News

Applications for the 2024 Rome Summer Seminars on Religion and Global Politics Are now open!

Author: Rebekah Go

The Rome Summer Seminars on Religion and Global Politics is a two-week program for graduate students, scholars, and practitioners working at the crossroads of religion and global politics and is designed to draw on the unique religious and geopolitical resources of the city of Rome. The Ansari Instite for Global Engagement with Religion is one of the seminars' supporting institutions and Mahan Mirza…

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The Ansari Institute Hosts the First of Two Fr. Drew Christiansen Lectures

Author: Rebekah Go

Jeff Abood 1

The Ansari Institute was pleased to host Sir Jeffrey Abood for the first of two lectures planned at the University of Notre Dame in honor of Fr. Drew Christiansen, SJ. Abood’s talk entitled “The Church in the Holy Land and the Quest for Human Dignity” focused on the Catholic Church’s presence in the Holy Land and the living conditions of the Catholic people, sometimes referred to as the “living stones” of the Church.

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The Interfaith Notre Dame Initiative Participates in Interfaith Prayer Service as part of Notre Dame's Cultural Relations Week

Author: Lestitian, Chloe

The Interfaith Notre Dame Initiative, a student initiative sponsored by the Ansari Institute, had the privilege of collaborating with Notre Dame Student Government and Campus Ministry for an Interfaith Prayer Service. The Service was hosted by the Student Government Department of Diversity and Inclusion: Race and Ethnicity, and it was the first event of Cultural Relations Week.…

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Statements Calling for Peace, Justice, and Understanding

Author: Rebekah Go

The Ansari Institute grieves the loss of innocent life in Israel and Gaza. We invite our audience to read statements issued by the University of Notre Dame’s leadership and by prominent peacebuilding, human rights, and academic institutions. Click on the links below to view the complete statements. Father John I. Jenkins…

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Indigenous Author Kaitlin B. Curtice Visits the Ansari Institute

Author: Rebekah Go

Kaitlin B. Curtice at the Podium

The Fr. Sorin Reading room buzzed with energy. Directors, sponsors, Notre Dame students, staff, and colleagues gathered with excitement and the spirit of friendship. By 5:30 p.m., over 50 guests eagerly awaited the start to Kaitlyn B. Curtice’s book session, “Living Resistance: An Indigenous Vision for Seeking Wholeness Every Day”.…

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Women's Interfaith Dialogue to Celebrate 20 Years

Author: Rebekah Go

Womens Interfaith Dialogue Small

Womens Interfaith Dialogue Small Twenty years later, no one can quite remember who was in the group. They know that the original gatherings had six Christian women and six Muslim women but as to who those individuals were, they just cannot recall. Longtime Women’s Interfaith Dialogue member Jane Pitz does know that her friend Reg Weissert initiated the gatherings.…

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The Common Good, or Transactional Religion?

Author: Azza Karam

Azzakaram

Azza Karam is very familiar with inter-religious dialogue and work towards the common good. She served nearly two decades with the United Nations where she co-founded and chaired the United Nations Inter-Agency Task Force on Religion. She has published widely and lectured at various universities including West Point Military Academy in the USA and is a internationally respected leader in interreligious dialogue. …

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Explaining the Hindu divide at the Parliament of the World’s Religions

Author: Rambachan Anant

Professor Anantanand Rambachan (right) with Carolyn T. Brown. board chair of the Fetzer Institute.

Professor Anantanand Rambachan (right) with Carolyn T. Brown. board chair of the Fetzer Institute. Professor Anantanand Rambachan is an external advisor for the Ansari Institite's Nasr Book Prize and both a rewnowned scholar and an interreligious practitioner. He currently serves as co-president of Religions for Peace…

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Faculty Fellow Emilia Justyna Powell Publishes New Book on International Law and Territory Disuptes

Author: Center for Citizenship & Constitutional Government

Emilia Powell Speaking

Dr. Emilia Justyna Powell is a professor of political science and concurrent professor of law at the University of Notre Dame, where she is also a faculty fellow with the Center for Citizenship and Constitutional Government. She specializes in international law and the Islamic legal tradition. Her newest book, The Peaceful Resolution of Territorial and Maritime Disputes…

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The Langar: Encounter at Work

Author: Rebekah Go

Parliament 21

By far my favorite part of the Parliament of the World’s Religions was the langar I was able to attend on three occasions during my time there. This year the Parliament was held in Chicago during a week that felt more like October than August. The weather was temperamental and often quite wet which means the success of the langar was all the more impressive.…

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The Ansari Institute Delegation Attends the Parliament

Author: Rebekah Go

Ansari group shot at the langar

It is fairly easy to get lost at McCormick Place. After all, the convention center - located on the south loop of Chicago, IL - is the largest in the United States. Meanderingly large, cavernous in design, and inclusive of at least four separate buildings all connected via skyway, the enormity of McCormick’s Place seemed fitting for the Parliament of the World’s Religions…

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Witnessing the Work of Advancing Gender Equity and Women's Rights at Religions for Peace

Author: Kelly Shinnick

Kelly Shinnick

This past semester, I was offered the opportunity to work with Religions for Peace through the Ansari Institute at Notre Dame. During my time with Religions for Peace, I was able to work with various staff members, but I primarily worked under Liliana Ashman, the Executive Officer and Special Assistant to the Secretary General. I contributed to various tasks, including collecting data or researching subjects for Ms. Ashman as well as transcribing several staff meetings and Commissions.…

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Interconnectedness, Interdependence, and the Role of Religion: My Internship with Religions for Peace

Author: Mariama Dampha

Mariama Dampha 150x150

I am honored to have served as an Office of the Secretary-General Intern at the Religions for Peace International during the last two semesters of my Master of Global Affairs degree at the University of Notre Dame’s Keough School of Global Affairs. This enormous opportunity was made possible through my reception of the Ansari Institute for Global Engagement with Religion internship award…

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Between Tyranny and Anarchy: Islam, Covid-19, and Public Policy

Author: Rebekah Go

Mahan Mirza 2

How can engagement with religious norms help - rather than hinder - engagement with public health directives meant to promote the common good and health across all communities? This is the question at the heart of Dr. Mahan Mirza’s recent article in the journal Religions. As the Covid-19 pandemic illustrated, individual religious beliefs and cultural norms can be at odds with best practices in public health. Along with assertions of religious freedom and a rise in suspicion of corporate scientific institutions, a firestorm of vaccine resistance resulted and may have threatened or delayed positive public health outcomes.…

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An Interfaith Celebration of Earth Day

Author: Rebekah Go

Interfaith Earth day

Interfaith Earth day: a collection of students, faculty, and staff plant flowers in pots outside of Duncan Hall Earth Day was an interfaith day of celebration and activity this year at the University of Notre Dame. The Interfaith Notre Dame Initiative (INDI), sponsored by the Ansari Institute for Global Engagement with Religion in partnership with the Building Interfaith Leadership Initiative…

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Ansari Institute to Attend the Parliament of the World's Religions

Author: Rebekah Go

2023 Parliament Logo Light Background

The Ansari Institute is pleased to be attending and serving as a sponsor of the 2023 Parliament of the World’s Religions. The Parliament, which traces its roots back over a century ago to the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago, was originally envisioned as a way to engage with religions “of the east and the west.”…

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