educational multimedia CD Rom, On Common Ground: World Religions in America (Columbia University Press). This CD Rom received awards from Media & Methods, EdPress, and Educom. In 2001, her book A New Religious America: How a “Christian Country” Has Become the World’s Most Religiously Diverse Nation was published. It deals with religious diversity in the United States since 1965. Eck is married to the Reverend Dorothy Austin. The two joined in matrimony on July 4, 2004, after 28 years together. Concept of Pluralism Eck's interest in other religions combined with her own ‘Christian pluralist’ faith led her to develop her concept of pluralism. Pluralism, for Eck, is the best response to the challenges of religious diversity. The term pluralism has been understood in numerous ways but Eck is clear to distinguish between pluralism and plurality - two words which are often used interchangeably and without distinction. Whilst plurality is the fact of diversity, pluralism is a response to that diversity – and in Eck's account, it is an active, positive response. Eck lays out three prevalent responses to religious diversity: exclusivism, inclusivism and pluralism. An exclusivist approach takes the position that “my way is the only way”. An inclusivist might consider that there are grains of truth in other ways, but ultimately understands that “my way is the better way”. In contrast, a pluralist response seeks to find new ways of positively engaging with diversity, exploring differences whilst seeking common understanding. On the website for Harvard University's Pluralism Project, Eck describes the four principles of pluralism: Pluralism is not diversity alone, but the energetic engagement with diversity Pluralism is not tolerance, but the active seeking of understanding across lines of difference Pluralism is not relativism, but the encounter of commitments Pluralism is based on dialogue. Eck's concept of pluralism has been influential within the wider interfaith movement, and is cited by the Interfaith Youth Core as foundational to its organisational values. First LGBT Master at Harvard In 1998, Eck and Dorothy Austin became the first same-sex couple to be masters (now called faculty deans) of Lowell House, one of the twelve undergraduate residences at Harvard. Awards In 1995, Eck was the recipient of the University of Louisville and Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary Grawemeyer Award in Religion. In 1996, Prof. Eck was appointed to a U.S. State Department Advisory Committee on Religious Freedom Abroad, a twenty-member commission charged with advising the