DI Hosts Event on 50-Year Legacy of Leonard Swidler and Temple University Department of Religion

                                        Click above to see additional pictures!

The Dialogue Institute hosted a celebratory event, "Scaling the Wall Between Separation of Church and State: Reflections on the 50-Year History of the Temple University Department of Religion,” on January 27, 2017, at Temple's main campus in Philadelphia. The event highlighted both the ground-breaking history of Temple’s Department of Religion and the related legacy of interfaith pioneer and Professor of Catholic Thought and Interreligious Dialogue, Leonard Swidler, who is celebrating his 50th anniversary as at Temple.

Leonard Swidler

The program began with a presentation by Brian Ortale, former Temple graduate student and current adjunct faculty member at Chestnut Hill College and Gwynedd Mercy University, based on his pending dissertation, “Scaling the Wall of Separation Between Church and State: A Narrative History of the Development of the First Departments of Religion at State Universities in America.” Responses and additional remarks were offered by Dr. Marcia Sachs Littell (Professor Emerita, Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Stockton University), Dr. Rodger Van Allen (Professor Swidler's first graduate student at Temple and recently retired professor in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at Villanova University), Dr. Elizabeth Adams-Eilers (former adjunct professor at Temple and Georgia State Universities, and current adjunct assistant professor at Drexel University) and Nancy Krody (Managing Editor, Journal of Ecumenical Studies).

Following the program, the approximately 40 guests in attendance had an opportunity to visit with Professor Swidler and view “Bridging Dialogue and Renewal: Professor Leonard Swidler's 50 Years at Temple"—a special exhibit curated by the Dialogue Institute on his unique role in and profound impact on the global ecumenical and interfaith movements, including his legacy as co-founding editor of the Journal of Ecumenical Studies (1964) and founder and president of the DI (1978).

Click here to see additional pictures from the event.

Introducing 2016-2017 Graduate Intern, Jessica Sitek

The Dialogue Institute re-established its graduate internship program* this fall, and enthusiastically welcomed Jessica Sitek, a Ph.D candidate in the Temple University Department of Religion, into the role for the 2016-2017 academic year (and hopefully beyond!).

Jessica completed her M.A. in Religious Studies at Temple in 2010, specializing in the philosophy of religion and interreligious dialogue. She served as a field researcher with the DI (Spring 2012) and as a program associate for the DI's Study of the U.S. Institute (Summer 2015). For the past few years she has been an adjunct faculty member at Macomb Community College, teaching comparative religions.

More recently, she experienced the transformative potential of dialogue through an international fellowship with KAICIID, an intergovernmental organization based in Vienna, Austria which promotes the use of dialogue globally to prevent and resolve conflict, and enhance understanding and cooperation. Having completed her fellowship earlier this year, she is now serving as chair of the KAICIID Fellows Network Executive Committee, helping to direct and organize activities for fellows that reinforce relationships and foster collaboration, while also supporting continued training and development. Click here to see Jessica's KAICIID profile.

"My interest in interreligious dialogue began when as a youth engaged in my own community, I started observing how social and environmental issues brought people together from all sorts of backgrounds to work for the common good. How we can connect as human beings despite perceived boundaries," Jessica says. "This interest continues to grow for me."

Jessica has returned to the graduate program at Temple, and to the DI, to explore how dialogue applied to healthcare can transform the relationship between caregivers and recipients. She will be working on a variety of projects for the DI.

---

* the internship program is made possible by a $25,000 grant from Temple University, as well as generous donations from individual donors

DI Staff Speak at Songshan Forum in China

Dialogue Institute Founder/President, Leonard Swidler, and Executive Director, Rebecca Mays, spoke at the Fifth Songshan Forum on Chinese and Other World Civilizations, held October 27-30, 2016 in Dengfeng, Henan, China. They also both attended the first and third Forums, held in 2012 and 2014 respectively.

Funded by the Institute for Advanced Humanities Studies (IAHS) at Peking University, under the direction of New Confucian scholar, Tu Weiming, this year's international forum was guided by the theme of "Transformation and Innovation: Toward a Dialogical Civilization."

Professor Swidler was one of three keynote speakers to address the gathering of 2,500 scholars and business people (see picture below). He spoke on "Laudato Si," Pope Francis' encyclical critiquing consumerism and irresponsible development, and calling for swift and global action to confront environmental degradation and global warming.

Rebecca Mays delivered a paper on Teilhard de Chardin's "Omega Point"—as illustrated by the film "Journey of the Universe," produced by the Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology.

As a result of the Forum, the DI has renewed discussions with Professor Weiming, a longtime friend and colleague of Professor Swidler's (see video below), and IAHS about the possibility of holding a joint conference on business and ethics—with scholars and business people from China, Germany and the United States—in the next few years.

March 8, 2012: A "dialogue on dialogue" between Leonard Swidler and Tu Weiming at the Institute for Advanced Humanistic Studies, Peking University.

DI Leads Training for Global Peace Foundation

The Dialogue Institute hosted and facilitated a special full-day training on "Peace through Dialogue" for staff from the Global Peace Foundation (GPF) in October of 2016. The customized training, focusing on dialogue, the "global ethic" and human rights, was led by Dialogue Institute (DI) Executive Director Rebecca Mays, and Founder/President Leonard Swidler, and designed to help GPF staff prepare for their upcoming Global Peace Convention 2017 in Manila, Philippines.

"I found this workshop to be extremely valuable. The ten (Dialogue) Principles are brilliant, and I can see that they would stimulate a fantastic discussion in any group anywhere; if adhered to, these principles can be a key to unlock tangled relationships and foster peace," said Gail Hambleton, director of GPF's Global Peace Interfaith Division.

“This was a very informative day in which we gained much. Being introduced to the process of dialogue as a vital tool to begin the discussion around conflict was of great value to me. It was clearly articulated how dialogue is not a form of debate, rather a process that has each participant moving through an evaluative system, looking at both sides of the issue, which in turn can bring greater understanding, even if not agreement on the stance that each person/group may take.”

— Training participant

Given the success of the initial training, DI staff have been invited to lead a second set of trainings during the international convention, to be held February 28-March 3. With the theme of "Moral and Innovative Leadership: New Models for Peace and Development," the gathering, "will bring together leading global experts and practitioners to share best practices and develop multi-sector partnerships for sustainable peace and development and the achievement of the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals." GPF is also partnering with the DI to develop a special "global ethic track" for the conference, inviting stakeholders, scholars and practictioners currently contributing to the process of developing a global ethic to meet, discuss and forge new collaborations going forward. Professor Swidler, given his extensive work in formulating an initial global ethic, has been asked to provide a keynote address on that topic.

"Global Peace Foundation is very action-oriented and I am very excited about how complementary our two organizations are," says Hambleton. "GPF has community and national level peace-building models that are focused on shared values can demonstrate the efficacy a values-based approach. In effect these are the laboratories that apply shared values to solve real problems. Such applications in diverse contexts can provide the insights and evidence of the efficacy of the global ethic, taking action on the adage to 'think globally and act locally.'" 

 The GPF training represents a critical strategic direction for the DI, focusing increasingly on developing and marketing both standard and customized fee-for-service trainings on dialogue and the global ethic. Contact Rebecca Mays for more information.

---

The Global Peace Foundation is an international non-sectarian, non-partisan, nonprofit organization which promotes an innovative, values-based approach to peacebuilding, guided by the vision of "One Family under God."  GPF engages and organizes a global network of public and private-sector partners who develop community, national and regional peacebuilding models as the foundation for ethical and cohesive societies.

GPF affirms the importance of universally recognized principles and shared values as essential to building social cohesion within nations and the global community.

Among these principles are:

• All people have intrinsic value, dignity, and fundamental rights, as endowed by the Creator.
• Every person has, as his or her highest attribute, a spiritual and moral essence.
• Our human nature finds its fullest expression and meaning in relation to others.
• People develop their innate potential through their choices and actions. Freedom and responsibility are intrinsically linked.

DI Partners with Ten Thousand Villages for Local Fundraiser

Ardmore: Suburban Square
32 Parking Plaza, Suite 104
Center City: 1122 Walnut Street
Chestnut Hill: 8331 Germantown Avenue
King of Prussia: The Court at King of Prussia Mall
690 West Dekalb Pike, Suite 2098
Media: 101 West State Street

For the second straight year, the Dialogue Institute is partnering with Philadelphia-area Ten Thousand Villages stores for a unique local fundraiser on Thursday, December 8, 3-7 pm.

Don't miss this opportunity to support both fair trade and dialogue!

If you are in the area, make plans now —and ask your local friends, family and colleagues—to do some holiday (or other) shopping on December 8, 3-7 pm, at any of the five Ten Thousand Villages stores listed above. The DI will receive 15% of all in-store sales during that time period.

WE NEED YOUR HELP to spread the word so we can reach our goal of $3,000! Beyond any in-store shopping you are able to do, please take a minute to invite others to participate:                       

• share through social media (use the "Share" icon below, share the Facebook announcement or invite others to the Facebook event page)
• download the event flier to share by email or otherwise

---

Ten Thousand Villages, one of the world's largest fair trade organizations and a founding member of the World Fair Trade Organization (WFTO), strives to improve the livelihood of tens of thousands of disadvantaged artisans in 38 countries. Ten Thousand Villages is an exceptional source for unique handmade gifts, jewelry, home decor, art and sculpture, textiles, tableware and personal accessories representing the diverse cultures of artisans in Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East.

DI Staff Invited to International Dialogue Forum in China

The DI's Leonard Swidler (Founder/President) and Rebecca Mays (Executive Director) have been invited to participate in the upcoming Fifth Session of the Centre of Heaven and Earth (Songshan) Forum on Chinese and World Civilizations, to be held October 27-30, 2016 in Dengfeng, Henan, China.

This year's forum, under the theme “Transformation and Innovation: Toward a Dialogical Civilization,” is intended to investigate different civilizations through creative transformation and innovative development to move toward a model for dialogical civilization.

A "dialogue on dialogue" between Professor Swidler and Professor Tu Weiming, Director of the Institute for Advanced Humanistic Studies, Peking University, which is co-hosting the conference.

The forum will be co-hosted by the Institute for Advanced Humanistic Studies of Peking University,  China International Culture Exchange Centre, the Henan Chinese Civilizational Transmission and Development Foundation, the Institute for Songshan Civilizational Studies and the Municipal Government of Dengfeng, Henan.

While in China, DI staff will also be meeting with some of the participants of the Asia Interreligious Development Network (AIDN), a collaborative project begun by the DI in 2014 in partnership with Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU) and with initial three-year funding provided by the United Board for Christian Higher Education in Asia.

DI Bids Farewell to SUSI Alumnus Turned Program Associate

With mixed emotions, Dialogue Institute staff bid farewell to Study of the U.S. Institute (SUSI) program alumnus-turned-associate, Abdalla Aljubori, as he begins a two-year post-baccalaureate pre-medical program at the University of Washington in St. Louis.

Abdalla came to the DI initially as an Iraqi participant in our 2013 Summer SUSI (click here for more of his story and reflections on that SUSI experience), but eventually returned to serve as an intern and program associate—a valuable member of our team for the past two years. If that wasn't enough, he also worked this summer as our interim accountant (he received his bachelor's degree in accounting from New Jersey City University last year!).

We are extremely grateful for Abdalla's dedication to the SUSI/Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI) program and his willingness to give back so graciously and generously to the DI and our students. He is an extraordinary young man with a growing passion and giftedness for this dialogue work, and we wish him well as he moves into the next stage of his life and career. Some parting thoughts from Abdalla are included below:

SUSI students celebrating Abdalla's birthday in New York City during last summer's Institute.

There are certain experiences in life you just cannot possibly describe in words, and the SUSI program is definitely one of them for me. It is an exceptional and extraordinary program that will forever live with me. I was fortunate enough to go through the program five times—once as a participant in 2013, and four times since. It is never the same; with every group I have a whole new experience where I learn more about myself and meet some of the most brilliant students that push me to set higher standards, values, and morals. Now, with a feeling of deep sorrow, I'm sorry to say that SUSI 2016 will likely be my last program as I'm starting my new journey in this life. Recently I was accepted into a two-year post baccalaureate pre-medical program at Washington University in St. Louis, and this opportunity means the world to me. I must say, though, that it is because of my collective experiences with past SUSI students and staff that I'm choosing this path now. It is indeed a bitter feeling thinking that I might not have the opportunity to be involved with other SUSI programs, but I'm leaving to pursue my life dream with a heart full of love and appreciation to the Dialogue Institute and the SUSI/YSEALI programs. Thank you for everything!

DI Bringing Dialogue to Peace Day Philly Events

The Dialogue Institute (DI) is excited to participate in this year's Peace Day Philly* activities in a couple of different ways (click here for event flier):

On Sunday, September 18, 2-4 pm, the DI is co-hosting a special event, An Interfaith Peace Dialogue: Welcoming Each Other Across Diverse Cultures & Faiths, at the Philadelphia Ethical Society (1906 S. Rittenhouse Square). RSVP is requested. Light refreshments will be provided.

In addition, on Tuesday, September 20, 6:30-8:30 pm, the DI is again offering a free introductory workshop, Dialogue Across Difference: Skills for Peacemaking and Global Citizenship, on Temple University's main campus. In this interactive workshop, DI Founder/President Leonard Swidler and Executive Director Rebecca Mays will introduce participants to Professor Swidler's Dialogue Principles as an essential tool for both peacemaking and global citizenship in any context.

To register for the workshop or with questions, please email info@dialogueinstitute.org or call 215.204.7570. Light refreshments will be provided.

For more information about Dialogue Institute trainings, contact Rebecca Mays at rkm@dialogueinstitute.org or 215.204.7520.

---

* Peace Day Philly is an annual event in the Philadelphia area organized around International Day of Peace, officially observed worldwide on September 21. Events this year will be held September 18-24.

2016 Study of the U.S. Institute for Student Leaders on Religious Pluralism in the United States

Click above to see additional pictures from Summer 2016 SUSI!

Twenty young adult students from Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon and Turkey completed the Dialogue Institute's 12th Study of the U.S. Institute (SUSI) for Student Leaders on Religious Pluralism in the United States on August 13, 2016.

They joined an extraordinary group of more than 220 other young alumni/ae from the Middle East and Southeast Asia who have participated in the DI's SUSI program since 2010.

The students return home following an intensive five-week program focused on religious pluralism and democracy, including four weeks in Philadelphia beginning July 9th and a week-long study tour in Atlanta, western North Carolina and Washington, D.C.

Here's how one Muslim student from Lebanon, Mohammed, summarized his experience:

I've spent five wonderful, intensive weeks in the U.S. exploring the diversity, pluralism and democracy there. Many poignant scenes will petrify in my memory: a Muslim woman wearing a veil in Philadelphia, women wearing scarfs working in public places, the commonalities between the Jewish and Islamic traditions, the African American churches '"happy" service, the Baha'i Center's openness, the Mormon Temple luxury, the Native American exterminated culture, the Yazidi's stories of struggling for life againstemerging genocide, the sound of different languages mixed in my ear while walking in New York City streets, the Ethiopian protest in Washington D.C. and many other distinct sights of freedom, democratic practices, multicultural diversity and tolerance. 

I came from an engineering background, very far away from the social sciences field. I'm a believer and my creed is strong enough in my heart to not seek another faith. What I wanted was to inspect other beliefs and learn from them what might benefit humankind. Now I can say that I have knowledge about Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Mormonism, Baha'i, Hinduism, Buddhism, Native American beliefs and many others. I feel that understanding others allows us to diminish and demolish the gap among us in the community, where the bases turn toward respect, equality and justice instead of religious cults, casting systems and wealth discrimination.

Pennsylvania, New York, North Carolina, Georgia, New Jersey and Washington, D.C. will remain in my heart. After my first dinner at home with my family, I got my hard-copy photo album from my bag. I started showing them my new U.S. family members through the pictures which I prepared for my coming memoir. I shared my memories with Len, Ghassan, Rebecca, Stuart, Barbara, Julie, Gaby, Sam, David, Jackie, Lisa, Linda, Peter, Per, Ari, Patricia, Iman, Nibras, Nawaf, Mina, Marcus, Mark, Todd, Harold, David, Mary, Grant, Issa, Mariam, Jeremiah, Nathan, Majid, Howard, Susanna, Suzanne, John, Diana, Hisham, Carol, Hussein, Abdalla, Amie, Andi, Brian, Stephen and others. And I can't forget my fellow students, who accompanied me during this of state of happiness. I got new friends and companions for my entire lifetime. 

Finally, I must applaud and thank this amazing trinity of the Dialogue Institute and the International Center for Contemporary Education (with whom the DI partners), the U.S. State Department and the U.S. Embassy in Beirut for launching, facilitating and supporting this program. I'm an extremely proud alumnus now wishing to implement the U.S. experience in my country, Lebanon.

Integral to the program's overall and ongoing impact, students are charged with implementing individual action plans within their first six months back. Below is a brief description of students' initial plans:

Egypt

• Ahmed: Start an NGO, tentative called "Current Affairs Research Academy," intended to study conflicts in the Middle East and Egypt’s economic crisis.
• Andrew: He will introduce dialogue workshops into both his university and church communities.
• Fady: He will write a short curriculum on dialogue and critical thinking which he hopes to use in teaching local workshops.
• Mai: She will run "awareness circles" to help prevent female genital mutilation in rural areas.
• Rana: She will work with her brother and a local NGO to expand educational efforts intended to help raise awareness about how to prevent HIV, malaria, and hepatitis C.

Iraq

• Ahmed: He will work with a local NGO to raise funds to help put refugee children into schools.
• Botan: He will work with Professor Swidler and the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum to curate an exhibit on the Kurdish experience of genocide.
• Dhuha: She will organize a book club for girls and young women, ages 12-22, in refugee camps near her home.
• Hussein: Because he lives near the historic marshes in southern Iraq, recently recognized as a UN-designated historic site, he will work to raise consciousness among his city officials about environmental concerns and tourism.
• Jaafar: He will organize free lunch programs in local schools to attract street children.

Lebanon

• Joseph: He plans to create a safe space in his university to do a dialogue workshop on Christian-Muslim relations.
• Karim: He will work with an NGO organizing for the rights of domestic workers to raise their pay and prevent abuse.
• Mohammed: With a questionnaire he has already developed based on his SUSI experience to use with leaders of historic local mosques, churches, and synagogues in Beirut, he will conduct site visits, administer the questionnaire and write up the results.
• Reem: She will start a summer camp focused on art and music to create a safe space where, through the aesthetic dimension of dialogue, she can develop trust to discuss sectarian religious issues.
• Shant: He will start a course on interreligious dialogue in collaboration with his professors at his university.

Turkey

• Dicle: She will teach English as a Second Language (ESL) to displaced local children and Syrian refugee children.
• Gülşen: She will work with a university-sponsored NGO to raise awareness of hunger and help raise food and money.
• Irem: She plans to publish an online journal of dialogue stories that will share individual journeys of ways to find God and peace in a war-torn environment.
• Nurefşan: She will focus her senior thesis on religious pluralism as she completes a degree in Islamic Theology.
• Talha: He plans to organize an interfaith conference on his university campus among Christian, Muslim, and Jewish participants.

---

Other SUSI Highlights

         Anna & David Less

             Abdalla Aljubori

• Click here to read a reflection from Anna & David Less, co-founders of the Abrahamic Reunion, about their visit with our SUSI students toward the end of the residential program in Philadelphia.
   
• This Institute marked the final SUSI for program associate Abdalla Aljubori, off to begin a two-year post-baccalaureate pre-medical program at the University of Washington in St. Louis. An alumnus of our 2013 Summer SUSI, Abdalla has been serving as an intern and program associate for the past two years. We are extremely grateful for his time with us, and wish him the best as he heads into this next chapter. Click here to read more about and from Abdalla, including his own reflections on his SUSI experience!

JES Spring 2016 Issue Focuses on Islamophobia

Click the image above to see pictures from the Conference on Religious Freedom and Islamophobia.

The Spring 2016 issue of the Journal of Ecumenical Studies features a special section on Islamophobia. The content is inspired by and drawn from a national Conference on Religious Freedom and Islamophobia which the Dialogue Institute hosted and co-sponsored, along with the International Center for Religion & Diplomacy and Peace Catalyst International, October 6-8, 2015.

Click here to see a description of issue contents, or go to the J.E.S. web page at University of Pennsylvania Press to order copies or subscribe.

The conference was a gathering of approximately 40 Evangelical Christian leaders from around the country (representing a range of views on Islam) to explore and better understand the consequences of Islamophobia and anti-Muslim bigotry, and develop thoughtful responses to Islamophobia in the United States. Selected Jewish, Muslim and non-Evangelical Christian representatives also participated to help provide a broader contextual understanding of the issues being addressed.

"The conference marked an important step forward in mobilizing against Islamophobia," said Howard Cohen, DI/J.E.S. Board treasurer and conference co-organizer (and one of the authors included in this J.E.S. issue). "The work is ongoing and planning is underway so that we can move ahead with the network and strategies established at the conference."

Organizers named four primary objectives for the conference:

• To examine the present challenge of Islamophobia in the United States, with particular attention to how it relates to Evangelical Christians and Muslims.

• To provide a biblical, historical, legal and political rationale for greater tolerance across religions.

• To develop (and the lay the foundation for) a long-term strategy for Evangelicals and others to address Islamophobia in the United States.

• To develop specific tools for implementing this strategy, including:

  • interviewing and filming a select group of speakers;

  • using social media to enlarge the audience and impact;

  • producing this special issue of the Journal of Ecumenical Studies, featuring conference presentations.

Click here to see article about the conference from The Huffington Post.