|  | | | From one-hour noontime online sessions covering current events to multi-week deep dives into profound ethical questions and the perspectives offered by Islam, Christianity, and Judaism, ICJS has a wide variety of ways to engage with our interreligious community. We believe that creating learning communities is essential to building a place where religious difference becomes a powerful force for good. The coming months offer multiple opportunities to engage with ICJS. “One wonderful way to do learning is in the company of other people.” said Melissa Zieve, ICJS’ director of operations “We are particularly fond of the connection between learning and relationships and really believe that both of those things are essential to creating change in each other, in ourselves, and in the world.” Please enjoy this video in which some of our course participants explain why ICJS is so important to them. |
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| Highlights in this Issue: |
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| | Religious values drive grassroots community activism |
| Faith-based organizations, including many connected to Judaism, have a long history of involvement in grassroots community organizing. Laura Wallace, Maryland Organizing Director for Jews United for Justice, will discuss how Jewish values inform their work promoting democracy and striving for social and economic justice. Join the lunchtime online conversation and bring your questions on the intersections of religious values and democratic ideals. |
| Wednesday, September 14, 2022
Noon–1:00 PM
Online via Zoom |
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| | |  | American Muslims at a Crossroads: Navigating identity in an interreligious world |
| What opinions, attitudes, and beliefs do American Muslims hold today? How do these differ or align with the general public and with Jewish and Christian Americans? Dalia Mogahed, director of the national 2022 American Muslim Poll, brings the voices and opinions of this resilient American community into conversation with others, as she explores opinions and experiences on a range of issues, including voting registration, student bullying, mental health, Islamophobia, racial identity, and spiritual practices. Dalia Mogahed is the director of research at the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding (ISPU). Her 2016 TED Talk, “What it’s Like to be Muslim in America?“, was named one of the top TED Talks that year, and today has 4.9M views. |
| Monday, October 24, 2022
7:00–8:30 PM
At Islamic Society of Baltimore, 6631 Johnnycake Rd., Windsor Mill, MD 21244
Or via live stream |
| |  | ALLAH: Same as the Biblical God or totally other?
Course taught by ICJS Muslim Scholar Zeyneb Sayilgan
Muslims refer to the One God as Allah. In the popular imagination the Muslim God is often perceived as alien and other than Christian and Jewish conceptions of God. In this three-week course, we will turn to primary sources like the Qur’an and Hadith (Prophetic sayings) and explore what pictures emerge of the Divine. Participants will engage with secondary sources by reading and listening to Muslim voices as they relate to God through prayer, poetry, and music. Through study of the Muslim conception of God, we will uncover a Qur’anic posture of interreligious dialogue that affirms sameness and difference alike. |
| Wednesdays, November 2, 9, and 16
In person at ICJS: 10 AM–noon
Online via Zoom: 7–8:30 PM Eastern time |
| |  | A Panel Discussion of Christian Nationalism on the Eve of the Election |
| Monday, November 7
Noon EST
Online via Zoom |
| Join us on the day before the November 8th midterm election for a noontime panel discussion on Christian Nationalism, its impact on the midterms, as well as how it stands to influence the presidential elections in 2024. The panel includes sociologists Philip Gorski of Yale University and Samuel Perry of the University of Oklahoma, co-authors of The Flag and the Cross: White Christian Nationalism and the Threat to American Democracy, and religion scholars Amir Hussain of Loyola Marymount University and Matthew Taylor of ICJS. |
|  | Recruiting now for Teachers and Congregational Leaders Fellowships |
| ICJS offers fellowship opportunities for Baltimore-area educators, community and nonprofit leaders, and clergy and congregational leaders to develop interreligious networks and to train a pipeline of interreligious leaders. We are now accepting applications for two of those fellowships. |
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| Teachers Fellowship October 2022–June 2023 For teachers interested in building religious literacy, connecting with a network of educators, and obtaining skills of interreligious leadership, we offer a yearlong cohort program for secondary school teachers from Baltimore-area independent, religious, and public schools. Educators share best practices and create curricular resources with the assistance of ICJS staff. Participants receive a stipend for completion of their work. |
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| Congregational Leaders Fellowship
January–June 2023 Is your congregation looking for a way to deepen its work and learning around a civic issue? Do you want to partner with other religious communities to address this issue? If so, consider participating in the ICJS Congregational Leaders Fellowship. This year we invite you to apply for the Congregational Leaders Fellowship along with another congregation outside of your faith community (i.e., Protestant church partnering with a local mosque) to have interreligious dialogue around issues impacting our common life together as global citizens and to implement or expand upon a project that is directly addressing civic issues. |
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| |  |  | Curiosity. Community. Spirit. Repairing the Word.
By Rabbi Ariel Platt, 2022 Congregational Leader Fellow In a poem, Rabbi Ariel Platt reflects on the synergy of Jewish values, universal values, and diverse beliefs and perspectives coming together in the Congregational Leaders fellowship. Read More |
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 | Love thy neighbor: Learning a universal truth among diverse religions
By Ryan Cox, 2021-2022 Teacher Fellow How can a teacher express different religious viewpoints without endorsing any of them as truth? By viewing religious traditions through a historical lens, Ryan Cox learned that he could make connections between religious practice and human behavior throughout time. Read More |
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|  | Spotlight | New grant for Alumni Justice Leader Fellows ICJS, with support from the T. Rowe Price Foundation, is offering Capacity-Building Grants to nonprofit and community leaders who have a project or initiative that helps an organization (or its staff or clients) to cross religious barriers to accomplish a project for the common good. This opportunity is open to alumni of the Justice Leaders Fellowship. Learn more |
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| Spotlight | Kathryn Kelley Hoskins Memorial Fund For 34 years, Kathryn Kelley Hoskins (1961-2021) worked to build the interreligious society as an ICJS founder and board member. Today, ICJS honors her memory and service her with a memorial fund. The fund is anchored with support from Gallagher, Evelius & Jones, the law firm where Kathy spent her entire professional career. Contributions to the fund are welcome. Read More |
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| Recap | ICJS Emerging Religious Leaders Course Over five days in June of mutual learning, challenging discussion, and blossoming friendships, a group of more than two dozen emerging Muslim and Christian religious leaders engaged in an innovative intensive course in interreligious dialogue. Led by ICJS Protestant Scholar Matthew D. Taylor and ICJS Muslim scholar Zeyneb Sayilgan, the Emerging Religious Leaders (ERL) course is a groundbreaking program for Muslim and Christian students in the US. In this video, ERL participants describe the deep intellectual, emotional, and spiritual impact of the experience. Watch the video |
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| Staff Pick | Survey: Some U.S. Muslims have negative stereotypes about themselves The American Muslim Poll conducted by the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding found that while Islamophobia has declined in other American religious groups, it has increased among American Muslims. These findings have led to a discussion on the impact of internalized stereotypes in Muslim communities across the U.S. Dalia Mogahed will examine this and other insights from the poll at the Manekin-Clark Lecture on Oct. 24. Read the article |
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| | | About Us The Institute for Islamic, Christian, and Jewish Studies (ICJS) works to dismantle religious bias and bigotry to foster an interreligious society in which dialogue replaces division, friendship overcomes fear, and education eradicates ignorance. Through courses, fellowships, online events, and scholarship initiatives, ICJS builds learning communities where religious difference becomes a powerful force for good. ICJS is an independent 501c3 nonprofit organization. |
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| | | Institute for Islamic, Christian, and Jewish Studies
956 Dulaney Valley Rd | Baltimore, Maryland 21204
410.494.7161 | info@icjs.org | icjs.org |
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