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Fr. Emmanuel Katongole Offers Keynote at the Kroc Institute for Strategic Peace Building

Author: Rebekah Go

A medium shot captures a man with short, graying hair and dark skin speaking passionately from behind a clear acrylic lectern, gesturing with his hands while wearing a dark gray patterned blazer over a white clerical shirt and collar, set against a background of a gray wall with vertical panels.

How does spiritual renewal shape international peacebuilding? In this video from the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies' 2026 Strategic Peacebuilding Academy, Fr. Emmanuel Katongole draws on Laudato Si’ and the work of Thích Nhất Hạnh, Martin Luther King Jr., Maggy Barankitse and Desmond Tutu to explore why healing and sustainable peace demand more than just policy changes—they require a "profound interior conversion."

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Ansari Institute awards Book Prize to Erin K. Wilson for "Religion and World Politics: Connecting Theory with Practice"

Author: Rebekah Go

This image features a side-by-side composition showing a professional portrait of author Erin K. Wilson on the left and the front cover of her book on the right. Wilson is smiling with crossed arms against a brick wall, while her book, titled Religion and World Politics: Connecting Theory with Practice, displays colorful, abstract brushstrokes on its top and bottom borders.

The Ansari Institute for Global Engagement with Religion is pleased to award its 2026 Book Prize to Dr. Erin K. Wilson, Professor of Politics and Religion at the University of Groningen. In Religion and World Politics: Connecting Theory with Practice, Wilson contends that the definitions and descriptions of religion which are operative in policy circles and in media are inadequate and misleading, because they fail to incorporate groundbreaking insights from the critical study of religion. Religion “is not an object ‘out there’ that is clearly identifiable, definable and measurable,” she writes, “but rather a fluid, dynamic and ever-changing category made up of rituals, practices, discourses, narratives, institutions, organisations, actors, beliefs and norms that are all context-dependent and variable…”

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Ansari Institute to Host Symposium in Rome

Author: Rebekah Go

This wide-angle panoramic photograph of Rome captures the illuminated stone arches of the Ponte Sant'Angelo stretching across the Tiber River under a pastel sunset sky, with the glowing dome of St. Peter's Basilica rising prominently in the background.

The Ansari Institute for Global Engagement with Religion is pleased to host a symposium on Religion and Global Politics across Disciplines and Publics at Notre Dame Rome. This gathering, which marks the capstone of the inaugural Global Fellows program, will showcase the fellows’ scholarship following a year of faculty and peer critique and monograph development.

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Andrew Dickson: Religious Engagement in Contemporary British Foreign Policy

Author: Rebekah Go

Picture of a Caucasian male with shortish brown hair. He is looking at the camera with a slight smile.

Andrew Dickson is an Ansari Institute Global Fellow who recently completed an ESRC-funded PhD in International Relations at the University of Sussex, where he served as Programme Coordinator for the University's Religion and Foreign Policy Initiative. His research explores religion and secularism in International Relations across foreign and development policy, de-radicalisation programmes, and human rights advocacy. He also holds an MA in Conflict, Security and Development from King’s College London, and a BA in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from Hertford College, Oxford. He was previously Centre Manager for the LSE Faith Centre and Religion and Global Society Research Unit, and Research and Projects Manager for the Lokahi Foundation.

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Dina Osama Lotfy: Religious Institutions Stances Toward Autocratization

Author: Rebekah Go

Photo of a woman receiving an award in front of a large picture of herself. The woman is wearing a hijab and smiling at the camera.

Dr. Dina Osama Lotfy is an Ansari Institute Global Fellow and currently an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Cairo University. Her research focuses on autocratic transitions, religion and politics, and terrorism. She earned her B.A., M.Sc., and Ph.D. in Political Science from Cairo University.…

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Thahir Jamal Kiliyamannil: Formations of the Muslim Minority in India

Author: Rebekah Go

Picture of an Indian man next to a tall concreate spire. He is wearing jeans and a long sleeve button up with the sleeves rolled up.

Dr. Thahir Jamal Kiliyamannil is an Ansari Institute Global Fellow who recently completed his PhD at the University of Hyderabad, India. His doctoral thesis, titled “Islam, State, and Sovereignty: Genealogy of Muslim Subject Formation in Malabar,” traces the minoritization of Muslims in India,…

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Ely Orrego Torres: Transnational Religio-Spiritual Networks

Author: Rebekah Go

A picture of a woman with long dark hair, glasses, and a blue shirt with flowered overlay. The woman is standing with her hand resting on a sill.

"In my dissertation, I studied the politics of religious freedom and secularism in the Americas between 2017 and 2023. I focus particularly on transnational and regional networks that I call “Transnational Religio-spiritual Networks (TRSNs)”. In particular, I research these networks in one venue, which is an international organization, the Organization of American States, the OAS.

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Jacob Katumusiime: How do we explain the violence of some religious movements?

Author: Rebekah Go

Dr. Jacob Katumusiime is Ansai Institute Global Fellow and a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Johannesburg. Jacob is the 2024 Winner of the Rahamon Bello Award for the Best PhD in African and Diaspora Studies. He researches on the intersections of Culture and Politics, navigating questions…

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Jethro Calacday: U.S. empire facilitated by the Catholic Church

Author: Rebekah Go

Image of a southeast Asian man holding a book and standing in front of a staircase. He is wearing a mock turtle neck, blazer, and glasses.

Dr. Jethro A. E. A. Calacday is an Ansari Institute Global Fellow and a scholar of global history whose research explores the entanglement of religion and empire in the making of the modern world. He works on the histories of the US in the World, the Philippines, Papal diplomacy, global Catholicism,…

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Ansari Institute Launches Global Fellows program

Author: Rebekah Go

A picture with a grid of 6 headshots. The top row features three men. The top left photo is a man from the Philippines. The top middle is a man from the UK. The top right is a man from Uganda. The bottom left is a man from India. The bottom middle is a women from Egypt. The bottom right is a woman from Chile.

The Ansari Institute for Global Engagement with Religion is pleased to announce the launch of its inaugural class of Global Fellows. Six holders of newly minted PhDs are participating in a year-long process of transforming their dissertations into monographs, by subjecting their manuscripts-in-progress to the constructive criticism of their peers and senior colleagues in the study of “religion and global politics,” broadly considered. For the majority of the 2025-’26 academic year, they work from their current locations around the world and gather virtually on a regular basis. They will meet in person for a culminating conference at year’s end.

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Nirvikar Singh: We're Going to Stand Up for Ourselves and for Anybody Who Needs Support

Author: Rebekah Go

"So, the external markers of Sikhism date to Guru Gobind Singh, where he says, “you are going to be fearless. And to be fearless, you are going to stand out. You can never deny who you are.” In simplified language, that's the origin of the uncut hair and turban for men, and to some extent, for women. The sword, another such marker, all Sikhs would agree, is a symbol of self-defense, but also of standing up against oppression of any kind. Now from there things got worse in the sense that a succession of Mughal rulers or officials tried to wipe out the Sikhs. Guru Gobind Singh lost all four of his sons in this struggle for survival. Sikhs’ external markers come from that struggle, and have been reinforced by it. “We're going to stand up for ourselves and for anybody who needs support.”"

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Matthew Cressler: So Many Catholics Who Have Engaged in Racial Justice Work Have Been Labeled "Bad Catholics"

Author: Rebekah Go

"You also were asking where the title Bad Catholics, Good Trouble came from and you're right, there's a story there. It actually starts with an academic article that I wrote for the journal Religion and American Culture. And that article was about the hundreds and hundreds of white Catholics in Chicago who wrote letters to the Archdiocese to express how outraged they were that the Church was supporting the civil rights movement. And the people who wrote these letters - many of which were overtly racist and explicitly endorsing violence against civil rights activists or, at the very least, resisting integration - were insisting they were 'real good and sincere Catholics.'"

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Margie Pfeil: I Would Love to Have a Constructive Dialogue About Distributive Justice

Author: Rebekah Go

At the root of the Catholic Worker here locally is our work on housing. I firmly believe that housing is a human right and human duty that serves the common good. Everyone ought to be housed and if we all came together as human beings - or even just here in this local community of South Bend together with Notre Dame - we could house everyone who needs to be housed. There's an invitation in the Catholic social tradition to see these basic issues of need and vulnerability through a lens of God's abundant provision.

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Rev. Dr. Michael Nabors: Civic Engagement Lets Me See the Work of God in Human Affairs

Author: Rebekah Go

"Just last night I was on the campus of Northwestern speaking to a group of students and many of them were the protest leaders, and I shared with them that the key to moving the world forward is finding common ground. When you find common ground, that's the only way that you can move to higher ground. You can't get to higher ground all by yourself. I also shared with them that I was very proud of them and the college president for coming to an agreement to end the protest and to honor many of the requests that the protesters were asking for. For example: hiring Palestinian faculty members, having scholarships for Palestinian students, building a house for Muslims on campus, just like there's a house for black students and of course the Jewish faith has its own house. The Catholic faith has its own house. So you know, I thought all of that was just important. A wonderful model for what is going on with other college campuses around the country."

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Mary McAleese: Politics of the Sacred and the Necessity for Respectful Discourse

Author: Rebekah Go

"I have to say, I come from a church that is always talking about evangelism and the Protestant churches in Northern Ireland are very proselytism driven and evangelism driven. It is not a good mix. Because they engage with you for the purpose of converting you. “I want to make you me, and when you are me and you accept my politics and my religion, we will all be happy.” Well, that is not a decent way to behave. That is outrageously unsympathetic to people's human rights, to their conscience, to their opinions, their beliefs, their right to believe whatever they want to believe. So when I was the President of Ireland I said from the very beginning, I have no interest in proselytism. I have no interest in evangelism. I am not inviting people to my home, the President's home, for a photo opportunity. I want to build friendships."

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Matt Graybill: Peacebuilding in the Holy Land Leads to Peacebuilding at Home

Author: Rebekah Go

"I think when you start to see the heart of people, you realize the same parts or the same hurts or the same thought process – while they might look different overseas – they're very similar to what we have here. So I think how people are responding to immigration or homelessness or race, if we really open our eyes and have an honest look, we have a lot of those same walls. They might not be physical walls like I saw in Israel and Palestine but, there are walls in our communities, in our cities, and in our families that have been erected, many times for generations."

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Gabriel Reynolds: Islam Can Be a Real Gift to Christians

Author: Rebekah Go

Gabriel Said Reynolds, A man with short brown hair and light skin, wearing a white shirt, stands outdoors with trees and greenery behind him. A framed religious artwork is seen in the background

"In a special way, practicing Muslims show fidelity to things like modesty, regular prayer, how to eat, what to eat, not drinking alcohol, and what to wear. Christians have our own teachings, so the way that we work through things will look different - I'm not saying we should just imitate Muslims. But Islam can be a gift for Christians just by the faithfulness that we see in Muslims and the way they manage to be religious in America."

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Celene Ibrahim: Islam's Internal Diversity and the Value of a Diverse Body Politic

Author: Rebekah Go

"There is maybe a naive kind of faith that I have in the human mind or the human heart to be capacious and compassionate enough to engage different perspectives without resorting to epistemic violence, or worse. But I think that this capacity, where it is not inherent in a person’s disposition, can come about through training and acculturation. The capacity to engage differences productively is born out of experience and encounters across differences that are positive and life-giving. That's what I'm trying to teach when I do interreligious work or when I write in the field of interreligious studies."

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Sarah Shortall: French History, Human Rights Discourse, and the Underappreciated Influence of Catholic Theology

Author: Rebekah Go

Sarah Shortall, an image of a woman with dark hair, wearing glasses and a black blouse. She is smiling while engaged in conversation with another person whose back is turned to the camera. The background consists of wooden bookshelves filled with books.

"I think this can help us to understand the suspicion with which so many Catholics have long regarded the liberal rights tradition. It was expressed most recently by Pope Benedict XVI, in an address to the UN in 2008, when he warned against a relativistic and subjective conception of human rights that divorces them from their ethico-religious foundation and reduces them to mere legal instruments. It also helps us to understand a more general tension that I think exists within Catholic social teaching, between a robustly theological ethics and one that doesn't presuppose Christian faith. The disagreement between Maritain and de Lubac is a case in point of this tension, and it affects how Catholics relate to secular political or legal projects."

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Ansari Institute Welcomes New Faculty Fellows and Affiliates

Author: Rebekah Go

The Institute is pleased to welcome four new faculty members into its community. Faculty “fellows” are professors at the University of Notre Dame whose academic home is within another department or school, but whose work substantially aligns with the Ansari Institute’s mission. Faculty “affiliates” are academic experts within their own field but whose employment and professional commitments are not primarily with the University of Notre Dame. Both faculty fellows and faculty affiliates contribute to building a community of like-minded scholars and to developing a “fellowship of faiths" as envisioned within the Ansari Strategic Plan.

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