#  Case Studies 

 



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  [### Adding Eid

 ](/adding-eid)Jeff Young, the incoming superintendent of schools in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is asked to add Eid to the public school calendar. What are his options?



 

 

   [### A Call to Prayer

 ](/a-call-to-prayer)As a request to broadcast the call to prayer in the tiny city of Hamtramck, Michigan becomes a matter of public debate, how will city council president Karen Majewski--and the diverse citizens of Hamtramck--respond?



 

 

   [### Center of Dispute

 ](/center-of-dispute)Daisy Khan must navigate a growing crisis when a planned Muslim Community Center becomes known as the "Ground Zero Mosque."



 

 

   [### The "Christmas Tree Crisis" at Sea-Tac Airport

 ](/the-%22christmas-tree-crisis%22-at-sea-tac-airport)After a controversy over the Christmas tree display at Sea-Tac Airport, a Holiday Decorations Advisory Committee is appointed to make a recommendation: what form should next year’s display take?



 

 

   [### The Cross at Wren Chapel

 ](/the-cross-at-wren-chapel)When Gene Nichol, president of the College of William & Mary, removes a cross from the historic chapel it triggers a contentious debate: how to honor tradition and create an inclusive campus?



 

 

   [### Cultivating Change

 ](/cultivating-change)Tom Spencer is the newly-hired CEO of a struggling Austin interfaith organization. With the organization “bleeding money,” is it time to close the doors or take a closer look at the organization’s purpose and brand?



 

 

   [### Driven by Faith

 ](/driven-by-faith)Steve Wareham, an airport director in Minnesota, must respond to conflicting demands of customer service for passengers and religious accommodation for taxi cab drivers.



 

 

   [### Fliers at the Peace Parade

 ](/fliers-at-the-peace-parade)In El Sobrante, California, Pastor Kent Brandenburg distributes fliers at a Sikh parade as an expression of his evangelical Christian faith; to the Sikhs, and some others in El Sobrante, it is an affront.



 

 

   [### The House on Sixth Street

 ](/the-house-on-sixth-street)A house in Cedar Rapids, Iowa is vandalized with anti-Muslim epithets and death threats. How will local citizens respond?



 

 

   [### In Pursuit of Justice

 ](/in-pursuit-of-justice)Rabbi Rachel Cohen, a new rabbi in a wealthy New Jersey congregation, seeks greater accountability for the youth Mitzvah Projects.



 

 

   [### An Invitation to a Tri-Faith Neighborhood

 ](/an-invitation-to-a-tri-faith-neighborhood)Rev. Tim Anderson is asked if the Episcopal Diocese of Nebraska would like to join Jewish and Muslim communities in a groundbreaking Tri-Faith neighborhood in Omaha.



 

 

   [### Invocation or Provocation?

 ](/invocation-or-provocation)Meetings in Chesterfield County, Virginia regularly open with prayers; however, when Cyndi Simpson -- who identifies as a Witch -- asks to deliver an invocation at the Board of Supervisors Meeting, controversy follows.



 

 

   [### A Meditation on Misconduct

 ](/meditation-on-misconduct)When Jessica Bizub, director of the Shambhala Meditation Center of Milwaukee, learns that the spiritual and temporal leader of Shambhala has been accused of misconduct, she must find a path forward amidst “community chaos.”



 

 

   [### A Mosque in Palos Heights

 ](/a-mosque-in-palos-heights)Mayor Dean Koldenhoven knows that most in his small Illinois town oppose the sale of a local church to a Muslim organization. As tensions rise, and the city council approves a “buyout,” Koldenhoven faces a decision.



 

 

   [### A Nomination to Controversy

 ](/a-nomination-to-controversy)When Parvez Ahmed is nominated to the local Human Rights Commission, some allege that the professor has links to terror; others argue this is a matter of “guilt by association.” How will Ahmed -- and other leaders in Jacksonville -- respond?



 

 

   [### A Question of Membership

 ](/a-question-of-membership)Sherry Chayat Roshi, who identifies as both Jewish and as a Buddhist leader, asks Rabbi Sheldon Ezring if she and her family can become members at Syracuse’s historic Temple Concord.



 

 

   [### Showing Up for Shabbat

 ](/showing-up-for-shabbat)After the murders at the Tree of Life Synagogue, a national Jewish organization announces an interfaith “Show Up for Shabbat” event. Rabbi Joel Sisenwine questions the value of an interfaith event when his community is seeking safety and security.



 

 

   [### A Sign of Division

 ](/a-sign-of-division)Moments before a youth-organized interfaith event, Rabbi Barry Starr is asked to remove a sign supporting Israel from the synagogue lobby.



 

 

   [### Sister Mary and the Muslim Doctors

 ](/sister-mary-and-the-muslim-doctors)Sister Mary is approached by three doctors at Avera McKennan Hospital with a unique request: could the hospital assist in securing space for a Muslim Community Center?



 

 

   [### Swastikas at School

 ](/swastikas-at-school)After swastika graffiti is found at the Pierce Middle School, Principal Karen Spaulding’s first steps are a matter of district protocol: document, report, investigate, and punish those responsible. But her next steps are less clear.



 

 

   [### Trouble in Troy

 ](/trouble-in-troy)Padma Kuppa, a local Hindu resident of Troy, Michigan, challenges her exclusion from the town’s National Day of Prayer observance.



 

 

   [### A Young Imam in the American Midwest

 ](/a-young-imam-in-the-american-midwest)With ongoing violence in the name of Islam, rising rhetoric against Muslims and refugees, and isolation in the American Muslim community, Imam Hassan Selim faces a grueling schedule of inreach and outreach in his Midwestern community.