On August 15, 2006, the summer research of Pluralism Project student staff and summer interns culminated in a research symposium held at Harvard's Barker Center for the Humanities. An intense morning of presentations covered a wide range of topics including Muslim artists and activism, religious pluralism in Malaysia and Indonesia, faith bloggers, the role of the New York City Council regarding religious pluralism, women's interfaith initiatives and more. Reports on the ICNA-MAS, Kaur Voices, JAINA and Young Global Leaders conferences were also presented.
On Thursday, July 6, 2006, the Pluralism Project hosted a delegation from India and Bangladesh as part of the U.S. Department of State's International Visitor Leadership Program. The participants included religious leaders such as imams and principals of madrassahs, as well as teachers and community leaders who are interested in questions of religious pluralism, Islam in America, and the study of religion. The guests were particularly interested in how religious pluralism in India compares to religious pluralism in America. The delegation was in the U.S. from June 17 - July 8.
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On May 8, 2006 the Pluralism Project hosted a State Department visit with guests from Jordan and Egypt, many of whom were imams. Their study-tour was on the topic "Islam: Scholarship and Practice in the United States." The visit was born out of an initiative in interfaith dialogue that was started by Father Nabil Haddad, executive director of the Jordanian Interfaith Coexistence Research Center in Amman, Jordan. The purpose of the tour, which included Boston, Washington DC, Detroit and Dearborn, Michigan, was to explore the role of religion and Islam in... Read more about The Pluralism Project Hosts State Department Visitors From Jordan and Egypt
On May 6-7, 2006, the Pluralism Project hosted a preview and director's cut screening of Divided We Fall: Americans in the Aftermath at the Harvard Film Archive. Writer/Producer Valarie Kaur, an affiliate of the Pluralism Project and a master's candidate at Harvard Divinity School, and Director/Producer Sharat Raju were on hand to answer audience questions. The auditorium of the Carpenter Center for Visual Arts was filled to capacity with artists, academics, activists, and citizens... Read more about Pluralism Project Hosts Divided We Fall Screening at Harvard Film Archive
On May 2, 2006, Saleemah Abdul-Ghafur and Sarah Eltantawi joined the Pluralism Project for a luncheon discussion. Abdul-Ghafur is the editor of LIVING ISLAM OUT LOUD: American Muslim Women Speak, a book which features 15 American Muslim women dealing with the complexities of forging their own identities while playing powerful roles in public life. Sarah Eltantawi contributed to the book and is a cofounder of the Progressive Muslim Union of North America and from 2001-2004 served as Communications Director for the ...Read more about Living Islam Out Loud: A Conversation with Saleemah Abdul-Ghafur and Sarah Eltantawi
On April 17, 2006, the Pluralism Project sponsored an interfaculty luncheon discussion titled “Voices of Liberal Islam in Indonesia” with two young and prominent Islamic thinkers, Ulil Abshar Abdallah and Sukhidi Mulyadi. Abdallah is the founder of Liberal Islam Network, a leading Islamic organization which promotes the notion of a liberal Islam in Indonesia. In 2002 Abdallah and members of the organization were given a fatwa death sentence by Javanese clerics due to their writings on...
On April 4, 2006, the Pluralism Project co-sponsored a talk by Chandra Muzaffar at Harvard Divinity School's Center for the Study of World Religions entitled, “Emergent Asia: Whither Religion?” Dr. Muzaffar is a leading human rights activist, author, and teacher. He is the president of the International Movement for a Just World, an NGO in Kuala Lumpur that addresses the challenges to social justice and human dignity in global politics. His latest book is Global Ethic or Global Hegemony? During his Cambridge visit, Dr. Muzaffar also... Read more about Chandra Muzaffar Lecture on “Emergent Asia: Whither Religion?”
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On April 2, 2006, Jean Zaru, the presiding clerk of the Ramallah Friends meeting in Ramallah, visited Cambridge to speak at Memorial Church. She also met with a group convened by the Pluralism Project for a luncheon discussion. She is a founding member of Sabeel, an ecumenical liberation theology center in Jerusalem, and the author of A Christian Palestinian Life: Faith and Struggle. In 2003, she participated in the Pluralism Project's conference on “Women, Religion, and Social Change II” as part... Read more about Christian Palestinian Peacemaker Jean Zaru Visits Cambridge
On March 2, 2006, the Pluralism Project co-sponsored an event with the Kennedy School of Government's Women in Public Policy Program and the Islam in the West Project entitled, “Emerging Forms of Muslim Women’s Leadership.” The featured speakers included Sarah Eltantawi, media commentator on American Muslim affairs and Middle East policy and doctoral student in religious studies at Harvard University and Raheel Raza, author of Their Jihad...Not My Jihad!: A Muslim Canadian Woman Speaks Out. Ms. Raza was also the first Muslim woman to lead... Read more about Pluralism Project Co-Sponsors "Emerging Forms of Muslim Women’s Leadership" Event
On February 28, 2006, former Muslim Chaplain and U.S. Army Captain James Yee spoke at Harvard, sponsored by the Harvard Islamic Society, the Asian-Pacific Law Students Association, and the Pluralism Project. Chaplain Yee served at Guantanamo Bay and spoke of the challenges of learning first-hand about abuses. He responded by authoring policies designed to respect religious rights and security needs. He was accused of espionage and held in solitary confinement; eventually all charges were dropped and his record was cleared. His recent book is entitled For God and Country.