News

In April 2023, Dr Ankur Barua and Hina Khalid convened an online series on the topic of Inter-religious relations in South Asia, together with Dr Pranav Prakash (Christ Church, Oxford). Zoom recordings from four sessions are now available to watch again on the Faculty of Divinity YouTube channel.Learn more about each paper, and watch them below, or…

Spring 2023 takes musicologist Dr Vanessa Paloma Elbaz on tour with visits to Centre College (a small Protestant-foundation liberal arts college in Danville, KY) and a two-day residency at Carleton College, Minnesota. Accompanying her are musicians Mostafa Benhmad and Abdallah Hachami, travelling from France and Morocco for this purpose. Each has a…

Is commitment to God compatible with modern citizenship? Daniel Weiss provides new readings of four modern Jewish philosophers – Moses Mendelssohn, Hermann Cohen, Franz Rosenzweig, and Walter Benjamin – in light of classical rabbinic accounts of God's sovereignty, divine and human violence, and the embodied human being as the image of God. In Moder…

Published on 4 April 2023, Subcontractors of Guilt: Holocaust Memory and Muslim Belonging in Postwar Germany is an ethnographic study comparing the intents and consequences of education programmes among Turkish- and Arab-background Muslims living in Germany. The book is Professor Esra Özyürek's third monograph, and the first published since she joi…

In June 2023, students affiliated with the Cambridge Interfaith Programme are co-organising a symposium on the theme Religion – Conflict – Dialogue. Here is the call, addressed to students and recent graduates at the University of Cambridge:We are delighted to announce that the call for papers for the Cambridge Interfaith Forum’s 2023 Symposium is …

On March 27, 2023, we hosted the concluding workshop in our three-part Language Learning in/as Religious Education miniseries. Co-organiser Dr Anastasia Badder reports:This workshop was the largest event yet, featuring ten speakers from universities and educational institutions across the UK, Europe, and the US:Jo-Ann Myers (Leo Baeck College)Anast…

On March 25, 2023, the Cambridge Interfaith Programme hosted ‘Objects across religious boundaries: An interactive storytelling workshop’ at Downing Place United Reformed Church. The event was part of the third Cambridge Festival. Organisers Dr Anastasia Badder and Dr Safet HadžiMuhamedović report:Our aim was to think about the ways all kinds of mat…

Astronomy may not be an obvious topic for inter-faith or intra-faith dialogue. Yet it transpires to be fertile territory for an outsider to understand something of what Ramadan means among UK Muslims. Our Communications and Programme Manager, Dr Iona Hine, reflects:“Yesterday, I attempted something I’ve never tried before: I looked for the new moon…

The rhythms of the calendar year vary across religions, as also between nations, continents, and hemispheres. Since its establishment through UN resolution in 2010, World Interfaith Harmony Week (WIHW) has provided a moment for connection between those calendars. At the Cambridge Interfaith Programme, we welcome this annual opportunity to look outw…

Dr Vanessa Paloma Elbaz is a researcher based in the Faculty of Music at the University of Cambridge. A member of the Cambridge Interfaith Research Forum from its inception, she reports on the outcomes of a recent workshop funded by the Forum's small grant scheme:On January 24, 2023, we hosted a closed workshop entitled Trance, Ritual Sound and Mig…

Proposed by H.M. King Abdullah II of Jordan and adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2010, 2023 sees the 13th World Interfaith Harmony Week. Based on the pioneering initiative A Common Word calling for Christian and Muslim leaders to work together, it is intended to provide a focal point to recognise common values and build goodwill.Scripture and …

Dozens of people from the University of Cambridge and beyond joined the Cambridge Interfaith Programme for a series of events to mark Inter Faith Week (13-20 November 2022). From lunchtime till nightOn Monday 14th November, a lunchtime social hour with the Interfaith Research Forum helped forge connections with new scholars in the Faculty of Divini…

UN Interfaith Ambassador Dr Marie Chabbert is travelling to Morocco for the 9th United Nations Alliance of Civilisations (UNAOC) Global Forum. She will chair discussion concerning religious discrimination.The Forum theme is “Towards an alliance of peace: living together as one humanity”. It is intended to bring together official delegations represe…

CIP Academic Director Professor Esra Özyürek is pleased to participate in "The future of European religion-state regimes: a normative inquiry, with special reference to the UK, Germany, Hungary, and Ukraine", a two-day workshop hosted by the Centre for Faith in Public Life, Wesley House Cambridge (21 and 22 November 2022).Professor Özyürek will cha…

Inter Faith Week gets under way in England, Northern Ireland and Wales this weekend. From Sunday 13 to Sunday 20 November, thousands of people will be participating in events for Inter Faith Week. Running since 2009, Inter Faith Week seeks to strengthen inter faith understanding and cooperation; highlight the contribution of faith groups to society…