. More than 290 people have already taken advantage of RELIGION | NEWSWRITERS’ Lilly Scholarships in Religion Program for Journalists.

Topics reporters have studied include: Religion & Politics in the 20th Century and Beyond, God & Politics, Buddhism in the Modern World, Politics of International Religious Freedom, Religion and Social Justice, Violence and Liberation, Muslim-Christian Relations in World History and many more.

“The courses led to dozens of story ideas and new resources. I came out a sharper researcher and writer, two benefits I was not expecting going in,” said Eric Marrapodi of CNN who took four Lilly scholarship courses in three years at Georgetown University.

The scholarships can be used at accredited colleges, universities, seminaries or similar institutions.

Read on for more info.

Journalists can choose any religion, spirituality or ethics course. Scholarships cover tuition, books, registration fees, parking and other course-related costs. Online and travel classes are also eligible (as long as travel costs are part of the curriculum).

All full-time journalists working in the general circulation news media — including reporters, editors, designers, copy editors, editorial writers, news directors, researchers and producers — are eligible, regardless of their beat.

The next scholarship application deadline is July 1, 2014. Scholarships must be used within three months of their award date.

Second question: Is there too little good news about religion in the mainstream media?

This tweet passed along by a reader inspired me to contemplate that question:

Sick of bad religion news? @HuffPostRelig is looking for 100 stories of #ReligionDoingGood Tweet us a link to your group helping the world!

— HuffPost Religion (@HuffPostRelig) May 29, 2014

Got an opinion? By all means, share it in the comments section.

Lilly Scholarships Religion Program in Journalism

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