Dohna Schlobitten seminar and masterclass composite (January 2026). S Silvestri for CIP.
Alongside original research and collaborative working, the Cambridge Interfaith Programme also provides enrichment opportunities for Cambridge students. The January schedule has included a couple of notable examples, with more getting underway:
From emergencies to investment
The CIP Skills series began in 2024. On 21 January 2026, we ran an intensive workshop series with sessions run by the British Red Cross, the UK Council of Christians and Jews and a Faculty alumnus—Martin Palmer of FaithInvest. Third-year undergraduate & skills sessions stalwart Madeleine reflects on the learning opportunity:
I thoroughly enjoyed the Skills Day recently run by the Cambridge Interfaith Programme. As a final year undergraduate hoping to use my knowledge and interest in religion in my career, it can sometimes be difficult to know where to start looking for opportunities. The Skills Day was both inspiring and helped me to make connections with those already working in fascinating and important fields.
In Abubaker Adam’s session ‘Faith in Emergencies’, I learned about how the VCS EP engages with faith leaders in crisis situations. I hadn’t considered this role of religious communities before, and some of the points raised about faith-specific considerations showed how my knowledge of theology could be applied to crisis management.
In ‘Active listening and navigating difficult conservations’, Beth Williams shared her insights from the CCJ about how to facilitate productive and respectful interfaith dialogue. The skills I learned here were highly valuable and widely applicable to a variety of personal, academic and work contexts. They did not only apply to interfaith dialogue, but to collaboration between diverse communities more generally.
In ‘Cosmological Investment’ with Martin Palmer, I learned about the important role religious organisations and their values have in environmental conservation. FaithInvest’s work in reconciling investment with faith brought together two spheres which I had not previously considered as related. This reaffirmed to me the broader significance of my studies, showing how I could use my knowledge of theology to help create social and environmental change.
Seeing differently
This month we also hosted Professor Yvonne zu Dohna Schlobitten from the Gregorian Pontifical University in Rome. Teaching art history in a deeply Catholic context, Prof zu Dohna Schlobitten had been keen to find a way to get her students to look at artworks with fresh eyes and to impact their sense of how art relates to them and to the world. The resulting approach was so enthusiastically received that she took on her class’s challenge to share it with other audiences—including a recent exhibition on artistic representations of the Nicene Creed and its theology of Christ.
In Cambridge, she delivered a seminar and masterclass inviting attendees to experience three-fold seeing. Some elements of her approach were also offered for digital engagement, and masterclass attendees departed with paired artworks to continue to experiment with this mode.
Rabbinic reading
New literacies come about in a variety of ways. As Aaron Koller settles into the role of Regius Professor of Hebrew (in the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern studies), he is one of four scholars helping newcomers get to grips with reading rabbinic texts. Students are invited to join them on alternate Tuesdays to engage with Talmud and Midrash. Hebrew knowledge not required!