Teaching biblical texts can contribute toward making the US more competitive in the global marketplace. We need to educate students who can read critically and make coherent arguments. The Bible is not easy to read, and it does not provide easy answers. Studying the Bible helps students to formulate questions about themselves, their communities, and the texts that they read.

Xinhua, the news agency run by Chinese government, joined Time Square’s glowing pantheon of corporate iconography Monday, taking the second-highest position in a tower of flashing displays for Prudential, Coca-Cola, Samsung and Hyundai.For Xinhua, the billboard highlights its shift into more visible position in New York’s media landscape.

Across the country this is a tough time for small arts groups because state grants have largely shriveled up. Much of America’s artistic activity does not happen in major recital halls and theaters; instead it occurs...where smaller arts organizations are highly dependent on state grants.

A year after controversy engulfed plans to build a Muslim community center and mosque in Lower Manhattan, the project’s developers are quietly moving ahead: In recent months they have hired a paid staff, started fund-raising drives and continued holding prayers and cultural events in their existing building two blocks from ground zero.

Representatives of Jewish and Roma, or Gypsy youth groups from eight countries are meeting in Hungary. The week long encounter, called "Volunticipate," begins Monday. The youth are gathering to discuss how to build partnerships, plan joint initiatives, and exchange experiences about minority identity and grass-roots civil activism.

Dainius Rutkauskas came up with a novel way of rebranding his little country. Lietuvos Kvapas is Lithuania's "national perfume" ...Developed by Rutkauskas and two other Lithuanian entrepreneurs and produced by the French perfumery Galimard, Lietuvos Kvapas – literally, "the scent of Lithuania" – is an attempt to create a positive national brand.

In an unusual project, Peter Menzel and Faith D’Alusio, a photographer and writer, traveled the world collecting photos and stories about what people eat in a day. The photos...have been selected for an unusual exhibit at the Museum of Science in Boston. The result is an anthropological exploration of the culture of eating that is by turns mouthwatering, repulsive and surprising.