3 The RETOPEA clippings collection
The approach which RETOPEA has taken to engaging young people with issues around religious toleration is based on using what have been called ‘clippings’. Between 2018 and 2020, the RETOPEA project team curated a collection of around 400 clippings — short text extracts, images and videos. They cover a wide range of national and regional contexts, and historical periods, including contemporary material. Each clipping aims to provide some context for the source in question, and also some questions to stimulate reflection and discussion. To make navigation of the collection easier, the clippings are grouped into twelve themes, each of which has its own short introduction.
The primary purpose of the clippings is not to teach young people about history in the conventional way, but rather to stimulate them to think about the past for themselves. They are not overloaded with detailed background information, as instead they should be used as a resource of potential new ideas relevant to the challenges and opportunities presented by religious diversity in the present.
Activity 3
Now spend some time – up to 30 minutes – browsing the Religious Toleration and Peace clippings collection, and familiarising yourself with the various themes and some of the individual clippings that attract your interest. You might like to try searching for clippings that relate to a religion you are particularly interested in, one of the twelve themes that engages your attention, a specific time period, or your own country, city or region.
Identify and note in the text box below up to five clippings that you think will be of interest to your group. In the next section you will consider further how best to present them to young people.
Religious Toleration and Peace clippings [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)]
To avoid losing your place in the course, you should open the link in a new tab or window by holding down Ctrl (or Cmd on a Mac) when you click on it. If you are studying on a mobile device hold down the link and select to ‘Open in New Tab’. Return here when you have finished.