The Need for Intrafaith Perspective on Interfaith Matters
A view from Saydnaya, a monastery in Syria where Christians and Muslims venerated an icon of Mary in the medieval period. Bogdan Smarandache reflects on western responses to… Continue reading
Blog entries in the "coexistence" category group:
Breaking a Difficult Silence: Memories of Srebrenica
Nedžad Avdić is a survivor of the Srebrenica genocide, only one of the handful of those who survived mass executions in July 1995. This is his story about how his experiences… Continue reading
Past and Present Musical Encounters across the Strait of Gibraltar (New ERC Project)
What role does music play in debates about colonial history and immigration? How might music overcome or reinforce cultural difference at a time of rising nationalism across… Continue reading
Conducting a Vigil: Bringing Communities Together in the Face of Tragedy
The Reverend Dr Tom Wilson is director of the St Philip's Centre in Leicester, which provides training and consultancy on interfaith and multifaith issues for a wide range of… Continue reading
Is Prague the Least Religious City in the World?
If you stand at the top of Petřin Hill in Prague, you will be astounded by the striking beauty of the city. From here, the river weaves before you dividing this ancient settlement… Continue reading
In Memory of Medieval Spain
Christian Kusi-Obodum reflects on the experience of the long coexistence of Jews, Christians and Muslims in medieval Spain, and how this can be a source of inspiration for those… Continue reading
Combating Intolerance & Discrimination against Muslims: Comprehensive Response in the OSCE Region
The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) works for stability, peace and democracy for more than a billion people in 57 participating States, through… Continue reading
Freedom & Respect: Beyond the Blasphemy Debate
Mark Barwick reflects on the tension between the right to free speech and the building of peaceful societies in an ever-globalising world. Can the two coexist? He hopes so.… Continue reading
Why Sometimes You Just Need to Keep Going
The Myth of Sisyphus teaches us a lesson about religious leaders involved in interreligious engagement and activism. In the myth, King Sisyphus of Ephyra spent each day pushing a… Continue reading
Sarajevo: Its Religions and Ways of Remembering
Bosnians and Herzegovinians have been struggling to achieve, or at least waiting for, a more lasting sense of stability ever since the conflict in the 1990s. The events… Continue reading
Bridging the Great Divide
This year I undertook the online course Bridging the Great Divide: the Jewish-Muslim Encounter at the Woolf Institute and the 14-week course really changed my thinking and… Continue reading
Changing Places
The Woolf Institute is shortly to be moving on. After four years of fundraising, we are delighted to be moving to purpose built building this September but will be sorry to leave… Continue reading
Challenging Hatred Together
"But you must keep quiet about challenging homophobia or anti-Semitism." That was just one comment that was made to me when I founded Tell MAMA. The person was not inherently bad,… Continue reading
Rose Castle: A Landmark of Peace & Reconciliation
Georgia May shares the vision of The Rose Castle Foundation, an international reconciliation centre based at Rose Castle, Cumbria, that serves to deepen understanding of different… Continue reading
Our Refugee Faith: Why We Need a Response From the Heart
Today is World Refugee Day and I was prompted by the launch of a new independent documentary film called Humanity Rising in the Refugee Crisis, to reflect on the reality that… Continue reading
Where Jesus Dwells in Squalor
If you have ever been to Cairo as a tourist you may have missed one important part of the city. You may even have been unaware that it existed. Some years back my wife and I… Continue reading
Can Interfaith Dialogue Happen Online?
Julian Bond, formerly Director of Christian Muslim Forum (2006 to 2015), has a formidable social media presence. Unlike many, however, his twitter exchanges are most notable for… Continue reading
Confronting Jihadism with Interfaith Education
Woolf Institute Alumnus Rev Martin Olando has recently co-authored a book on the power of education to combat extremism. Burying the Sword: Confronting Jihadism with Interfaith… Continue reading
The Politics of Interfaith Love in India
On 2 May, a Muslim farmer, Gulam Mohammad, was lynched near a mango orchard in the small village of Sohi in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. His alleged murderers, from the… Continue reading
Grassroots Interfaith Brings Together Christians & Muslims in Mombasa, Kenya
There have been relatively good relations between Christian and Muslims in Mombasa, Kenya's second largest city, until the onset of terror attacks on churches from the start of… Continue reading
Water Matters
The need for water is universal. It is as necessary as air to sustain life in all its forms. Many of us take access to fresh water for granted when we turn on the tap in a way… Continue reading
On Resilience
Resilience is everywhere. As the winter months surrender to the warmth and light of spring, sharp bursts of blossom, crescendos of birdsong, and the gradual rejuvenation of… Continue reading
Modern Challenges & Religious Education
It is rare that one has a decent opportunity to step back from one's work and really reflect properly on what one does as a teacher. As each new term approaches I have too often… Continue reading
Entangled with the Other
Amy Daughton reflects on the hopefulness of Paul Ricoeur's philosophy of self and other When I tell people that I work on French philosophy, there is peculiar fixity of… Continue reading
Birds of Longing: Exile and Memory
Artist Laurie Wohl reflects on the inspiration/aspiration for her project "Birds of Longing: Exile and Memory" I am an unweaver. My Unweavings® fiber art pieces – using… Continue reading
Reflections from the National Holocaust Centre
"It was 1939 and a cold night in Eastern Poland, when the Russian forces came. Mama rushed into my room, told me to get my jacket and then just run. And we ran and ran …… Continue reading
From Heartbreak to Hope: Renewing a Legacy of Muslim-Jewish Solidarity
Remona Aly reflects on the Missing Pages of shared humanity: I can never forget the first moment I felt my heart breaking. I was at school, reading through a textbook when I… Continue reading
Why Remember the Holocaust?
It is 2017 and I am preparing our seventeenth Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD). This is for the Cambridge City Council who generously support what is a major civic event. We usually… Continue reading
Religion is...
Austin Tiffany explores the issues behind the new Woolf Institute e-learning course Religion is... Religion is… complex. It is often perceived as a force of evil, but more… Continue reading
Inclusive Christmas - Exclusive Laïcité?
Woolf Institute JRF Dr Sami Everett reflects on French laïcité, not as an academic, but as a father. "But there's nothing proselytising about it" my daughter's primary school… Continue reading
The ‘Inter’ of Interfaith Initiatives: reflections on Delhi
I have just spent a week in Delhi on a cross continental research project examining the impact of interfaith initiatives (in London, Delhi and Doha). I stayed at the India… Continue reading
When Hanukkah starts on Christmas Eve...
The solar Gregorian calendar determines the timing of Christmas, while both the sun and moon guide the Jewish calendar. As a result, each year interfaith families must negotiate… Continue reading
Muslim-Jewish Relations in South Asia
South Asia has largely been overlooked by scholars of Muslim-Jewish relations and by the activists working for the betterment of relations between the two communities. Apparently… Continue reading
Interfaith Week & The Value Of Religious Dialogue
Founding Director Dr Edward Kessler reflects on Interfaith Week and the value of religious dialogue in an increasingly secular age. There is a contradiction at the heart of… Continue reading
The Seeds of Interfaith
John Fahy is a Junior Research Fellow at the Woolf Institute. Based in Qatar, he is part of the Assessing the Effectiveness of Interfaith Initiatives (AEIFI) Project, a QNRF… Continue reading
My Personal Brexit
Woolf Alumna Aga Cahn reflects on her experience of the Referendum and its aftermath. On 23 June 2016, when the British government held the "EU Referendum", I was in Poland. I… Continue reading
Cartoons Against Fear
Finn Schulze-Feldmann explains the work of Bildkorrektur: a design collective combatting fear and prejudice in contemporary Germany. 'Fear not' – the first words spoken by the… Continue reading
Multi-faith and Inter-faith: Different Drivers, Different Directions
The Rev Dr Peter Hayler Assoc. Vicar at Great St Mary's and Chaplain to University Staff, Cambridge, reflects on the difference between multi-faith and inter-faith perspectives.… Continue reading
From Panegyric to Polemic
Premodern Islamic states empowered countless Christian and Jewish officials, who drew reactions ranging from fulsome praise to virulent polemic from their Muslim peers. Here Dr… Continue reading
Interfaith in the Face of Conflict: Mombasa & Lamu
Lamu, Kenya For the past three years the towns of Mombasa and Lamu in Kenya have been hit by religious conflict: between 2013 and 2015 there were several arson and grenade… Continue reading
See all Blog Entries