Stories of Social Change: Spirituality in Action

A global team of journalists and researchers at the University of Southern California produced more than 100 stories about people dedicated to working for positive social change as part of the Spiritual Exemplars Project.

Often underreported and unseen, spiritual impulses can move individuals and communities toward justice, equality and compassion.

This website presents video and audio that accompanied an exhibition based on the Spiritual Exemplars Project. 

The exhibit was on display at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism in Fall 2023.

You can still engage in the materials below, including:

• A playlist of music by people featured in the exhibit,
• Multimedia elements that were linked to through QR codes throughout the exhibit,
• Videos of the exhibit
• A panel of three exemplars from the exhibit event
• Exhibit catalogue

The “Stories of Social Change: Spirituality in Action” exhibit is no longer available for touring, but you can still engage in the multimedia materials below, which were linked to through QR codes throughout the exhibit.

The exhibit is presented in three parts, which can be navigated to through this page’s menu:

• Exemplars
• Spirituality
• In Action

We also have videos of the exhibit and a playlist of music by people featured in the exhibit.

Don’t miss the panel of three exemplars from the exhibit event below, and if you’re interested in learning more, you can view an exhibit catalogue featuring all the exhibit assets, which are available for presentation.

Video Tour

Musical Playlist

Listen to music by people featured in the exhibit while touring the exhibit or at home.

Apple Music
YouTube

The portraits displayed in the banners capture some of the 104 “Spiritual Exemplars” profiled by a team of journalists and researchers. You can explore their stories in this map.

Map application developed by: Bay Park Data Solutions

How to use the map: Scroll through the list and select “more details” to read about the person or access the full story. Or select a point on the map with a single click. You can use the buttons on the top of the map to filter by faith, expertise, country, region, age, race/ethnicity and gender.

What is a spiritual exemplar?

The stories of the spiritual exemplars in the map were collected as part of the USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture’s global project on engaged spirituality, which took place from 2018-2023. CRCC defined a Spiritual Exemplar as:

• A living individual located anywhere in the world
• Inspired and sustained by spiritual values, beliefs or practices
• Significant impact that advances human flourishing
• Admired and emulated by others within and beyond their community
• Respects human rights, such as those defined by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Journalists often spent a week — or multiple Zoom calls during the pandemic — with an individual, their organization and community in order to understand what drives them to work for the benefit of others, often in the face of insurmountable obstacles.

Who are the exemplars?

Forty-two countries are represented in our sample, along with 13 different faith traditions. While our sample is skewed toward humanitarians from the United States, in part because the COVID-19 pandemic limited travel, well over half are from outside the US. Nearly 20 percent are from Africa, 12 percent from Asia, 12 percent from Europe, about 9 percent are from the Middle East and Caucasus, and 8 percent are from Latin America. Overall, slightly less than a quarter of the people profiled were white/European, and almost a quarter were Black/African.

On gender and age, we also have a good distribution. Fifty-seven percent of the exemplars were women. More than half are between 30 and 60 years of age. We initially speculated there might be more men than women, and that the sample would skew older than it did, since exemplars are often recognized later in life. The group includes both a Nobel Prize winner as well as little known figures, working day in and day out to improve their communities.

In the act of responding to a human need, one is drawn into a deeper understanding of religion and moral values. Religion can inspire people to engage in humanitarian work. It can sustain them when facing difficult issues. The work also can transform the individual and affect their understanding of theology, spirituality and humanitarianism.

On this page, explore how humanitarians and activists draw on the traditions of Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, Humanism, Indigenous beliefs and more.

Read more about “engaged spirituality”

Banner Legend

Fabric banners throughout the exhibit share quotes from interviews with the exemplars. The patterns on each banner represent the faith tradition of the person quoted.

Sister Rosemary Nyirumbe

Hear Sister Rosemary Nyirumbe share how being a Catholic sister inspires her and helps her deal with trauma:

Nyirumbe, a CNN Hero, works with orphans and former child soldiers through the Sewing Hope Foundation in Gulu, Uganda.

Read a profile of Sister Rosemary Nyirumbe

Researcher: Donald E. Miller

Plum Village

Visit Plum Village Mindfulness Practice Center, founded by Thich Nhat Hanh (deceased 2022) in the south of France. See and hear scenes from the New Years Retreat 2020:

The Plum Village monastic community carries on the efforts of Vietnamese monk and activist Thich Nhat Hanh (deceased 2022) to spread mindfulness and apply Buddhism to modern-day social challenges.

Read about Plum Village after the death of its founder

Journalist: Megan Sweas

Sister Pat Murphy

Hear the story of how Sister Pat Murphy and Sister JoAnn Persch were arrested on Capitol Hill, protesting for migrant rights:

The two Mercy Sisters have provided shelter and comfort to migrants in Chicago for decades.

Listen to the full a podcast episode about them from The Spiritual Edge:

Journalist: Heidi Shin

Zikr in Georgia

Listen to women chanting Islamic prayers in Georgia:

A group of Kist women perform a Zikr every week led by Raisa Margoshvili. Makvala Margoshvili (deceased 2021) started a musical ensemble to share the culture of the Pankisi Valley.

Read about her efforts to support her community

Journalists: Julien Pebrel and Clemént Girardot

Imam Muhsin Hendricks

Hear how faith guides Imam Muhsin Hendricks as he takes on the controversial work of creating space for gay Muslims. Imam Hendricks is the world’s first openly gay imam:

Watch the full video profile of Imam Muhsin Hendricks

Journalist: Kim Lawton

Layli Miller-Muro

Hear Layli Miller-Muro, a lawyer and women’s right activist, say Bahá’í prayers and explain how the daily practices of the Bahá’í faith influence her.

Tahirih Justice Center, founded by Layli Miller-Muro, has provided free legal defense to 27,000 women fleeing human rights abuses.

Watch the full video profile of Layli Miller-Muro

Journalist: Kim Lawton

Father Mussie Zerai

Watch Eritrean Catholic priest and Nobel Prize nominee Father Mussie Zerai celebrate mass with the Eritrean Catholic community in Zurich.

Known as the “migrant priest,” Father Zerai has helped save 150,000 people from the Mediterranean Sea by answering distress calls from migrant boats and compelling the authorities to act.

Watch a documentary about Father Mussie Zerai

Journalist: Linda Freund

Carmen Santiago Alonso

Watch a water ritual organized by Flor y Canto, an organization that helped Indigenous communities gain water rights in Oaxaca, Mexico. Founder Carmen Santiago Alonso (deceased 2022) describes what inspires her environmental activism:

Read an obituary and watch the full video interview with Carmen Santiago Alonso

Journalists: Magdalena and Noel Rojo

Sameer

Peace activist Sameer (pseudonym) screams into the void, a spiritual practice he uses to surrender his pain to the emptiness of the desert. Listen as he leads reporter Shaina Shealy in the ritual:

Listen to the full a podcast episode about the peace activist from The Spiritual Edge:

Journalist: Shaina Shealy

Activists, peace builders, humanitarian workers. Often surrounded by supportive communities, these people contribute to social change across sectors. They provide basic needs, deliver life-saving medical care, support vulnerable groups, protest against inequalities, change laws, preserve cultures and care for the earth.

On this page, explore the impact of people across the globe whose spirituality inspires them to tackle our world’s most urgent issues.

Emily Saunders

Visit the desert with Emily Saunders and her partner Scott Warren as they leave water and easy-open cans of beans in the southern Arizona desert in an effort to reduce migrant deaths. Reporter Jude Joffe-Block narrates for The Spiritual Edge:

Scott Warren was arrested for providing humanitarian aid to migrants and successfully argued that he had the religious freedom to provide humanitarian aid, protecting the work of organizations like No More Deaths.

Listen to the full Spiritual Edge podcast episode about the trial of Scott Warren:

Journalist: Jude Joffe-Block

Ida Puliwa

Hear how the Othakarhaka Foundation empowers villagers in Malawi to care for each other through its volunteer program:

Ida Puliwa created the organization, which empowers 6,000+ volunteers to “pass on the kindness,” as its name means, and help others through agriculture, education, elder care and more.

Watch the full video profile and read more about Ida Puliwa’s journey

Researcher: Donald E. Miller

Sister Marie Stella Kouak

Observe what life is like at Sainte-Monique Orphanage, which has taken in children who have lost parents to HIV/AIDS with this video published by National Catholic Reporter:

Sister Marie Stella Kouak founded Living in Hope, a nonprofit that runs two orphanages and sponsors 1,850 children living in foster families in Togo.

Read about how COVID-19 affected her work with HIV/AIDS patients and orphans

Journalists: Julien Pebrel and Clemént Girardot

Tuenjai Deetes

Hear how Tuenjai Deetes works with people of hill tribe communities in Northern Thailand to help them gain their citizenship:

Tuenjai Deetes, a Thai human rights activist who established the Hill Area Development Foundation, has spent more than 40 years working with the hill tribe communities in Northern Thailand.

Read about her work to eliminate statelessness in Thailand

Watch the full video from DW 

Journalists: Magdalena and Noel Rojo

Rev. Cecil L. Murray

Listen to Rev. Dr. Cecil L. Murray preach from the pulpit of First African Methodist Episcopal Church of Los Angeles in the midst of the 1992 Civil Unrest:

Watch an excerpt from his sermon after the 9/11 terrorist attacks: “In bad times, we have a good God.”

As pastor of First African Methodist Episcopal Church, Rev. Murray transformed a small congregation of 250 into an 18,000-member church with economic development programs that brought jobs, housing and corporate investment into South Los Angeles.

Watch a video profile of Rev. Dr. Cecil L. Murray

Watch the full sermon during the 1992 Civil Unrest

Visit the Murray Archive for more sermons

Jerry Berndt Archive

The USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture has studied the local faith community’s efforts to create change since the aftermath of Los Angeles’ 1992 Civil Unrest. In the 1990s, photographer Jerry Berndt (deceased 2013) documented the worship and civic activities of congregations for “The Soul of Los Angeles” exhibit, including two spiritual exemplars: Rev. Dr. Cecil L. Murray and Father Greg Boyle, SJ.

See more photos from the “Soul of Los Angeles” exhibit

Berndt later traveled with CRCC’s cofounder Donald E. Miller to Rwanda, where he recorded the impact of the 1994 genocide of 800,000 Tutsi people, and exemplar Jean Gakwandi’s efforts to comfort survivors.

View the Orphans of Rwanda Book

Jerry Berndt’s photographs appeared in major magazines and are included in several permanent collections, including the Museum of Modern Art, New York City.

USC Annenberg and the USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture hosted a panel discussion and reception for the exhibit, featuring a conversation between Diane Winston, Knight Chair for Media and Religion, and three of the featured exemplars:

• Father Greg Boyle, SJ, is founder of Homeboy Industries, the largest gang intervention, rehabilitation, and re-entry program in the world.
• Brother Chân Pháp Dung, a USC alum, is a senior Dharma teacher in the Plum Village monastic tradition founded by Vietnamese peace activist Thich Nhat Hanh.
• Sabrina Sojourner is a Shaliakh Tzibur and a chaplain. A queer Jew of color, she brings conversations about diversity, equity, and inclusion into spiritual spaces.

“Spirituality in Action: Stories of Social Change” was hosted by the Knight Program for Media and Religion at the USC Annenberg School for Communications and Journalism in partnership with the USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture (CRCC). It draws from the work for a team of journalists and researchers who profiled 104 “Spiritual Exemplars” as part of CRCC’s global project on engaged spirituality, which took place from 2018-2023.

The Spiritual Exemplar Project is supported by the John Templeton Foundation and Templeton Religion Trust. Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of these organizations.

Acknowledgements

Exhibit Host: Diane Winston, Knight Chair for Media and Religion, USC Annenberg

Project Director: Donald E. Miller, USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture

Exhibit Co-Directors: Hebah Farrag, Megan Sweas, USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture

Curators: Magdalena and Noel Rojo, Narrative Consulting

Graphic Design: Margi Denton, Denton Design Associates

Website and Video Production: Stephen Serrano (USC Annenberg, 2024)

Contributors: Jerry Berndt (in memoriam), Jude Joffe-Block, Ken Chitwood, Innocent Eteng, Patricia Fortlage, Linda Freund, Patti Jette, Kim Lawton, Julia Lieblich, Donald E. Miller, Julien Pebrel, Mary Annette Pember, Noel Rojo, Priyadarshini Sen, Soumya Shankar, Shaina Shealy, Heidi Shin, Nick Street, Megan Sweas, Erin Walters-Bugbee

Special thanks to Jim Yoder, Patricia Carvajal, Suzanne Boretz, Rachelle Martin, Cesar Landaverde, Sandy Alexander Print Team, Classic Litho and Design and Advantage ColorGraphics

We thank our reception co-sponsors:

• USC School of Religion
• USC Office for Religious and Spiritual Life
• USC Annenberg Center on Public Diplomacy
• Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies at USC

“Stories of Social Change: Spirituality in Action” is a multimedia exhibit based on the USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture’s Spiritual Exemplars Project. Through the project, CRCC’s team of journalists and researchers profiled 104 spiritually engaged humanitarians from 2018 to 2023.

The exhibit was originally presented at the USC Annenberg for Communication and Journalism, educating and inspiring 2,500 people in Fall 2023.

The exhibit is available for presentation in educational, civic, religious and communal spaces. The content can be adapted to different audiences.

Please contact us at crcc@usc.edu if you are interested in hosting the exhibit in your space.

To see a complete list of assets available as part of the exhibit, please download the exhibit catalogue.

An Invitation to Host “Stories of Social Change: Spirituality in Action”

Exhibit Contact:

Center for Religion and Civic Culture
University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA 90089-0520
(213) 821-1181
crcc@usc.edu