Who We Are
In 2001, a group of organizations
convened a conference to explore the emerging field of interfaith education. Out
of this event, the Planning Committee for the Consultation on Interfaith
Education was formed. This Planning Committee is comprised of Auburn
Seminary, ARIL/CrossCurrents, CLAL—the National Jewish Center for Leadership and
Learning, the Loretto Community, the International Mahavir Jain Mission, the
Interfaith Community, the Fellowship of Reconciliation, the Muslim Women’s
Institute for Research and Development, and the Temple of Understanding.
The result of our initial
collaboration was a conference series entitled “The Consultation on Interfaith
Education” – the first being held in March 2003 in New York. This Consultation
assembled an international body of representatives from the educational,
religious, social service and diplomatic fields in order to exchange ideas,
practices, information, and resources. It comprised a pioneering effort to
navigate the complex landscape of interfaith education, identifying both its
problematic and promising features, with the goal of reaching new horizons in
practical problem solving, peacemaking, and tolerance through education.
In November 2003 the CIE sponsored a
consultation at the American Academy of Religion's Annual Meeting in Atlanta
which brought the nascent field of interfaith education to the attention of the
community of scholars of religion who teach in America's colleges and
universities.
These consultations have revealed
that, while many interfaith organizations that work with interfaith education
exist, the organizational and pedagogical support structures that would connect
them as a field and lend coherence and momentum for growth are lacking. In
response, our collective organizations are currently engaged in a multi-year
project to provide integrated support structures and services to develop the
field of interfaith education. We have formed a working group and, over the
course of the next three years, our working group seeks to organize:
§
regional, national, and international conferences
§
several ongoing informational medium– including a
Website and database, an on-line peer-review journal, instructional videos and
CD-ROMs, and resource publications – to share pedagogical approaches, best
practice models, curricula, and research on interfaith education
§
interfaith training institutes for seminary
faculty, students, and administrators, as well as interfaith practitioners,
educators, and religious leaders
Our first international event
was the Symposium on Interfaith Education at the Parliament of the World’s
Religions in Barcelona, July 8 – 11, 2004. The CIE's present focus is on
the role of interfaith cooperation in advancing the Millennium Development
Goals. The CIE will be convening a consultation on religion and the MDGs in New
York City in June 2005.
On
the web @ www.globalinterfaithed.org
