In Southern Thailand, a Muslim and a Monk Find Friendship, Seek Peace

On Tuesday, 28 September, Southern Thailand’s Chanae District was rocked with violence, as a roadside bomb causing a one-metre-deep crater injured four police officers and killed two, according to the Bangkok Post. The bombing was the most recent manifestation of a little-known conflict that continues to rage in the region.  

Although the conflict has intensified in the last two decades, there is a long history of dispute between Buddhists and Muslims in Southern Thailand. Stretching back to the early 20th-century, when ethnic Malay were forcibly incorporated into Siam, the sectarian conflict has persisted as both sides fought over values, language, customs, and resources.

Recognising the need to build trust after more than a century of intermittent violence, Ven. Napan Santibhaddo Thawornbanjob and Kriya Langputeh, decided to work together to counteract predispositions toward suspicion and violence between their communities. 

Since meeting in 2017, they have worked together to convene community visits and provide dialogue training for Buddhists and Muslims in Southern Thailand. 

They believe the connection they’ve formed, and their efforts at replicating that relationship, not only provide a path toward positive peace, but can inspire others to walk a similar road in facing challenges in their own communities. 

God's Talker: Thomas Schirrmacher hopes to lead Christians into conversations, cooperation with other religious communities

The first thing you notice about Thomas Schirrmacher’s home are the books.

Stuffed into shelves, stacked in piles, and even teetering on top of the toilet, they range from edited collections of Jewish history to works such as Mark Noll’s The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind.

Schirrmacher is the recently elected secretary general and CEO of the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA). He is also the author of scores of books himself.

Of note on Schirrmacher’s bookcases, however, is a title not written by him but in his honor: God Needs No Defense: Reimagining Muslim-Christian Relations in the 21st Century.

Opening with an essay on “humanitarian Islam” by former Indonesian president Abdurrahman Wahid, the edited collection of essays, statements, and treatises—including an essay by Schirrmacher’s wife, Christine, who is a professor of Islamic studies—covers issues related to Christian-Muslim relations and religious freedom.

The volume is a testament to Schirrmacher’s vision: a world where, as the editors said, “Muslim and Christian believers reach across racial, religious, cultural, and political lines to strive for the equal rights and dignity of every human being.”

The authors said Schirrmacher is a man who is driven intellectually, emotionally, and theologically to work with a diverse range of partners in addressing some of the world’s most pressing issues.

The challenge now is to rally global evangelicals to do it with him.

Walking the Road to Zero Emissions with Young Christians in the UK

“The road,” wrote Spanish poet Antonio Machado, “is made by walking.” 

Often adopted as a metaphor for pilgrimage and spiritual journeys, it served as a clarion call for Sarah Moring, 25, a climate activist living in Manchester, England. 

In September 2021, Moring joined the Young Christian Climate Network (YCCN) — an advocacy community of young Christians in the UK aged 18-30 —  on its relay in advance of this year’s United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as COP26. 

Described as “a key moment in international climate negotiations,” COP26 is being held this November in Glasgow, Scotland. 

Stretching over 750 miles and cutting through Cardiff, London, and Oxford, YCCN urged participants like Moring to join the crusade for climate justice by walking a portion of the route between the end of the G7 meeting in Cornwall on June 13 and COP26’s opening ceremonies starting October 31.

Gracias a Dios, alhamdulillah, and great thanks to each and every one of you

The acknowledgements section of my book was extremely gratifying to write. It is even more gratifying to share it here with you.

Perhaps this has become trite to say, but after such an undertaking, I can attest that completing this book would have been impossible without the help of others. I am indebted to each and every one of the following individuals and to many others. 

The debts of gratitude and appreciation that I have accumulated are vast, and I ask forgiveness from all those I neglect to name here. And, it must be said, any errors in this book are solely my own and are not the responsibility of those who provided input throughout the process.

First, to the students in my spring 2017 Islam in the Americas course at the University of Florida: You gave me the idea for this book. Thank you also to the graduate students in my course at Otto Friedrich Universität Bamberg in Germany. Beyond inspiration, you helped develop, think through, critique, and expand some of the ideas that formed the backbone of this work. You also researched and wrote your own papers, which informed my knowledge and expanded my understanding of the landscape of this field. Best of all, you challenged me with your questions, comments, and critiques. You are already contributors to this field, and I thank you for your continued engagement with it.

To those I spoke with at the Latin American Studies Association Congress, the Caribbean Studies Association Conference, the American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting, the University of Florida and its Center for Global Islamic Studies, the Florida Caribbean Students Association, Florida International University, Otto Friedrich Universität Bamberg, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, and Freie Universität Berlin: My presentations at these venues helped me to elucidate and elaborate on some of the themes in this book. Preparing these presentations also allowed me to work out some of the devils hiding in the details. Thank you to the participants, presiders, and panelists for your critical feedback and insightful questions.

Thank you to the editors of the extraordinarily helpful Critical Muslim series and Hamsa: Journal of Judaic and Islamic Studies. Thanks also to Frank Usarski and the International Journal of Latin American Religions and its editorial team for publishing an early review of literature that came to form the basis for this book’s outline. Thank you also to Celso Luiz Terzetti Filho for recommending me for its inaugural issue. Thank you to the people behind The Encyclopedia of Latin American Religions—senior editor Henri Gooren, the contributors to my section, and the editorial staff at Springer—for allowing me to serve as a section editor for the entries on Islam and Judaism in Latin America and the Caribbean. Readers will note that I have referenced entries from the encyclopedia in this book, which is a testament to the essential nature of the work, especially with regard to its emphasis on religions too often ignored (Islam, in particular) when surveying religion in the region.

To the Muslims and others who invited me into their homes and mosques, who told me their stories, or who shared their insights and experiences with me: I dedicate this book to you for good reason. There would be no book without you, plain and simple. I am humbly honored to learn from you in each conversation and new experience that I stumble and bumble my way through. Thank you for your patience, your confidence to speak, and your permission to allow me to share these stories. Gracias a Dios, alhamdulillah, and great thanks to each and every one of you. This book is my perspective on your narrative, and I respectfully submit it to you for critical feedback. I look forward to the conversations to come.

To the many scholars whose work I turn to in this book: This is your book, as well. As I state in Chapters 1 and 11, the book is meant to be an overview of an ongoing conversation in which you are all vital parts. Thank you for allowing me to be a co-collaborator in this field. I hope the book helps all of us continue to teach, learn, and delve deeper into the topic. Specifically, I would like to thank several individuals whose work I reference or allude to and with whom I was able to speak about their particular areas of expertise and research: Carlos Jair Martínez Albarracín, Patrick Bowen, Philipp Bruckmayr, Karoline P. Cook, Kevin Funk, Michelle Romero Gallardo, Juan Galvan, Hazel Gómez, Cynthia Hernández González, Nik Hasif, Aisha Khan, Aliyah Khan, Schuyler Marquez, Arely Medina, Harold Morales, Alaina Morgan, Madelina Nuñez, Luciana Garcia de Oliveira, Lucía Cirianni Salazar, Omar Ramadan Santiago, and others. As I recently said to Schuyler Marquez, “A win for one of us is a win for all of us” in this emerging field.

To my family and friends: Thank you for your cheerleading, encouragement, and forbearance as I talked about my project, retreated into my writing cave, or cut you off as I jotted down an idea that popped into my head. Thanks especially to my parents, Bob and Sandy: You have always encouraged me, no matter what I have done. When I was worried, stressed, or overwhelmed, you gave me proper perspective and the support to keep me supple to the strain of life and work. You gave me life—literally, figuratively, and spiritually. Thank you to Brett, who taught me the meaning of perseverance in the face of adversity and can always make me smile. Thank you to my German family and friends, including Karl Knaack (also known as Stefan Müller) and his electronic music, which helped me work through hours of manuscript writing, editing, and research. Thank you to Michael and Emily Knippa for a lovely stay in St. Louis, where I was able to write the bulk of Chapter 9. Thank you also to Andy and Faye Scott, whose lovely farmhouse in Bend, Oregon, permitted me to write the concluding chapter in peace and comfort while admiring the cloud-covered Cascade Mountains. 

Despite my weaknesses as a writer, I would like to thank all those who taught me how to research, write, and edit my way through an essay, a paper, a blog post, a news story, or a book: Mrs. Kelly, Mrs. Campbell, Mrs. Davis, and editors at the various papers, magazines, and portals in which I have had the honor to be published. Thanks also go to professors, mentors, and colleagues at Concordia University Irvine, who specifically helped refine my academic research and writing skills—Christine Lawton, Eshetu Abate Koyra, Korey Maas, James Bachman, Steven Mueller, and Jack Schultz, among others. I still have much to learn, and any shortcomings in my syntax or style are solely my responsibility. 

I am forever thankful for the pure privilege it was to conduct research with, learn from, and grow alongside the faculty, staff, and fellow researchers at the University of Florida, its Department of Religion, the Center for Latin American Studies, and the Center for Global Islamic Studies. Terje Østebø, Anna Peterson, Benjamin Soares, Efraín Barradas, David Hackett, Robin Wright, Whitney Sanford, Zoharah Simmons, and others provided the space for me to explore the themes of this book and write its first draft during my time in Gainesville. Thanks also to Barbara Mennel and Sophia Krzys Acord at the Center for the Humanities and the Public Sphere and their sponsorship of my attendance at the 2018 Writing Retreat at the Austin Cary Forest Learning Center, where I was able to put the final touches on the first draft.

I would also like to thank those who provided funding to support revisions of the manuscript. First, thanks to Ermin Sinanović and the Center of Islam in the Contemporary World at Shenandoah University for a grant that supported significant revisions in fall 2019. Thank you also to the Fritz Thyssen Foundation for funding my research at the Berlin Graduate School Muslim Cultures and Societies at Freie Universität Berlin, where I was able to make final revisions (even amidst the Covid-19 pandemic) with the full security of a research position in a supportive environment of colleagues. In particular, I thank Konrad Hirschler and Lars Ostermeier for their leadership and direction, Nadja Danilenko for writing tips, Antje Müller for taking care of the logistics of my position, Giulia Brabetz for her assistance and critical feedback on the manuscript along the way, and the fellows who participated in my Theorizing Global Islam reading group, in which we discussed this book’s main arguments and themes.

Thank you to the team at Lynne Rienner Publishers. I appreciate (and tremble a bit at) being able to follow in the footsteps of Judith Elkin, who published The Jews of Latin America with the same independent academic publishing house years ago. While my work cannot hope to compare, Lynne Rienner, Caroline Owen Wintersgill, Nicole Moore, Sally Glover, Allie Schellong, Diane Foose, and others were gracious throughout the process as we sought to provide a companion to such a seminal work. My thanks also go to the anonymous reviewers who provided critical, detailed, and constructive feedback that improved the final version of the text significantly. Unfortunately, that type of review feedback can be a rare commodity in academic publishing. Therefore, I am extremely grateful.

Finally, Paula, how can a paragraph express how much you have given to me in life and how much you have contributed to this book? In short, it cannot. Let this suffice for now: Thank you for your fierce intellect, constant encouragement, contagious joy, and for providing proper rhythm in life. Thank you for allowing me time to explore mosques and other sites of interest in Cuba, Puerto Rico, Brazil, New York, Iowa, Florida, the Bahamas, and elsewhere. Thank you also for reading the manuscript and providing feedback, specifically in matters related to Arabic. You were gracious to take time out of your schedule to do so. What’s more, every time I finished a chapter, wrote a few thousand words, or just stared at the computer for a while trying to figure out where to go next, you were always ready with an encouraging word, an insightful comment, or an offer to get snacks. You are the most amazing best friend and partner I could ask for.

Accused of diverting funds to Hamas, former World Vision employee still awaits verdict

Mohammad el-Halabi believes the truth will set him free.

The former Gaza director of World Vision has now spent more than half a decade in prison, and according to his lawyer, the Israeli government has offered him plea deal after plea deal. He could potentially go home if he would only confess that funding for the Christian humanitarian aid organization was diverted to support terrorism.

But Halabi has refused.

“He is saying he will not admit to things he never did,” Maher Hanna, who represents Halabi, told CT. “He will not pollute the image of World Vision just to get a personal discount and go home to be with his children.”

Hanna, himself a Christian, said this is one of the remarkable things about this case that has not been noted in the international headlines: A Muslim man who worked for a Christian organization is refusing, under severe pressure and at great personal risk, to betray one of the largest evangelical charities in the world and harm its future work.

“We should admire that position that Muhammad is taking for himself. It’s a high Christian value,” Hanna said.

Close observers and insiders say Halabi’s trial looks like it will conclude this fall. The Israeli court could reach a verdict as early as this month.

The Little-Known Jewish History in the Heart of Germany

Berkach lies in the bucolic borderlands between the German states of Bavaria and Thuringia. Formerly divided by the hard boundary between former East (GDR) and West Germany, the one-time international frontier is now marked by an old watch tower, about a half mile outside the village.

But I’m not in Berkach today to chronicle its accounts of living on the fringes of the former GDR. Instead, I’m here to discover another significant aspect of the hamlet’s history, its once robust and significant Jewish life. 

As Germany looks back on 1,700 years of Jewish life in the country, dating back to a decree in Cologne in 321 they are recalling Judaism’s long, if complicated, history in central Europe. 

Visiting sites like Peter Eisenman’s Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe in Berlin or renowned Jewish museums in Frankfurt, Berlin, or Munich, one gets a sense of the enormity of what was lost in the Holocaust — in human lives, in culture, in knowledge, in history and heart. 

Yet, despite the ways each institution seeks to personalize the ambivalence of German Jewish life over the years, there is an intimacy and immediacy that is missed if those are the only places one goes. 

To get a sense of the absent presence that Germany continues to wrestle with, one must also explore smaller, provincial places like Berkach. 

A Legacy of Transformation: Alissa Wahid and the Gusdurian Network Indonesia

Inheriting a father’s legacy is never easy — especially when that father was the first democratically elected Indonesian president in a generation.

When President Abdurrahman Wahid — popularly known as “Gus Dur” — died in 2009, millions of people visited his grave in the remote East Javanese town of Jombang. Even now, twelve years later, the East Java Tourism Agency reports that half-a-million people visit each month.

While president of Indonesia for only two tumultuous years, Gus Dur’s legacy endures beyond his time in office. Upon his passing, people from across Indonesia’s religious and political spectrums felt a deep, personal sense of loss for a much-loved humanitarian whose compassionate activism transcended religious boundaries.

For 2017 KAICIID Fellow Alissa Wahid, 49, being Gus Dur’s daughter, not to mention the granddaughter of one of the founders of Nahdlatul Ulama — which with somewhere between 40-60 million members is the largest Muslim organization in the world — it is quite the legacy to live up to.

“You can imagine what kind of expectations I was born into,” she said with a portrait of her father hanging behind her, “it was this huge burden.”

Even so, she channelled her family’s legacy into pioneering an interreligious movement of her own: the Gusdurian Network Indonesia (GNI). Founded in 2010, GNI works with grassroots-level activists across Indonesia to promote interreligious reconciliation, active citizenship, democracy, and human rights.

It is hard to measure the full extent of the organization, as they have no formal membership structure, but it has chapters in over 114 locations across Indonesia — and international chapters in places like Malaysia, the UK, Saudi Arabia, Germany, the Philippines, and Egypt. On Twitter, GNI enjoys 235,000 followers alongside Wahid’s 449,300.

As GNI’s National Director, Wahid has been at the forefront of fighting for religious minorities’ rights in Indonesia, promoting a vision of interreligious exchange between Muslims and non-Muslims, and seeking to build on, and extend, her forebears’ legacy.

“Who Will Protect Us?”

For Wahid, the journey to being a public servant was not self-evident. While her sister — popularly known as Yenny — went into politics and took up the job of directing her late father’s research centre (The Wahid Institute), Alissa initially shunned the public eye.

But when her father passed away in 2009, representatives of various religious minorities came to Wahid’s house to pay their respects. They also shared their struggles and asked her to intervene.

“They said things to me like, ‘now that your father has passed away, who should we come to when we suffer? Who will protect us?’” she said.

“In those moments, I thought back to what my father always told us — ‘you have to realise your capacity,’ he always said we could live whatever lifestyle we wanted, but we could not abandon our calling.”

Thus compelled, Wahid founded GNI to extend her father’s work and create collaborative spaces for interreligious dialogue.

GNI’s extensive network has allowed Wahid not only to promote pluralism in Indonesia on a large scale, but also to mobilise people locally to protect marginalised communities when they come under threat.

In 2010, Wahid was sipping on a latte in Starbucks when she received a notification about an attack on a West Javan village. Largely inhabited by Ahmadis — a denomination considered “non-Muslim” by religious hardliners — assailants descended upon the village as part of a spate of vicious attacks across Indonesia. The Ahmadis feared for their lives.

The message Wahid received from 500 kilometres away not only communicated the danger but expressed the hope that Gusdurians would come to their aide. Wahid dropped the latte and sprang into action, finding Gusdurians in the area and connecting them to village residents.

The network not only responded, they formed a protective, human barrier around the village — literally standing up for the ideals of religious pluralism and freedom Wahid’s father championed.

It was a tipping point for the organization. And for Wahid. “I realised then that this work isn’t just nice talk,” said Wahid, “this is about defending freedoms, protecting people, especially vulnerable groups.”

The Persistent Pursuit Of Elusive Justice

Since those early days, the organization’s prominence, and Wahid’s convictions, led her to wade back into politics. The rise of religious extremism in Indonesia worries many members of government and in recent years, they’ve increasingly called on Wahid to help address the popular shift to the right.

During her KAICIID fellowship, Wahid came to see again how influential religious leaders can be.

“Many things can be mobilised by using religion,” she said, “religion can be a good thing or also misused as a tool for conflict.”

And so, during her fellowship, Wahid began working on government projects to advocate for more interreligious dialogue and “not only promote peace,” she said, “but advance religious moderation.”

Along with other KAICIID Fellows, Wahid saw how interreligious dialogue “is really needed to get some misperceptions, misunderstandings, and prejudices out of the way so we can go ahead and think of a better world.”

Nonetheless, Wahid and GNI continue to face opposition from traditionalists and hardliners in Indonesian society and government. The battles that her father fought are persistent, said Wahid, and she knows they will not go away without perseverance.

“You don’t have to like the work, just focus on the result you’re trying to get,” said Wahid, “politics is like dancing: One step forward, two back. Justice is elusive, but always around the corner.

Although she admits that there is still a long road ahead, she is pleased to see how her father’s ideas and legacy are not forgotten, but perhaps thriving more than ever before.

“At the highest levels of government, we have been talking about interfaith cooperation, about respect, about bringing a more just perspective into religious lives,” said Wahid, “the real achievement will be to take that talk and establish social, physical, and psychological space where people can come together based on principles of justice and humanity.”

When all is said and done, Wahid hopes GNI’s legacy will be one of long-term “social transformation.”

Recognition In Indonesia And Beyond

Despite setbacks, people in Indonesia and abroad have recognised what GNI has already accomplished. In 2018, GNI received Taiwan’s Asia Democracy and Human Rights Award and in 2020, they were named the best social media movement by one of Indonesia’s largest news agencies.

Manjid Achmad, professor at Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta who researches interreligious dialogue, said GNI and Wahid show how to promote religious pluralism and effectively protect minority rights, “not by fighting against or solving these common problems by itself, but inspiring others to solve them,” he said.

Pointing to how Catholics, Protestants, Hindus, Buddhists, and others are all part of the network, Achmad said, “the more actors that are doing this, the better for Indonesia.”

Indonesian scholar Aan Anshori and GNI member added his own personal perspective: “I’ve learned many things through her work: integrity, modesty, and courage, she is a spiritual leader for us, showing us the path that requires sacrifice for defending the oppressed,” he said, “Alissa is not only Gus Dur’s biological daughter, but an ideological one.”

In that, Anshori said, she carries the legacy of her predecessors well.

*This profile is my latest with the USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture’s “Engaged Spirituality Project.” To read other profiles in this project, see below:

• A Butcher By Name, This Muslim Surgeon Saves Lives Across Battle Lines (Mohammed Elgazzar)

• Azza Karam listens to the world’s religious women and thinks you should too (Azza Karam)

• Drawing from a broad stream of spirituality, Ela Gandhi continues to serve humanity (Ela Gandhi)

A Holy Calling: Dealing with Diversity Every Day

On a recent trip to Sweden, some friends asked me about my work as a theologian, pastor, religion newswriter and scholar.

They were, understandably, a bit confused about how it all fit together. To be honest, sometimes so am I!

They were also a bit concerned.

How do I avoid a conflict of interest as a journalist? How do I deal with my outsider status as an ethnographer working with Muslim minority communities? How do I reconcile my interreligious encounters with my calling as a theologian?

Great questions.

Last month, Cristina Ochoa interviewed me for the ATLA (American Theological Library Association) blog. To say the least, I was pretty excited. The ATLA — a membership association of librarians and information professionals, and a producer of research tools, committed to advancing the study of religion and theology — often featured in my early theological research at Concordia University Irvine and I continue to use its tools today.

The result is an exploration of how my various vocations work together. It’s also a look into how I see my efforts as a religion scholar, newswriter, and theologian as part of a larger calling toward advancing religious literacy.

“Come out from among them and be different”: An Interview with Philip Yancey

Yancey’s Where the Light Fell  (Convergent, October.) digs up his roots in the fundamentalist South in the 1950s and ’60s. Yancey not only recounts how he came to repudiate aspects of his past, but managed to rekindle his faith and share the “good news” he believes it offers the world. 

In my interview with Yancey on behalf of Publisher’s Weekly, the popular author shared why his latest book is a memoir, what he learned by digging up his past, and how it speaks to evangelical realities in the U.S. today.

“We took the Bible verse ‘Come out from them and be different’ seriously. We dressed differently, we acted differently. We stood out. We were a marginalized group. In the end, the church served as a community of support. Life is difficult, especially if you’re in a poor community and you feel like you’re on the margins already.”

— Philip Yancey

Weimar: The Capital of Contemporary Yiddishland?

In a clear homage to the Beatles’ 1967 “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” album cover and its wonderful whirl of colorful visuals, the poster for this year’s Yiddish Summer Weimar (YSW) festival features a menagerie of cut-out visages: from Johann Sebastian Bach and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, to wandering cattle and a bedecked bass drum reading, “Makonovetsky’s Wandering Stars Club Band.”

Together, the collage symbolizes the transcultural and time-spanning story of Yiddish culture and music — its progenitors and critics, its historical influences and contemporary performative interpreters.

At the center of it all stands Alan Bern.  

Bern playing the accordion. PHOTO: Yulia Kabakova, courtesy of Alan Bern

The Bloomington, Indiana-born composer, musician, educator and cultural activist made his way to Berlin, Germany in 1987. There, he helped found Brave Old World, a band described by The Washington Post as the first “supergroup” of klezmer music’s contemporary revival movement.

Klezmer music is an instrumental tradition of Ashkenazi Jews of Europe. Simply meaning “musician,” the word “klezmer” reflects, and conveys, its broader Yiddish roots.

A spoken language of a considerable portion of Ashkenazi Jews for centuries, Yiddish emerged in 9th-century Europe as a mix of German vernacular, written Hebrew, and Aramaic, Slavic, and Romantic linguistic influences and vocabulary. Meaning “Jewish” in the language itself, Yiddish is also the vehicle for a rich culture heritage of everyday Jewish life and celebration: proverbs, humor, idioms and music.

Over the last 30-odd years, klezmer – and Yiddish language and culture in general – has been enjoying quite the comeback.

Knoblauch Klezmer Band · Moustache

In the midst of this rejuvenation, Bern and Brave Old World were invited to conduct a workshop on Yiddish music in the central German city of Weimar as part of the European Summer Academy in 1999. The workshop was a wild success and Bern became the founding artistic director of what is now known as YSW — a five-week summer institute and festival for the study, creation and performance of Yiddish culture and music in the heart of Germany.

Today, it is one of the most widely recognized programs for the renewal of Yiddish culture in the world, receiving awards from the European Union and the German Music Council, among others. In 2016 Bern was awarded the Weimar Prize in recognition of his significant cultural contributions to the city.

For Bern, YSW is about more than showcasing Yiddish music; it’s about exploring Yiddish culture as a complex, and continually evolving, convergence of European and non-European customs. It’s also about empowering people for creativity and connection on a continent evermore marked by diversity and difference.

Streaming Ramadan TV to the World

Fatima al-Masri, a sales consultant in her 20s, grew up watching TV drama serials during Ramadan as a family tradition in Amman, Jordan. “We will be talking about it for hours, for days even,” she says. “You have no idea how much time we spend watching these shows, analyzing them. It opens up a lot of conversation.”

For nearly 2 billion people worldwide, the holy month of Ramadan is not just 29 or 30 days of fasting from dawn to sunset, prayer and charity. It is also a month of social gatherings and cultural events—including television dramas produced for the season.

As travel and public health restrictions have hampered in-person socializing during Ramadan both in 2020 and this year, social media and television have been playing greater roles than ever.

Now along with searching YouTube for advice on how best to fast or what to make for the day’s fast-breaking iftar,observing Ramadan also involves deciding among apps such as Ramadan Diet, Daily Dua or dozens more. It means picking out Ramadan-themed gifs to share on Whatsapp threads. And it means selecting which TV series to binge with the family—and the options are overwhelming. Traditional Ramadan programming powerhouses like Egypt and Turkey as well as ones in Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Syria, Algeria and the UAE are all serving up ever-more sumptuous buffets of social dramas, cooking shows, music specials, comedies and religious programming.

Often described by Arab media experts as a sweeps season for the Middle East, Ramadan boosts TV viewership by up to 45 percent on traditional platforms, and YouTube has recently seen three-fold to four-fold Ramadan spikes. This is why Arabic-language networks so often premiere their top shows in Ramadan—from perennially popular prank shows like Ramez to cooking shows with popular Moroccan chef Assia Othman to Al Namous, a Kuwaiti drama featuring stories across social classes set in the 1940s and 1970s, and dozens more. 

“If you want to understand the region, you have to see it through its pop culture.”

— Joseph Fahim, film critic

While satellite channels have delivered programs like these to millions of Arabic speakers for decades, streaming platforms like Netflix and YouTube are now bringing even more to new audiences, particularly in Europe, North America and Asia, with subtitling in major world languages. 

Along with widened distribution and added viewership, streaming platforms and competitive programming are pushing producers to offer increasingly contemporary storylines and series shorter than a month’s worth of 30 episodes. Especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, Ramadan TV has offered a window on places viewers couldn’t travel to and also offered cultural insights.

“If you want to understand the region, you have to see it through its pop culture,” says Egyptian film critic Joseph Fahim. “A good way to start learning is through a show.”

After Angela: German Evangelicals Consider the Political Future

In 1987, then West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl and his party the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) ran a re-election campaign with the slogan, Weiter so, Deutschland. (“More of the same, Germany”), promising stability and security in the years to come. 

They ended up winning, but Germany—and the world—was drastically transformed with the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. 

Fast forward to 2021 and Germany and Kohl’s one-time protégé Angela Merkel is about to step down as chancellor after 16 years at the helm. A fixture of life and a living embodiment of weiter so, Merkel’s departure presents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for change in German politics. 

“These elections are historic,” said Anna Klein, a 27 year old teacher and evangelical in the central German state of Thuringia, “we are coming off our first female chancellor and we have the opportunity to build on her legacy, to see if we elect a woman again and move in an even more transformational direction.” 

Until April, the consensus was that despite the profound quandary of a political party bereft of Merkel’s calm, disciplined leadership, her CDU and its sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU) in Bavaria, would remain the dominant force in German politics. Even more weiter so, it seemed. 

But then, with the support of younger evangelicals like Klein, the Green Party seems to be pulling ahead in polls. It may garner enough votes to form a coalition government with the conservative bloc, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Christian Social Union (CSU).

Though the idea of a progressive party (the Greens) and a conservative bloc (CDU/CSU) working hand-in-hand to govern might sound strange, the environmental and protest party has shifted toward the mainstream in recent years, becoming part of Germany’s new, forward-looking political middle ground. 

There, at the heart of this collective of political compromise, one finds a wide swathe of evangelical voters whose values and varied priorities seem to pair well with a coupling between the Greens and CDU/CSU. 

Public Lecture: What hath ethnography to do with religion journalism?

Diversity and difference continue to pose a pronounced challenge to the public understanding of religion.

For decades, both religion scholars and journalists have striven to address religious pluralism and advance religious literacy through a range of critical research and explanatory reporting. One shared aspect between them has been the use of immersive techniques in order to offer more nuanced, contextual, and longform narratives of the miscellany of religious traditions.

On the one hand, ethnographers of religion have produced textured analyses of religious individuals, socialities, rituals, and material cultures, further refining and complicating our understanding of what “religion” is and how it is lived in particular places. On the other hand, some religion newswriters are afforded the opportunity to take deep dives into religious actors’ lives and contexts and tell their stories in popular fashion via features, podcasts, and video stories.

Despite their differences, qualitative religious studies scholarship and religion journalism have more in common than usually acknowledged.

As part of the series "Erfurt Monday Lectures: New Topics in Religious Studies” at the University of Erfurt, I will share some insights and reflections as both an ethnographer and a journalist and how my research and reporting on religion has led me to explore questions related to the ethics, norms, and aesthetics of both fields and how they might work together to shine light on how religion and spirituality function in the lives of religious actors and socialities in a diverse array of locales and from multiple points of view.

The event will be Monday, 21 June 2021 at 5:00 pm Central European Time (11:00 am EDT/8:00 PDT). You can learn more about the event HERE, register ahead of time via e-mail, or simply attend the event at the link below (requires WebEx software).

If you have any questions, be sure to reach out to me as well: k.chitwood@fu-berlin.de.

Finding spiritual solace in Berlin, the not-so-secular city

Both before and during the pandemic — and perhaps for years to come — religion remains a potent force in Germany’s not-so-secular city, Berlin.

When Harvard theologian Harvey Cox served as an ecumenical worker in Berlin in the 1960s, he watched the city and its people wrestle with their identity , surmising that they were taking steps toward a more secular future in the aftermath of conflict and chaos. 

It was in Berlin that the seeds of an idea — later called the “secularization thesis” — began to germinate in his mind. In his 1965 book, “The Secular City,” Cox proposed that as societies develop, the need for religion diminishes, and as a result, religion itself declines. 

And yet, as cosmopolitan as ever, Berliners — its people, not its pastries — still turn to a diverse array of religious sources to meet multiple needs: from social contact to providing a semblance of order in a tumultuous world. 

Why al-Aqsa mosque is so often the site of conflict

The violence that spread from Jerusalem to cities across Israel and the Palestinian territories, leaving at least 60 dead so far, has both historical and contemporary roots.

In recent weeks, tension has flared over the eviction of Palestinian families in Sheikh Jarrah, East Jerusalem, Israeli authorities blocking access to the important Damascus Gate plaza during Ramadan, and a march of thousands of Israeli ultra-nationalists through the city on May 6, 2021, in celebration of “Jerusalem Day,” which marks the capture of East Jerusalem in 1967. 

But the one incident that led to a significant escalation involved Israeli security forces firing rubber-coated bullets, tear gas and stun grenades at worshipers gathered at al-Aqsa mosque on May 7.

When I teach introduction to Islam, I include a discussion about al-Aqsa as part of the syllabus. That’s because Al-Aqsa has deep religious significance for Muslims around the world. But, it is also important to highlight its remarkable political relevance for Palestinians. These two facts often make it a focal point for conflict.

The night journey of Muhammad

The Masjid al-Aqsa, or simply al-Aqsa, means “the farthest mosque” or “the farthest sanctuary,” and refers to the lead-domed mosque within the sacred precinct of Haram al-Sharif – “the Noble Enclosure.” The precinct includes the Dome of the Rock, the four minarets, the compound’s historic gates and the mosque itself.

Mentioned in Sura 17, verse 1 of the Quran, the mosque is linked to the story of Muhammad’s Isra – the “night journey” from Mecca to Jerusalem – that in part confirms him as the last and most authoritative of the prophets for Muslims. The Quran says the prophet was “carried…by night from the Sacred Mosque [in Mecca] to the Farthest Mosque [al-Aqsa], whose precincts we have blessed.” 

From there, it is believed that Muhammad ascended to heaven – called the Mir'aj. The Dome of the Rock – Qubbat as-Sakhra – is said to shelter the rock from where Muhammad physically ascended.

The mosque’s origins stretch back to the seventh century. It was first built in 637 C.E., just five years after the prophet’s death. It has been destroyed, rebuilt and renovated multiple times.

The current building largely dates to the 11th century and hosts daily prayers and Friday gatherings that draw large crowds. It lies adjacent to important Jewish and Christian religious locales, particularly the site of the First and Second Jewish Temples. 

At times, the Dome of the Rock – a shrine – and al-Aqsa – a mosque – have been confused as one and the same. While part of the same “Noble Sanctuary,” they are two distinct buildings with different histories and purposes. 

However, the term al-Aqsa is sometimes used to indicate the entire “Noble Sanctuary” complex. Originally, it is believed that the term “the farthest sanctuary” referred to Jerusalem as a whole. 

The Dome of the Rock, which shelters the rock from which Muhammad is believed to have ascended to heaven (PHOTO: Ken Chitwood)

Place in Islamic history

After Mecca and Medina, the vast majority of Muslims worldwide consider Jerusalem the third holiest place on Earth. 

Referenced frequently in Islamic tradition and hadith – records of something the Prophet Muhammad said, did or tacitly approved of – it is believed that while in Mecca, Muhammad originally oriented his community’s prayers toward al-Aqsa.

In 622 C.E., the community fled Mecca because of persecution, seeking refuge in Medina to the north. After a little over a year there, Muslims believe God instructed Muhammad to face back toward Mecca for prayers. In Surah 2, verses 149-150, the Quran says, “turn thy face toward the Sacred Mosque [the Kaaba in Mecca]…wheresoever you may be, turn your faces toward it.”

Nonetheless, Jerusalem and its sacred locales – specifically al-Aqsa and the Dome of the Rock – have remained sites of Islamic pilgrimage for 15 centuries.

The ‘most sensitive site’ in conflict

Given its sacred significance, there was great concern about the precinct’s fate after Israel’s victory in the 1967 Arab-Israeli War and its subsequent annexation of East Jerusalem.

Although Israel granted jurisdiction of the mosque and complex to an Islamic waqf – “endowment” – Israel still commands access to the grounds and security forces regularly perform patrols and conduct searches within the precinct. Under the Preservation of the Holy Places Law, the Israeli government has also allowed entry to different religious groups – such as Christian pilgrims. 

Many Israelis respect the sanctity of the place as the holiest site in Judaism. In 2005, the chief rabbinate of Israel said it is forbidden for Jews to walk on the site to avoid accidentally entering the Holy of Holies - the inner sanctum of the Temple, God’s place of promised presence on earth. Nonetheless, certain ultra-Orthodox Jewish groups controversially advocate for greater access and control of the site, seeking to reclaim the historic Temple Mount in order to rebuild the Temple.

Described as “the most sensitive site in the Israel-Palestinian conflict,” it has frequently been host to political acts. 

Riot gear on hand near an entrance to the “Noble Sanctuary,” Jerusalem. (PHOTO: Ken Chitwood)

For example, in August 1969, an Australian Christian named Dennis Michael Rohan attempted to burn down al-Aqsa, destroying the historically significant and intricately carved minbar – or “pulpit” – of Saladin, a treasured piece of Islamic art.

On Sept. 28, 2000, Israeli opposition leader Ariel Sharon and a delegation guarded by hundreds of Israeli riot police entered the precinct. This sparked protests and a violent crackdown by Israeli authorities, with multiple casualties. Many Muslims worldwide considered this a “desecration” of the sacred mosque, and the event helped ignite the Second Intifada, or Palestinian uprising. 

Tensions peaked again after an attack on Yehuda Glick, a controversial right-wing rabbi, in autumn 2014. In response, Israeli authorities closed down access to al-Aqsa for the first time since 1967. In March and April of that year, Israeli police used tear gas and stun grenades on Palestinians inside Al-Aqsa, prompting international outcry. 

Numerous other incidents between Israeli forces and worshipers have occurred at al-Aqsa in recent years. 

Controlled access to the site reminds Palestinians of their relative powerlessness in their ongoing land disputes with Israeli authorities. At the same time, attacks at al-Aqsa resonate with Muslims across the world who react with horror to what they see as the desecration of one of their most sacred sites. 

Defending al-Aqsa and fighting for rights to access it, I argue, have become proxy conflicts for both Palestinian claims and the need to defend Islam as a whole.

After 1,700 years of complicated history, Germany's Jews look to the future

Just a few steps down from Erfurt’s famous Krämerbrücke and its boutique shops, bespoke ice cream, and local charm, you’ll a mikveh (bath used for ritual purification) that dates back to the 13th-century. It’s a testament to the rich, and long, history of Jews and Jewish life in the central German city.

As I was standing in Erfurt’s mikveh a few weeks ago, I took a silent moment to reflect on the immensity of 900 years of Jewish history in the city.

Staring at the steps, I imagined the women who would descend them to bathe in the Gera river’s waters and wondered what their lives were like, what stories they could tell, what histories were embedded in the dusty sandstone and murky water of the memorial right in the midst of Erfurt’s old town.

I was humbled by the immensity of that history, the honor of standing in such a space and being given the opportunity to share such stories.

Mühlhausen citizens Nancy Krug, Pastor Teja Begrich, and Dr. Antje Schloms, pictured here in the town’s 19th-century synagogue, are part of honoring the history of Jewish life in the city. PHOTO: Ken Chitwood.

Thankfully, there are plenty of opportunities to learn about Jewish history in Germany — from well-known museums and monuments in Frankfurt and Berlin to lesser-known, but equally valuable, synagogues in places like Mühlhausen and Berkach.

But for this piece, I wanted to learn about more than history. And so, I spoke to Jewish leaders, researchers, historians, and other experts to learn what their history can tell us today and what Jewish life looks like in Germany now and in the near future.

The result is my latest piece with Religion News Service: “Germany celebrates a historic milestone of Jewish culture — while looking forward.” 

*Many thanks go to the various people I spoke to for this piece. I am working on a couple of other articles related to this research, but for now I wanted to mention all the people who contributed background, provided coordination, or otherwise assisted with this piece: Kristin Luther with the city of Erfurt; Dr. Maria Stürzebecher, also with the city of Erfurt; Carolina von Stojentin with Thüringer Tourismus; Gundela Bach in the village of Berkach; Nancy Krug of the city of Mühlhausen; Pastor Teja Begrich of Mühlhausen; Dr. Antje Schloms of the Mühlhausen city archives, Prof. Dr. Annegret Schüle of Erinnerungsort Topf & Söhne; Prof. Dr. Carsten Schapkow of the University of Oklahoma; Alan Bern with Yiddish Summer Weimar; Helene Shani Braun in Berlin; Rabbi Alexander Nachama of the  Jüdische Landesgemeinde Thüringen; Manfred Levy, education director at Jüdischen Museum Frankfurt; Alexandra Husemeyer of the Tora ist Leben project; and Martin Kranz of the Achava Festspiele Thüringen.

Priest wants you to "Give the World a Shot"

When Rev. Dr. Richard Sudworth received his COVID-19 vaccine — or “jab”— he said it was more than a medical procedure, it was a solemn affair.

“It is really quite moving,” said Sudworth, Secretary for Inter Religious Affairs to the Archbishop of Canterbury and KAICIID Board Member, “we thank scientists, we thank medical professionals, but we also thank God. It’s a gift.” 

It is this gratitude, said Sudworth, that moved a coalition of partners in the United Kingdom, including Church of England, Office of the Chief Rabbi and the Mosques and Imams National Advisory Board, to work with UNICEF to launch a vaccine equity programme that would help schemes such as COVAX – an international cooperative formed to make sure low- and middle-income countries have fair access to COVID-19 vaccines.

PHOTO courtesy Khalid Bari via KAICIID.

Called “Give the World a Shot,” the programme operates on the premise that if people want to express their gratitude after receiving the vaccine, they can give money to support those communities still struggling to access it. 

“Modest in what it’s trying to do, it’s very ambitious too,” said Sudworth. With donations going to provide protective kits to health workers or to help transport doses of vaccines, they set a target of helping UNICEF deliver 2 billion vaccines. 

Although an increasing number of countries’ inoculation programmes are underway, global vaccine rollout remains an uneven affair.

According to the Duke Global Health Innovation Center Launch and Scale Speedometer’s latest data, high-income countries already own more than half of all doses purchased worldwide. At this rate, estimates suggest that vaccine supplies will be too low to inoculate the entirety of the world’s population until at least 2023.  

Experts say providing widespread access to COVID-19 vaccines is necessary to ensure global immunity against the deadly disease. It is also, said Sudworth, something the world’s faith communities must address together.

"There's no issue more important": Chief Rabbi Rosen on Climate Change and Environmental Justice

When it comes to the twin issues of climate change and environmental justice, Chief Rabbi David Rosen is uncompromising.

“There’s no issue more important,” he said in a recent interview with KAICIID. “Of all the very significant things that need to be done in our world, what is their value if we are going to destroy it all? Our responsibility is a critical imperative for the survival of life on earth itself.”

A former Chief Rabbi of Ireland and senior rabbi of the largest Orthodox Jewish congregation in South Africa, Rosen is a prominent interreligious leader. As such, he is the American Jewish Committee’s International Director of Interreligious Affairs and a member of the KAICIID Board of Directors.

Chief Rabbi David Rosen speaking at the Religions for Peace 10th World Assembly in Lindau, Germany (PHOTO: Courtesy RfP)

Of all aspects of his work in interreligious dialogue and education, his greatest passion remains the care of the environment and the need to reform our lifestyles accordingly.

“As a religious practitioner, I believe that there is no issue today that is as compelling or imperative for religious people to be engaged with,” he said.

In addition to his work with KAICIID, Rosen has worked with Religions for Peace (RfP) and the Parliament of the World Religions on a variety of interreligious efforts aimed at combatting the calamitous effects of climate change. He frequently writes, speaks, and is actively engaged with multiple initiatives addressing the challenges posed by climate change.

Two of those initiatives are the Jerusalem-based Interfaith Centre for Sustainable Development (ICSD) and the Interfaith Rainforest Initiative — an international, multi-faith alliance that “works to bring moral urgency and faith-based leadership to global efforts to end tropical deforestation.”

Rosen's convictions arise out of a deep personal appreciation of the environment as a gift from God.

The age of "spirit tech" is here. It’s time we come to terms with it.

The electrodes are already attached to your scalp, so you settle into a seat that reminds you of the one they use at the dentist’s office. On the other end of a series of cords is a machine where a technician sits with a clipboard and a range of blinking and bleeping devices.

No, you’re not about to start a medical diagnostic exam.

You’re about to meditate.

Sound surreal? If so, welcome to the brave new world of “spirit tech,” where a range of researchers and practitioners are using brain based tech to “trigger, enhance, accelerate, modify, or measure spiritual experience.”

In their new book — Spirit Tech: The Brave New World of Consciousness Hacking and Enlightenment Engineering — Wesley J. Wildman and Kate J. Stockly take a stimulating journey into the technology that could shape our spiritual futures.

Investigating the intensifying interaction between technology and religion, they talk to innovators and early adopters who are "hacking the spiritual brain” using ultrasounds to help practitioners meditate or experimenting with “high-tech telepathy” to build a “social network of brains.”

Not only did I get the chance to read the book, I also sat down with a one-on-one interview with Stockly about how spiritual entrepreneurs and tech-savvy religious practitioners are using technology to modify spiritual experiences.

While critics may question “spirit tech’s” efficacy, elitism, and ethics, Wildman and Stockly are careful to note that religious people have always used tools — from mantras to mandalas, prayer beads to palm reading — to enhance spiritual experience. The difference now, they write, is the sheer number of “customizable and exploratory practices at the threshold between cutting-edge tech and the soul,” from synthetic psychedelic trips in lieu of Holy Communion to LED orbs that create connection between congregants.

Wildman and Stockly do not pretend to have it all figured out — spirit tech’s ability to balance innovation and enlightenment, they say, “is still being written” — but their thought-provoking introduction to the brave new world of transcendent tech gives both pious pioneers and defenders of traditional religion something to consider as they imagine the future of spirituality in the 21st-century and beyond.

Dealing with Diversity in Europe’s Classrooms

Across Europe, teachers are coming to terms with increasingly diverse classrooms.

While diversity has long been a feature on the continent, a growing medley of religious, cultural, and linguistic influences — brought on by international and intra-Europe migration — has created both opportunities and challenges across Europe’s educational landscape.

According to a 2017 European Union report, increased numbers of refugee, asylum seeker, and migrant children — as of January 2019, 4.9% (21.8 million) of the European Union’s (EU) 446.8 million residents, were non-EU-27 citizens — have placed pressure on schools and teachers to “re-consider their everyday practices and strategies to meet” a range of diverse learning needs.

As teachers aspire for full participation from all pupils, recent studies suggest that public issues of intolerance and social exclusion are showing up in schools as well.

Taking these challenges into consideration, a group of experts at a December 2017 workshop on Interreligious Education in Europe in Vienna, Austria, co-hosted by KAICIID, decided to establish the Network for Dialogue.

Djuríc Milovanović: "Active Policies For Newcomers In Host Society Are Required"

Made up of members of top religious groups, civil society organizations, and higher education institutions, the Network for Dialogue is a Europe-wide, KAICIID-supported platform engaging a range of policy issues related to refugee integration and interreligious dialogue.

KAICIID's lead representative with the Network for Dialogue, Dr. Aleksandra Djurić Milovanović, said migration statistics and worrying reports about social inclusion, “require active policies for newcomers in a host society.”

Formal education, she said, is a crucial component of this process. “Gaps exist at many levels, but we are aware of particular shortcomings and current challenges in formal education settings,” said Djurić Milovanović Already, there are grassroots dialogue efforts that are aiming to fill those gaps, said Djuríc Milovanović. “However, not all of them are linked to the formal education structures or able to bring change at the policy level,” she said.

The Network for Dialogue is working with these groups and individuals, supporting their initiatives and helping them collaborate with policymakers.

“In order to bring about substantial change, these voices from the ground need to provide recommendations and advise policymakers in creating schemes and implementing strategies at institutional levels,” said Djurić Milovanović.

There are a variety of challenges that policymakers and practitioners need to face, she said.

“Despite increasing diversity in European classrooms, teaching and other educational professions tend to be fairly homogenous and teachers often lack training in intercultural and interreligious awareness and skills,” she said.

Because of this, Djurić Milovanović said, “migrant students lack sufficient support to cater to their needs and often display lower academic resilience and are at higher-risk for anxiety and struggling with psychological wellbeing.”

In a draft policy brief, the Network for Dialogue recommended several next steps to address such obstacles. These included proposing that educational leaders should engage parents of migrant children in school activities as equal partners and not only as beneficiaries, fast-track qualification and accreditation schemes for teachers with migrant and refugee backgrounds, and the creation of curriculum and training programmes on cultural diversity, religious literacy, social inclusion, intercultural education, and interreligious dialogue.

Waseem Haddad, KAICIID Programme Manager for Iraq and Syria, is encouraged by the Network for Dialogue’s work in Europe and recommendations for the future.

Education, he said, constitutes a primary space for the formation of identity.

“Critical thinking skills, awareness of diversity, and the practice of informed decision making, and civic participation can be acquired and practiced at this level,” he said, “If these skills and values are not transmitted in education, adults and children will face major challenges in accepting difference and celebrating ethnic, religious and cultural commonalties.”

Haddad also emphasised the importance of religious education in developing a generation’s recognition and acceptance of “the other” regardless of differences in religion, language, or culture.

To that end, both Djuríc Milovanović and Haddad might be encouraged by a new initiative in Austria.

Austrian Pilot Project Supports Christian-Islamic Team Teaching In Schools

Funded by the Austrian Scientific Fund (FWF) for a period of three years, the “Christian-Islamic Religious Education in Team Teaching” pilot project was developed to support Christian and Muslim teachers teaching their religious education classes together, at the same time, in the same classroom.

Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Weirer, theology professor at the University of Graz and leader of the project team, said that while there are no “typical lesson plans” — as each lesson is planned by the teachers themselves — both similarities and differences between Christianity and Islam are addressed.

“In this context, it is important for us that the pupils experience in class that religion can be discussed in an appreciative way and that differences do not have to be faded out,” he said.

The aim of this mutual encounter, Weirer said, is “to question prejudices through the encounter with people from different religious backgrounds and, if necessary, to reduce existing fears and discrimination.”

In addition to supporting the project’s teachers, Weirer and his team analyse additional aspects of interreligious education, including legal opportunities and frameworks to conduct interreligious cooperation initiatives between different schools, competencies and attitudes of teaching personnel, and learning conditions that must exist in order to encourage encounters between students of different religious backgrounds.

“Education does not necessarily promote social inclusion, but can also contribute to segregation”, Weirer said.

To encourage the former and prevent the latter, “it is a matter of developing targeted educational programs that promote pupils in their respective strengths and contribute to equal opportunities,” he said. “School can thus become a place where peaceful and constructive coexistence in a plural society can be experienced.”

For her part, Djurić Milovanović believes such experiences not only enrich the classroom, but society at large. She believes efforts like that of the Network for Dialogue or the pilot project in Austria can create a “chain of positive change.” “All these small micro changes in the classroom of one teacher may seem irrelevant or very small or invisible,” said Djuríc Milovanović, “but we need to empower teachers to feel like they're a crucial element in bringing about positive change in society.”

“Teachers need to have the perspective that encounters with diversity in the classroom can open up a space for dialogue” she said, “and they play a vital role in teaching dialogue to not only their classroom, but to the continent as a whole.”