News

In 2010, the United Nations General Assembly designated 1-7 February as World Interfaith Harmony Week. Proposed by King Abdullah II of Jordan to promote a culture of peace and nonviolence, this is an annual event.In Cambridge, we are delighted to host a suitably harmonious lecture: Dr Vanessa Paloma Elbaz from the Faculty of Music opens the term’s …

An interdisciplinary research centre set to examine the origins of life and its place in the universe has received a £10 million grant from the Leverhulme Trust. The centre will be led by Professor Didier Queloz (Jacksonian Professor of Natural Philosophy), 2019 Nobel Laureate and pioneer in the field, alongside scientists from across the Universit…

Visiting Scholar Glen Milstein (CUNY) addressed the Faculty of Divinity's Inter-Religious Relations seminar in October 2021, generating fertile discussion alongside respondent Dr Andrew Davison. Those interested in Dr Milstein's ongoing work in this domain may be pleased to hear that he is one of four speakers at the 2022 Spirituality and Mental He…

27 January is the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi death camp. It is also UK Holocaust Memorial Day, remembering the six million Jews and others murdered by the Nazis, as well as the victims of other genocides. Cambridge Interfaith Programme commends attention to the following events scheduled to mark this occas…

Dr Marie Chabbert is a Research Fellow attached to St John's College. Her research sits at a disciplinary crossing point, between French Studies, Philosophy, and Religious Studies. She will be sharing some of her work at the Inter-Religious Relations seminar during Lent term.Dr Chabbert is also an Interfaith Ambassador for the United Nations Allian…

Dr Hrag Papazian is one of seven Visiting Scholars participating in our Turkish-Armenian Relations project (funded by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation). Writing for Open Democracy(12 Jan 2022), he identifies how recent conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan has affected Armenia's take on new talks with Turkey. Post-war vulnerability* complicates…

This week we welcome the publication of CIP associate Dr Safet HadziMuhamedovic's monograph Waiting for Elijah in paperback. Based on extensive fieldwork in Bosnia, the book focuses on the harvest feast of Elijah's Day. The paperback edition includes a new foreword from Dr Marko Živković (University of Alberta).  Reviewers of the hardback edition h…

Dr Tobias Mueller and Professor Esra Özyürek have published an opinion piece arguing that “Religious communities can make the difference in winning the fight against climate change”. Building on Dr Mueller’s ethnographic research focused on Extinction Rebellion and as an observer at COP26, and feeding into our Religion and Global Challenges initiat…

On Wednesday 1 December 2021, Professor Esra Özyürek joins an online panel discussion about Holocaust remembrance and colonialism. Hosted by the German Historical Institute Washington, and with co-panellists from the USA, France and Germany, the discussion is intended to reflect on international differences in public response, in the context of a c…

On 16 November, during UK Inter-Faith Week, the Inter-Religious Relations seminar welcomed Derviş Hızarcı, Chairman of the Berlin-based Kreuzberger Initiative against Antisemitism – KigA e.V.Hızarcı spoke in conversation with Professor Esra Özyürek [EO], whose own recent research explores the topic of empathy and Holocaust remembrance among Muslim-…

In collaboration with the Doha-based research Center for Islamic Legislation and Ethics (CILE), Cambridge Interfaith Programme is pleased to invite research papers on the topic:The conceptual ground of good and evil in Islamic discourse: a fecund domain for ethical reflectionsA closed 3-day seminar will be held in Doha from 5-7 October, 2022. Dr Fe…

As we enter Michaelmas term, we bring news of three seminar series in Cambridge:Later this month, we resume our Interreligious Relations seminar series at the new time of 2:15pm on Tuesdays. The first speaker this term is Professor Glen Milstein (CUNY) who will share plans to extend his research in the field of religion and mental health. We will a…

As part of the 2021 Cambridge Alumni Festival, researchers from Cambridge Inter-Faith Programme came together online to discuss Religious Pluralism. Chairing the session, Dr Giles Waller (above right) asked: Is the presence of different religious groups in society a source of conflict or a resource for social flourishing?What is conflict? Starting …

This year's Cambridge Alumni Festival takes place online from 24 to 28 September 2021. Alumni and guests are welcome to join Cambridge Interfaith Programme on Tuesday 28th at 11am as we consider what our research reveals about the societal impact of religious pluralism. Religious pluralism: challenge or opportunity?During this 50-minute panel event…

Bhagat Singh (1907–1931) met his death at the hands of British colonial powers. His execution followed a lengthy and high-profile trial. Ninety years on, he is memorialised with statues, t-shirts and car bumper stickers. In episode three of the Religion & Global Challenges podcast, Marlene Schafers interviews Chris Moffatt, author of India’s revolu…