Meet an innoFaither is our series to introduce the inspiring optimists in the innoFaith world and what they’re working on and thinking about. We hope it helps you find and engage with each other across the network to advance faith-rooted social innovation and interfaith collaboration for social impact. Or just meet some cool people.
Meet Brie Loskota, new Executive Director of the Martin Marty Center for the Public Understanding of Religion, former Executive Director of the Center for Religion and Civic Culture at USC, co-founder of the American Muslim Civic Leadership Incubator, and many other things. She is a curious and creative champion of pluralism, a deep thinker, and a prolific doer.
What faith(s), if any, do you practice? Is your faith or practice bringing special inspiration or insight for you in this current moment?
I have an eclectic faith background. I was raised Pentecostal; I went to an evangelical high school; I studied religion in college; I went to a Reform Jewish Seminary for grad school; I wrote on Muslim-Jewish relations; I was part of founding a Black Church capacity building program and a Muslim leadership program; and spent a lot of time assessing philanthropic strategy related to Catholic sisters. My values and my community are all drawn from these streams and experiences. I feel at home in many religious settings but do not feel an exclusive sense of belonging to only one.
Where do you live?
I live in Hyde Park Chicago and also in a suburb of Los Angeles.
What's your favorite pastime?
I am happiest when I am snowboarding in Mammoth Mountain, California.
What are you working on currently?
I am working to build the next chapter of the Martin Marty Center for the Public Understanding of Religion at the University of Chicago's Divinity School.
What question are you thinking about these days?
I am thinking about what community organizing looks like when the congregational structures and norms that have underwritten it are under incredible pressure and are shrinking. I want to explore the subset of congregations that have been part of organized Covid response—serving as vaccination and testing sites in particular. What made them interested in and capable of playing that role? Who did they serve and what reasons did people go to those places as opposed to other ones?
I also am interested in the roles that academic centers play in translating scholarship into the public square and how universities can help support this work as forms of actual scholarship and teaching, not just as service. Also, how can we protect the freedom of scholars to contribute to richer conversations in the public square without exposing them to threats, doxxing, and other forms of violence?
How can people find you?
brieloskota.com to see more about my work
Photo by Tarik Trad