skip to content

Cambridge Interfaith Programme

 
Leafy trees in front of building entrance—sign reads "Alison Richard Building".

Through inter-religious encounters:
Insights from Argentina, Ghana, and India

This afternoon symposium is curated in partnership with three visiting academics, each of whom is working on a different aspect of religious boundaries.

  • Dr Agustina Altman (Universidad de Buenos Aires) is an anthropologist whose research focuses on processes of religious change among the indigenous peoples of the Argentine Chaco.
  • Rev Dr Felicity Apaah (University of Ghana) is exploring the traditional authority and spirituality of women chiefs in Ghana, through the case of Nana Kow Ackon V.
  • Prof Dr Anindya Sekhar Purakayastha (Institute of Language Studies and Research, Kolkata) is studying pre-modern traditions of cross-cultural dialogue, with reference to Bengali Sufism. 

Programme

12:45 Registration

13:15 Introduction—Joanna Page (Professor of Latin American Studies and Director of CRASSH) & Jörg Haustein (Professor of Global Christianity, Faculty of Divinity)

13:30 Documentary screening: Travelling ethnographers. Research chronicles (Chaco – USA); selected and presented by Agustina Altman.

13:50 Indigenous Christianities as ‘border zones’: shaping modernities in the Argentine Chaco—Agustina Altman 

14:35 Tradition and modernity in Brahmo new dispensation: vernacular interfaith traditions in pre-colonial Bengal—Anindya Sekhar Purkayastha 

15:15 Break

15:45 Harmony in diversity: the spiritual odyssey of a woman king in modern-day Cape Coast, Ghana—Felicity Apaah 

16:30 Reading group session on inter-religious encounters, led by the Fellows. 
Texts will be sent for advance reading to all registrants two weeks before the event.

17:30 Drinks reception

This event is organised in partnership with CRASSH and the Faculty of Divinity as part of World Interfaith Harmony Week.

Date: 
Friday, 7 February, 2025 - 13:15 to 18:30
Event location: 
Alison Richard Building, West Road, Cambridge

Latest news

Upcoming: Inter Faith Week and beyond

6 November 2025

Inter Faith Week 2025 is kicking off with a sense of festivity, as government representatives, faith leaders, and a plethora of interested parties gather in central London...

News: Cambridge views on Religious Education reform

6 November 2025

“The choices made today in education will define the citizens of tomorrow and our collective moral future.”—Maryam Bham for RE:Online “Teaching religious education...

Showing up for another faith

1 November 2025

The head monk of Neasden Temple tied a sacred thread round King Charles' wrist. Cambridge PhD-student Tilak Parekh has been reflecting on the significance of Wednesday's...