Elizabeth Michael Melton

The Institute for Diversity and Civic Life (IDCL) is a non-profit organization based in Austin, TX with a mission to create more inclusive public spaces through storytelling, research, and education. Their current programs focus on oral history and narrative work, including the Religions Texas oral history initiative. The Leading Edge Fellow will join IDCL to contribute to this initiative, a digital public humanities project that explores Texas as a site of religious encounters and a meeting place for people and communities from diverse religious and cultural backgrounds. Religions Texas catalyzes the power of stories to transform – to amplify underrepresented voices, empower Texans to tell their stories on their own terms, and diversify the historical record. The fellow’s primary focus will be curating this archive to maximize public engagement with the Religions Texas initiative and support the public understanding of religious and cultural diversity in Texas.