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Scholars unpack Indigenous insights at inaugural Nasr Book Prize Symposium

Author: Josh Stowe

Asian Traditions Panel

Global collaboration is crucial as the world confronts multiple crises and Indigenous ways of thinking can help point the way. So argued scholars from multiple faith and philosophical traditions, who converged on the University of Notre Dame’s campus Oct. 2-3 for the Ansari Institute for Global Engagement with Religion’s inaugural Nasr Book Prize Symposium. 

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Ansari Institute and Religions for Peace Announce Strategic Partnership

Author: Josh Stowe

The Ansari Institute for Global Engagement with Religion is partnering with Religions for Peace, the world’s largest and most representative multi-religious movement advancing common action for peace. The partnership will allow the two organizations to work together on joint educational initiatives, collaborate on projects designed to advance understanding of interreligious work, and research multi-religious collaborative programs on human rights, peace and security, and sustainable development at various country levels.…

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On Poland trip, students reflect on religion, international law, and violence

Author: Josh Stowe

Powell Narrative Empathy

This summer, Charles W. Powell and Emilia Justyna Powell taught a summer study abroad course that challenged students to learn about atrocities such as genocide and crimes against humanity—including the Holocaust—in the context of international law, and to explore the role religion has played in international law.

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Exploring Buddhism and the imagination: A conversation with faculty member Alexander Hsu

Author: Josh Stowe

Alex Hsu

In June, Ansari Institute faculty member Alexander Hsu attended “The Imagination and Imaginal Worlds in the Mirror of Buddhism,” a two-week summer institute offered through the National Endowment for the Humanities. The gathering, held at Mangalam Research Center in Berkeley, Calif., featured a mix of scholarly presentations, Q&A with faculty, and breakout sessions, all built around the concepts of Buddhism and imagination. Here, Hsu reflects on the experience, and the inspiration he drew from it as a scholar of Buddhism—and as a teacher.

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Ansari Institute awards Nasr Book Prize to author who explores global problems using Indigenous perspectives

Author: Josh Stowe

Tysonyunkaportaweb

The Ansari Institute for Global Engagement with Religion will honor Tyson Yunkaporta, an indigenous Australian scholar and the author of Sand Talk: How Indigenous Thinking Can Save the World, as the winner of the Nasr Book Prize. Funded through the generosity of Drs. Sherif Nasr and Randa Nasr, co-founders of siParidigm Diagnostic Informatics in Pine Brook, N.J., the Nasr Book Prize highlights the work of scholars who reimagine the connection of religion and global affairs.

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Inviting students to explore religion’s roles in a complicated world

Author: Josh Stowe

Alex Hsu Class

Alex Hsu welcomes students to consider timely questions in his “Engaging Religions” course. The Ansari Institute faculty member designed the class, which he taught most recently this past spring, to be relevant to curious global affairs students seeking to make sense of a world they hope to change.

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A Q&A with faculty fellow Kraig Beyerlein

Author: Josh Stowe

Kraig Beyerlein 2

Faculty fellow Kraig Beyerlein, associate professor of sociology at the University of Notre Dame and director of the University’s Center for the Study of Religion and Society, discusses how he decided to study the intersection of religion and social movements, as well as his leadership on scholarly projects exploring everything from life on the US-Mexico border to under-represented congregations in Chicago.

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Faculty fellow’s research provides new insights on sacred texts

Author: Josh Stowe

Gabriel Reynolds Email

In his latest published work, Gabriel Said Reynolds explores the paradox of divine mercy and divine vengeance—a puzzle with which scholars have long wrestled. The project, Allah: God in the Qur’an, (Yale University Press, 2020), is among the most recent the Ansari Institute faculty fellow has taken on in his career, which has enabled him to engage with the Bible, the Qur’an, and Muslim-Christian relations in ways that reach both fellow scholars and a broader audience.

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Faculty member finds dialogue, empathy, key to effective multifaith engagement

Author: Josh Stowe

Charles Powell 2

Embracing opportunities for dialogue with people from different traditions remains crucial for meaningful multifaith engagement. This approach is one that Ansari Institute faculty member Charles W. Powell emphasizes in his work, and one he articulated in a recent interview with the Michigan-based Chaldean Cultural Center, during a wide-ranging conversation that highlighted the importance of learning, travel, active listening, and narrative empathy.

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Ansari Institute launches 5-year strategic plan, promoting scholarship and engagement

Author: Josh Stowe

Strategic Plan Announce

The Ansari Institute for Global Engagement with Religion has launched a five-year strategic plan to continue its work to study, learn from, and collaborate with religious communities worldwide. The plan, which was recently announced at a public gathering on the University of Notre Dame’s campus, envisions the institute as a “crossroad of religions” where voices from multiple faith traditions can engage with one another, and with secular actors and institutions, in respectful dialogue that will help to build a better world.

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September 11 policy conversation series launches with calls for new security paradigm

Author: Josh Stowe

Mc 9

The terrorist attacks of September 11 and the response to them have shaped the world in profound ways, creating a global climate of conflict that now hangs over a new generation of rising leaders. Now, twenty years later, is it possible to change the conversation and better work toward peace and justice? A new Keough School policy conversation series explores this question, bringing together a diverse group of experts to share insights that can inform public conversation and inspire activists, academics, government officials, and policymakers to work for change. 

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A Q&A with Faculty Fellow Daniel Philpott

Author: Josh Stowe

Daniel Philpott

Daniel Philpott, Professor of Political Science at the University of Notre Dame and a faculty fellow of the Ansari Institute, is the recipient of the 2021 Religion and International Studies Distinguished Scholar Award. The honor, given by the Religion and International Section of the International Studies Association, recognizes his pioneering contributions over 25 years as one of the earliest scholars of the “religious turn” in the study of international relations.…

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A Q&A with Faculty Fellow Kathleen Sprows Cummings

Author: Josh Stowe

In this conversation, Professor Kathleen Sprows Cummings explores the importance of a global perspective to her work as director of the Cushwa Center for the Study of American Catholicism, and highlights her efforts as a historian to elevate stories of women and people of color. She also shares some recent highlights from her teaching experience at Notre Dame, and considers the opportunity President Joe Biden has to articulate a vision for the United States that draws from his Catholic faith. 

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Panel discussion features Jewish, Christian, and Muslim perspectives on Mideast peace

Author: Josh Stowe

Peace In Absentia

A recent Ansari Institute panel discussion, “Peace in Absentia: Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Voices on Arab-Israeli Normalization,” explored religious perspectives on how to pursue a sustainable peace between Israel and the Palestinians. The conversation was co-sponsored by the University of Notre Dame’s Liu Institute for Asia and Asian Studies, Program in Arabic and Middle Eastern Studies, and Department of Classics. 

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“Everyday Religion” class unpacks faith’s crucial role in belief

Author: Josh Stowe

In recent weeks, Everyday Religion in a World of Many Faiths has explored multiple arguments for the existence of God. Class participants have weighed and debated different cases for religious belief. But the latest session took a different approach. This time, classmates explored the importance of faith in justifying belief.

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Grappling with the problem of evil in “Everyday Religion” class

Author: Josh Stowe

How does one reconcile God’s existence with the undeniable existence of evil in the world? If God is all-good, all-knowing, and all-powerful, how can he permit evil to exist?That was the question participants wrestled with in the latest session of Everyday Religion in a World of Many Faiths, a free, online class offered by the Ansari Institute.

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A finely tuned universe points to God in “Everyday Religion” class

Author: Josh Stowe

Our universe is finely tuned to support life. If, for instance, the Big Bang, gravity, or electromagnetic force were just slightly weaker, life would not exist. And since this did not happen by chance or necessity, that points to the existence of an intelligent designer—God. Participants explored this argument during the latest session of Everyday Religion in a World of Many Faiths, a free, online class offered by the Ansari Institute.

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Arguing for God’s existence in “Everyday Religion” class

Author: Josh Stowe

Is it possible to have a philosophical and rational proof of God’s existence? One answer comes in the form of another question: Why is there something rather than nothing? This question, articulated by the 18th-century German philosopher and mathematician Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, animated the most recent session of Everyday Religion in a World of Many Faiths.

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