USC Center to Study Religion, Immigrants

The Center for Religion and Civic Culture at USC has been awarded $600,000 by the Pew Charitable Trusts to study the role of religion in helping immigrants adjust to life in Los Angeles County.

The center will study the 10 largest groups in the county: Mexicans, Salvadorans, Guatemalans, Koreans, Chinese, Cambodians, Filipinos, Asian Indians, Armenians and immigrant Jews.

Of special interest will be how religious institutions assist immigrants in language instruction, preservation of culture, instruction in American values and traditions, citizenship and naturalization and obtaining access to social services. Scholars will also examine how second-generation immigrants use religion and its institutions to assimilate into the mainstream.