A STORYCORPS STUDIOS SPECIAL COLLECTION
Since 2013 Georgetown University’s Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs has partnered with StoryCorps Studios on The American Pilgrimage Project. The project invites Americans of diverse backgrounds to sit together and talk to each other one-on-one about the role their religious beliefs have played at crucial moments in their lives. Together over the past decade, we have recorded over 250 stories from communities across the county. Log into the archive to see the full range of stories on this page.
To learn more, contact Paul Elie at [email protected]
All American Pilgrimage Project Interviews
Ellen Sears (75) and colleague Wayne Boatwright (61) discuss religion, death, addiction, and meritocracy.
Rabbi Camille Angel (57) and friend Chinyere Oparah (55) discuss religion, Queerness, and being among the firsts in their respective fields. Chinyere recalls her childhood, connecting it to becoming a mother herself; and how giving birth to her daughter was...
Mentor and mentee Fr. Donal Godfrey (64) and Leandro Gonzalez (38) talk about their experiences as openly gay men in the Catholic Church. They reflect on their faith journeys, their lives in San Francisco, and their friendship.
Adrian Tirtanadi (38) and friend Sara Farooqi (37) discuss their journeys of disconnection and reconnection to Christianity and Islam respectively.
Eugene Ashton-Gonzalez (37) talks to his friend and mentor John Law (64) about pilgrimage, community, and life in the Bay Area underground arts scene. They reflect on their time using the signal tower on Yerba Buena Island to host events...
Silena Layne (44) speaks with StoryCorps facilitator Jeb Backe (26) about her faith journey in the face of struggle and loss. Silena reflects on her relationship to the Black Church and on the impact of gun violence on her family.
Friends Theo Lovett (47) and Sharon Gilbert (72) reflect on their childhoods, their spiritual journeys, and the people who have had the biggest influences on their lives.