Also circulated as an email bulletin, this is the round up of news from Cambridge Interfaith Programme, providing the briefest of updates on our activities. Similar updates are issued monthly.
Term is fast approaching, full of events and opportunities. Here’s a run-down of Lent activity in and around the Cambridge Interfaith Programme. Links take you to the CIP website unless otherwise indicated.
This week
17 January | Satsaṅga Dīkṣā: exploring a modern-day Scripture
A vital scripture of the BAPS Swaminarayan tradition, one of the largest, fastest-growing, and most prominent Hindu groups in the world today. Since the Satsaṅga Dīkṣā’s composition in 2020, it has become an integral part of the daily worship, study, and formative life of thousands of BAPS followers in India and the diaspora.
Join Tilak Parekh, Hershini Soneji and guests to explore the vitality and relevance of contemporary Sanskrit scripture and engage with articulations of lived Hinduism.
More about the Satsaṅga Dīkṣā symposium (via divinity.cam.ac.uk).
19 January | Cambridge without Water—a Cabinet of Crisis
Join anthropologist Anastasia Badder, water engineer Edoardo Borgomeo, environmental and institutional economist Julia Talbot-Jones, and River Cam CAN’s conservationist Penelope Chaney for a simulated climate emergency—supported by The Faith & Belief Forum. This interactive workshop takes you into a crisis scenario, its implications laid out by experts, setting the scene for a team-based challenge weighing up the blend of science, policy and values that might be needed to respond. (Discounted participation is available to Research Forum members.)
20 January | CIP Programme Administrator vacancy
CIP is recruiting a new part-time Programme Administrator (0.4FTE, 12-month contract). Applications need to be in by midnight on Monday 20 January. View the advert and further details (via jobs.cam.ac.uk).
Looking ahead: Lent Term
28 January | CIP Skills with Interfaith PhotoVoice—sociologist Roman Williams joins us (via Zoom) to demonstrate how a community research tool has been adapted to facilitate interfaith engagement.
29 January | Workshop: Future of Inter Faith Week. Part of national consultations led by the Faith & Belief Forum—seeking perspectives from practitioners, activists and enthusiasts. Please contact Iona if interested to join this session. (On site only.)
World Interfaith Harmony Week — 1 to 7 February
4 February | Seminar: Muslim and Christian masculinities, heroic love, and migration in Germany and the United Kingdom. A three-person panel, with Tanya Kundu as respondent.
6 February | Webinar: The significance of time in religious relations. How does time matter in and across religious traditions? Ankur Barua, Emily Qureshi-Hurst & Imad Ahmed provide a trio of perspectives.
7 February | Symposium: Rethinking tradition and modernity through inter-religious encounters: insights from Argentina, Ghana, and India. Join our visiting scholars for this CRASSH-hosted half-day symposium, featuring a documentary short, a photo exhibition, and reading group session. Register to receive precirculated readings. (On site only.)
11 February | CIP Skills: Countering bias—when longstanding habits incorporate prejudicial bias, how can we bring about change? Explore the relevance of inter-religious learning in intra-religious spaces with Julia Snyder. (On site only.)
18 February | Seminar: Scriptural Reasoning. An interactive text-centred workshop convened by Dr Giles Waller. (On site only.)
24 February–6 March | Stanton Lecture: Ways of Oneness. Chakravarthi Ram-Prasad FBA, Distinguished Professor of Comparative Religion and Philosophy at Lancaster University delivers the 2025 Stanton Lectures. Over six evenings, Prof Ram-Prasad will explore the theme of oneness, bringing Indic thought into dialogue with diverse religious thinkers.
25 February | CIP Skills: Critical empathy—with Esra Özyürek. Rescheduled from previous term. (On site only.)
04 March | Seminar: Pluralistic robust realism—Aden Cotterill explores the theologies of Tomas Halik and Charles Taylor.
11 March | CIP Skills: Media management. How do organisations—and communication professionals within organisations—take decisions about what to say and when?
18 March | Seminar: Political violence and meaning making. Stacey Gutkowski (King’s College London) makes a case for systematic study of organized political violence drawing on oral history evidence from the Syrian diaspora.
New publication
Congratulations to Marietta van der Tol, whose study Constitutional Intolerance is out now from Cambridge University Press (cambridge.org). Combining an insightful look at attitudes to otherness in the early modern era with chapter-length case studies of contemporary constitutional law issues in France, the Netherlands, Hungary and Poland, the book argues that the exclusion of minorities is a choice, shaped by canon law, and not the peculiar property of illiberalism.
Notices from Friends
23 January | Kick-off time for Footnotes: The Writing of Football
Joseph Powell convenes a quartet of conversations, as part of his ongoing interest in the interplay between football and faith. Up first is The Athletic’s Adam Hurrey. In February, Joseph Webster will reflect on his impact on Scots law and policy toward rival football supporters. Read more about the Footnotes series.
From the Centre of Islamic Studies (2 notices):
Vacancy for Postdoctoral Research and Outreach Associate with a research specialism related to Muslims in the UK and Europe. Apply for this 3-year post by 31 January (jobs.cam.ac.uk).
Hear Palestinian artist Nai Barghouti live at Cambridge Junction, accompanied by her jazz quartet. Billed as a masterful blend of classical Arabic music with contemporary jazz, Nai’s performances reflect the rich cultural traditions of the Arab world. Learn more via concert organisers, marsm.co.uk.
From the Centre for Faith in Public Life (Wesley House, Cambridge)
Call for papers: Revitalising Peace Theologies for Today: A Multi-Faith Peace Conference, Cambridge, 5–6 June 2025. Deadline 31 January.
Issues of war, peace and activism belong to the lived reality of many faiths around the world. Organisers seek paper proposals from a range of faith traditions, global contexts, and disciplines that aim at understanding, promoting, and enacting peace within oneself, communities, and nations. View details of conference & call at wesley.cam.ac.uk.
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