The Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs

“It should be sufficiently clear that implementing a UCC cannot be a straightforward, high modernist enterprise.”

Swayam Bagaria, an incoming faculty member at Harvard Divinity School, discusses unstable equilibrium and the possibility of uniform civil code in India on the Berkley Forum.

Unstable Equilibrium and the Possibility of Uniform Civil Code in India In the context of the upcoming 2024 general election cycle in India, Swayam Bagaria discusses the Bharatiya Janata Party's proposal to implement a Uniform Civil Code, an effort to abolish community-specific personal laws in favor of a more standardized and uniform set of family laws.

Berkley Center Senior Fellow Andrew Prevot will participate in this August 28 panel discussion reflecting on the continuing responsibilities of leaders and people of faith to advance freedom, equality, and justice for all.

Details & RSVP: bit.ly/KeepingTheDreamAliveGU

Faith communities were a major part of the March on Washington. What are the continuing responsibilities of leaders and people of faith to advance freedom, equality, and justice for all? How do we engage and mobilize the broader U.S. community to address racism, economic justice, access to education, mass incarceration, and housing disparities?

Next Monday, August 28 at 6:00pm ET, join our conversation “The Sixtieth Anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom: Keeping the Dream Alive” to explore these questions with our panelists Sr. Anita Baird, DHM, Marc Morial (L’83), Andrew Prevot, Lauren Reliford, and moderator John Carr, founder of the Initiative.

RSVP: bit.ly/KeepingTheDreamAliveGU

“Indeed, community politics exploit the rhetoric of Hindu nationalism as an instrument of mobilization, aiming to attain privileges and consolidate power.”

Ashraf Kunnummal, postdoctoral research fellow at the Johannesburg Institute for Advanced Study with the University of Johannesburg, discusses the influence of the Love Jihad movement within Kerala's society and political landscape on the Berkley Forum.

The Kerala Story: Secular Yet Nationalistic and Islamophobic Ashraf Kunnummal examines the context and controversy surrounding the Love Jihad movement in Kerala and how it aligns with Hindu nationalist ideologies prevalent in India.

“In current times, however, not only is much of the media willing to toe the government line but it has been weaponized against opposing voices.”

Kalpana Jain, senior journalist and senior ethics and religion editor at The Conversation US, discusses how under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, media freedom in India has come under serious threat, with journalists trolled, harassed, and even arrested for doing their jobs on the Berkley Forum.

In Modi’s India, Press Freedom Is Curbed and Journalists Are under Threat for Doing Their Jobs Kalpana Jain discusses how under the rule of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, media freedom in India has come under serious threat, with journalists trolled, harassed, and even arrested for doing their jobs.

Writing for Newsweek, Senior Fellow Jocelyne Cesari uses her experiences with exposing students to multiple interpretations and forms of analysis as part of teaching religion and conflict resolution to discuss how educators can prioritize intellectual diversity.

Education Expert: 3 Ways Professors Can Foster Intellectual Diversity And D For educators, prioritizing intellectual diversity provides a way to work through the cultural moment of cancellation and excommunication.

With the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) rise to power in India, anti-Muslim rhetoric and discriminatory measures have been increasing. Driving these developments is the Hindutva ideology which reflects the tangled intersection of nation-building and Hinduism, dating back to the foundation of the India nation-state. The contributions in this Berkley Forum series discuss Indian Islamophobia through an examination of the past, present, and future dynamics of Indian nationalism and secularism.

India and Islamophobia With the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) rise to power in India, anti-Muslim rhetoric and discriminatory measures have been increasing. Driving these developments is the Hindutva ideology which reflects the tangled intersection of nation-building and Hinduism.

Global Interfaith Monitor No. 14 -

Global Interfaith Monitor No. 14

🌍Join the Doyle Global Dialogue | 📅 Deadline: August 28

The Doyle Global Dialogue (DGD) is a peer-to-peer exchange network comprised of students studying abroad. This includes Hilltop students going abroad, international students studying on the Hilltop (including degree-seeking), and Hoyas from our GU-Q campus.

DGD participants write reflections and create social media content about their experiences of religion, culture, politics, and society in their host countries, and share their reflections among small peer cohorts. Participants are expected to contribute to a monthly discussion board, create one social media post per month, and write a final reflection piece to be published on the Doyle Engaging Difference Program's website. Participants receive $500 upon completion of the program.

For more information, see doyle.georgetown.edu/dgd.

To start your application, visit https://forms.gle/J51cjttMSBqZMRLN8.

Questions? Contact Berkley Center Director of Student Programs Dr. Ryann Craig at [email protected].

Come join our team!

The center is looking for a director of administration and strategic projects, who will be responsible for implementing strategic objectives and managing all administrative aspects of the Berkley Center and the Office of the Vice President for Global Engagement, which houses a range of university-level initiatives and programs.

Apply now: https://ow.ly/PpwQ50PhtGo

On this day dedicated to St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the , we look back at our project to explore the historical contributions of the Jesuits to globalization—in the areas of dialogue, education, and justice—and the relevance of that experience for our contemporary global era.

The Jesuits and Globalization Over three years the Berkley Center’s Tom Banchoff and Jose Casanova led an interdisciplinary project on the Jesuits and globalization. The project convened an international group of scholars to explore the historical contributions of the Jesuits to globalization—in the areas of...

Religion and Geopolitics in the Western Balkans | Just War Tradition | Student Dialogues: July Newsletter -

Religion and Geopolitics in the Western Balkans | Just War Tradition | Student Dialogues: July Newsletter As a subregion of Europe at the crossroads of multiple religious and cultural ecosystems, the Western Balkans has emerged as ground zero in the contemporary geopolitics of religion and culture. A new thematic series, which grows out of a partnership between the Berkley Center’s Geopolitics of Reli...

The Women in Faith Leadership Fellowship amplifies the visibility, vitality, and voice of Catholic sisters in responding to the complex challenges and opportunities faced by women religious leaders within their organizations and communities.

Read an interview with WFLF's Sr. Francisca Ngozi Uti:
https://ow.ly/f5vJ50PbZ4i

The Women in Faith Leadership Fellowship amplifies the visibility, vitality, and voice of Catholic sisters in responding to the complex challenges and opportunities faced by women religious leaders within their organizations and communities.

Read an interview with WFLF's Sr. Restituta Francis Kokulamuka: https://ow.ly/qM4M50PbHNE

The Women in Faith Leadership Fellowship amplifies the visibility, vitality, and voice of Catholic sisters in responding to the complex challenges and opportunities faced by women religious leaders within their organizations and communities. Read an interview with WFLF's Sr. Jackline Mwikali Mwongela:
https://ow.ly/NYbR50PbZF7

The Geopolitics of Religious Soft Power project is proud to launch a new thematic series on the Geopolitics of Religion and Culture in the Western !

The Geopolitics of Religion and Culture in the Western Balkans: A Thematic Series The Western Balkans has emerged as ground zero in the contemporary geopolitics of religion and culture. This thematic series explores the motivations, effectiveness, and impact of various geopolitical actors attempting to influence local, regional, and international affairs in the Western Balkans.

The Women in Faith Leadership Fellowship amplifies the visibility, vitality, and voice of Catholic sisters in responding to the complex challenges and opportunities faced by women religious leaders within their organizations and communities. Read an interview with WFLF's Sr. Agnes Lucy Lando:
https://ow.ly/M0GK50PbYY9

The Women in Faith Leadership Fellowship amplifies the visibility, vitality, and voice of Catholic sisters in responding to the complex challenges and opportunities faced by women religious leaders within their organizations and communities.

Read an interview with WFLF's Sr. Hedwig Muse:
https://ow.ly/VsRf50PbYo6

The Women in Faith Leadership Fellowship amplifies the visibility, vitality, and voice of Catholic sisters in responding to the complex challenges and opportunities faced by women religious leaders within their organizations and communities.

Read an interview with WFLF's Sr. Josephine Apiagyei:
https://ow.ly/Hoqu50PbHHN

The Women in Faith Leadership Fellowship amplifies the visibility, vitality, and voice of Catholic sisters in responding to the complex challenges and opportunities faced by women religious leaders within their organizations and communities.

Read an interview with WFLF's Sr. Prudentiana Kirungo Mushumbusi: https://ow.ly/wMsi50PbYIZ

In this working paper, Aleksandra Djurić Milovanović and Milorad Djurić examine how transnational evangelical communities create interethnic tolerance in Serbia through their humanitarian activities, inclusiveness of minority and marginalized groups, and influence among Serbs in the diaspora.

Transnational Evangelical Networks in Serbia and Their Influence on Interethnic Relations In this working paper, Aleksandra Djurić Milovanović and Milorad Djurić examine how transnational evangelical communities create interethnic tolerance in Serbia through their humanitarian activities, inclusiveness of minority and marginalized groups, and influence among Serbs in the diaspora.

The Women in Faith Leadership Fellowship amplifies the visibility, vitality, and voice of Catholic sisters in responding to the complex challenges and opportunities faced by women religious leaders within their organizations and communities.

Read an interview with WFLF's Sr. Josephine Anto: https://ow.ly/HJxQ50PbHzR

In this working paper, Ljubomir Filipović explains how the Serbian Orthodox Church maintains a position of authority in Montenegrin society, which is made possible due to the strong influence the Serbian church exercises over the decision-making processes in the country.

The Not-So-Soft Power of Faith: Religion as an Instrument of Foreign Influence in Montenegro In this working paper, Ljubomir Filipović explains how the Serbian Orthodox Church maintains a position of authority in Montenegrin society, which is made possible due to the strong influence the Serbian church exercises over the decision-making processes in the country.

The Women in Faith Leadership Fellowship amplifies the visibility, vitality, and voice of Catholic sisters in responding to the complex challenges and opportunities faced by women religious leaders within their organizations and communities. Read an interview with WFLF's Sr. Rosemary Nyirumbe:
https://ow.ly/coYM50PbZLm

In a new working paper, Harun Karčić explains how the political architecture created after the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s has stepped up Russia's political and economic influence and mobilized proxy organizations to project its narratives, protect its interests, and slow the region’s integration into Western institutions.

The Geopolitics of Religion and Culture in the Western Balkans: A Thematic Series The Western Balkans has emerged as ground zero in the contemporary geopolitics of religion and culture. This thematic series explores the motivations, effectiveness, and impact of various geopolitical actors attempting to influence local, regional, and international affairs in the Western Balkans.

The Women in Faith Leadership Fellowship amplifies the visibility, vitality, and voice of Catholic sisters in responding to the complex challenges and opportunities faced by women religious leaders within their organizations and communities.

Read an interview with WFLF's Sr. Jane Frances Kabagaaju:
https://ow.ly/S9Hj50PbJhz

On the Berkley Forum, Vesko Garčević (Pardee School of Global Studies, Boston University) discusses how the Serbian Orthodox Church (SOC) is a more influential and powerful institution than any individual political figure. He argues how the SOC is not merely an instrument of soft power; it is an important node in a network spanning politics, traditional and social media, and academia.

The Serbian Orthodox Church and Extreme-Right Groups: A Marriage of Convenience or Organic Partnership? Vesko Garčević discusses how the Serbian Orthodox Church is a more influential and powerful institution than any individual political figure, an important node in a network spanning politics, traditional and social media, and academia.

On the Berkley Forum, Agon Maliqi explores how Serbia’s non-recognition of Kosovo is an obstacle holding back both countries from advancing in Euro-Atlantic integrations. He argues that keeping the dispute unresolved may be considered a key Russian strategic objective in the region.

Russian Information Warfare in the Balkans: How Identity and Religion are Instrumentalized in the Kosovo-Serbia Dispute Agon Maliqi explores how Serbia’s non-recognition of Kosovo is an obstacle holding back both countries from advancing in Euro-Atlantic integrations. He argues that keeping the dispute unresolved may be considered a key Russian strategic objective in the region.

Global Interfaith Monitor No. 13 -

Global Interfaith Monitor No. 13

Interreligious Forum of the Americas | Building Bridges Seminar | Exploring Catholicism's Impact: June Newsletter -

Interreligious Forum of the Americas | Building Bridges Seminar | Exploring Catholicism's Impact: June Newsletter Religious communities are vital in identifying and addressing many key issues in the Western Hemisphere. Participants at “The Interreligious Forum: Promoting Human Dignity in the Americas,” held June 20, considered how interreligious cooperation can address inequality, the refugee and migrant c...

To all of our followers celebrating, we wish you and your loved ones a blessed Eid!

As we reflect on today, we honor refugees around the world.

Find a variety of resources on migration and refugees on our website: http://ow.ly/QQhM50JF30l

On , we reflect back on our June 2020 series examining religion and racial justice following protests in response to the death of George Floyd. What concrete steps can faith leaders and religious practitioners take to fight racism in American society?

Read our contributors' responses:

Religion and Racial Justice: The George Floyd Protests How does religion contribute—both positively and negatively—to the movement for racial justice, especially in light of the protests? What concrete steps can faith leaders and religious practitioners take to fight racism in American society?

in 2021, Catherine Wolff, author of "Beyond: How Humankind Thinks of Heaven," discussed writing about the horizon of the known with her friend George Saunders, author of "Lincoln in the Bardo." Paul Elie, Berkley Center senior fellow and author, moderated.

Watch the video of their conversation on our website:

Writing About the Life “Beyond” This event featured Catherine Wolff in conversation with her friend and acclaimed fiction writer George Saunders about the "horizon of the known."

The twenty-first Building Bridges Seminar will meet June 19–23, 2023 in Berlin, Germany, on the theme of "God’s Word and the Community of Faith: Christian and Muslim Perspectives." This international circle of scholars will engage in dialogical close reading of Muslim and Christian texts on the actuality, extent, nature, and modes of revelation.

📅💻On June 19 watch the seminar’s opening session via YouTube livestream, hosted by Berliner Institut für Islamische Theologie - BIT.

The session will feature overview lectures by Professors Joshua Ralston (University of Edinburgh) and Abdullah Saeed (University of Melbourne), with responses from Professors Muna Tatari (University of Paderborn) and Catherine Cornille (Boston College).

Get more details and watch the livestream on our website:

Twenty-first Building Bridges Seminar: God's Word and the Community of Faith The twenty-first Building Bridges Seminar will meet June 19–23, 2023 in Berlin, Germany, on the theme of God’s Word and the Community of Faith: Christian and Muslim Perspectives.

As the 2023 Berkley Center-Pulitzer Center Reporting Fellow, Elene Chkhaidze (SFS'25) is reporting on the role of religion in the Cyprus conflict. Her project centers religious leaders and visual elements to document the role religion could play in reconciliation efforts. Chkhaidze is an undergraduate student at Georgetown University in Qatar.

Announcing the 2023 Pulitzer Center Reporting Fellows Congratulations to the 2023 cohort of Pulitzer Center Reporting Fellows. Graphic by Lucy Crelli. United States, 2023.The Pulitzer Center is excited to announce its 2023 cohort of 44 Reporting Fellows. Their projects address some of the most critical and underreported stories in today’s world, incl...

On May 22 Elena Fiddian-Qasmiyeh and Sandra Iman Pertek joined Berkley Center Senior Fellow Jocelyne Cesari to explore gender and religious aspects of forced migration, which are important to inform multi-stakeholder responses to global forced displacement.

Watch their conversation on our website:

Gender, Religion, and Forced Migration This webinar explored gender and religious aspects of forced migration, which are important to inform multi-stakeholder responses to global forced displacement.

Xavier University - Ateneo de Cagayan in Misamis Oriental, Philippines, featured the work of Georgetown University in Qatar student Pragyan Kumar Acharya (SFS'24), a 2023 Education and Social Justice Fellow researching the Jesuit university's initiatives, specifically their award-winning night school program.

The Education and Social Justice Fellowship, a Berkley Center partnership with The Center for Social Justice - Georgetown University, provides Georgetown students with the opportunity to conduct in-depth examinations of innovative educational initiatives. Under faculty supervision, fellows gather information through IRB-approved interviews, analyze best practices, and share their reports and conclusions with a wider global audience.

Xavier Ateneo Welcomes Fellow from Georgetown University to Foster Collaboration Xavier University - Ateneo de Cagayan is a Filipino, Catholic, and Jesuit University forming leaders of character for the needs of Mindanao, the Philippines, and Asia-Pacific.

Carole Sargent describes how late Berkley Center Senior Fellow Rev. Drew Christiansen, S.J.'s last book—"Forbidden: Receiving Pope Francis's Condemnation of Nuclear Weapons" (Georgetown University Press 2023)—interrogates the clash between obedience and conscience.

Explore his work and legacy on our website: https://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/projects/the-church-and-nuclear-issues

'Responsible obedience includes refusal': Drew Christiansen's legacy on conscience in a nuclear age The late ethicist Fr. Drew Christiansen left a challenging legacy about the limits of obedience when it comes to nuclear weapons, recalls his co-editor Carole Sargent.

The latest installment of Georgetown’s Faith and Culture Series featured American writer Phil Klay, author of Missionaries (2020) and Uncertain Ground (2022), for an April 18 conversation moderated by Berkley Center Senior Fellow Paul Elie.

💻Read the recap: http://ow.ly/hzYr50OEIzi

📽️Watch the conversation: http://ow.ly/QfSb50OEIzj

Faith, War, and Human Depth: A Conversation with Novelist Phil Klay The latest installment of Georgetown’s Faith and Culture Series featured American writer Phil Klay, author of Missionaries (2020) and Uncertain Ground (2022), for an April 18 conversation moderated by Berkley Center Senior Fellow Paul Elie.