Partners
Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding
The Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding was founded in 1993 by an agreement between the Fondation pour L'Entente entre Chretiens et Musulmans, Geneva and Georgetown University to build stronger bridges of understanding between the Muslim world and the West as well as between Islam and Christianity. The Center's mission is to improve relations between the Muslim world and the West and enhance understanding of Muslims in the West. The geographic scope and coverage of the center includes the breadth of the Muslim world, from North Africa to Southeast Asia, as well as Europe and America. Since its foundation, the Center has become internationally recognized as a leader in the field of Muslim-Christian relations.
In December 2005, the Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding (CMCU) received a $20 million dollar gift from HRH Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, an internationally renowned businessman and global investor, to support and expand the Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding. The Center was renamed the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding (ACMCU). For more information visit the ACMCU website.
IGE and the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University are co-sponsoring the 2009 Global Leadership Forum. It will be held on Wednesday, 17 June and is entitled "Evangelicals and Muslims: Conversations on Respect, Reconciliation, and Religious Freedom." You can find more information about GLF 2009 on the Georgetown website.
The Berkley Center at Georgetown University
The Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs was created in the office of Georgetown's President, Dr. John J. DeGioia, in March 2006. The Center is designed to build on Georgetown's strengths: academic excellence; Washington, DC, location; international reach; and a Catholic and Jesuit tradition open to other faiths and the wider secular world. Collaboration among faculty, administrators, and students — and generous support from William R. Berkley, a member of the University Board of Directors — has enabled the Center's rapid growth. Associate Professor Thomas Banchoff (Government and School of Foreign Service) is its founding director.The force of religion in world affairs demands knowledge, dialogue, and action. Religion's role in national and international politics remains poorly understood. Communication across traditions is difficult. And religious communities have unmet potential in the struggle against violence, injustice, poverty, and disease around the world. Through research, teaching, and outreach activities, the Berkley Center builds knowledge, promotes dialogue, and supports action in the service of peace. The Berkley Center is at the heart of a university-wide effort to make Georgetown a global leader in the interdisciplinary study of religion and the advancement of interreligious understanding.
IGE and the the Berkley Center hosted three symposia commemorating the tenth anniversary of the International Religious Freedom (IRF) Act in 2008. Panelists addressed American International Religious Freedom policy and democracy promotion, civil society, religion-based terrorism, law (domestic and international) and public diplomacy. The final symposium took place on 10 October 2008, and will lead to a published brief on U.S. IRF policy that will be given to the new president and his administration.
Center for the Study of Law and Religion, Emory University
The Center for the Study of Law and Religion, based at the School of Law of Emory University, Georgia, is designed to explore the religious dimensions of law, the legal dimensions of religion, and the interaction of legal and religious ideas, institutions, and methods. The CSLR predicates its work on the belief that religion gives law its spirit and inspires its adherence to ritual, tradition, and justice. Law gives religion its structure and encourages its devotion to order, organization, and orthodoxy. Law and religion share such ideas as fault, obligation, and covenant and such methods as ethics, rhetoric, and textual interpretation. Law and religion also balance each other by counterpoising justice and mercy, rule and equity, discipline and love. IGE partnered with CSLR to hold a September 2006 conference in Hanoi, Vietnam, on "Religion and Rule of Law in Southeast Asia," which convened experts in law and religion from 10 countries to discuss comparative approaches to regulating religion in a Southeast Asian cultural context. IGE's Council on Faith and International Affairs (CFIA) and CSLR also co-sponsored a conference on "Law and Religion in Transitional Societies" in Oslo, Norway, in 2006.
International Center for Law and Religion Studies, Brigham Young University
Based within the J. Reuben Clark School of Law at Brigham Young University, Utah, the International Center for Law and Religion Studies (ICLRS) works with scholars, government leaders, nongovernmental groups, and religious organizations from a variety of countries and faith traditions, to promote religious liberty and study the relations between governments and religious organizations. IGE partnered with ICLRS to hold a September 2006 conference in Hanoi, Vietnam, on "Religion and Rule of Law in Southeast Asia," which convened experts in law and religion from 10 countries to discuss comparative approaches to regulating religion in a Southeast Asian cultural context. IGE's Council on Faith and International Affairs (CFIA) and ICLRS also co-sponsored a conference on "Law and Religion in Transitional Societies" in Oslo, Norway, in 2006.
University of Science and Technology, Bannu, Pakistan
Established in 2005 and based in Bannu, Pakistan, the University Of Science & Technology (UST Bannu) aspires to bridge disciplines and establish new partnerships while identifying creative approaches of enhancing academic quality and research potentialities. Bannu is located on the border between Pakistan's Northwest Frontier Province and volatile North Waziristan, part of Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas. IGE has partnered with UST Bannu since signing a Memorandum of Understanding in June 2006 to establish a Global Engagement Fellows scholarship program. The program provides scholarships to university students, as well as language training and an emphasis on tolerance and global issues. IGE has funded two cohorts, each of which include female students and residents of the tribal areas.
The Kairos Project
"Educating America's Faith Communities for Middle East Peace"
"Kairos" is a Greek word that literally means "an opportune moment".
The Kairos Project seeks to educate faith-based leaders and their communities of all political persuasions - the majority of the American public - about the causes of and solutions to the modern conflict that ravages the Holy Land. Through a series of sophisticated educational campaigns targeting the majority of the American Public, Kairos Project aim to deepen understanding not only of the Holy Land's peoples and cultures, but also a vital American interest in achieving a just and viable solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict while the opportunity still exists.
Ultimately, The Kairos Project hopes that its educational initiatives will meaningfully contribute to protecting and promoting the inviolable rights of both Israelis and Palestinians and securing the dignity and freedom of worship for the region's vibrant Jewish, Christian, and Muslim communities.
Institute for Religious Studies, Vietnamese Academy of Social Sciences
Established in 1953 and based in Hanoi, the Vietnamese Academy of Social Sciences (VASS) is a government body with the functions of studying fundamental issues on Vietnamese social sciences; providing academic foundation for planning lines, strategies, schemes and policies for socialist-oriented rapid and sustainable development; organizing consultation and postgraduate training on social sciences; taking part in developing the potential of nationwide social sciences. Within VASS, the Institute for Religious Studies (IRS-VASS) is responsible for research on religious movements and policies within Vietnam. IGE has partnered with IRS-VASS since 2004, resulting in a conference series on "Religion and Rule of Law in Southeast Asia." The first conference in the series took place in September 2006, convening experts in law and religion from 10 countries to discuss comparative approaches to regulating religion in a Southeast Asian cultural context.
Vietnam-USA Society
Established in 1945 and based in Hanoi, the Vietnam-USA Society (VUS) was the first bilateral friendship organization in Vietnam. The goal of VUS is to promote mutual understanding, friendly relations, and mutually beneficial cooperation between the people of Vietnam and the United States. VUS is a friendship organization under the guidance of the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organizations, a member organization of the Vietnam Fatherland Front. IGE has partnered with VUS since its June 2005 visit to Vietnam, when IGE and VUS signed a Letter of Intent to work together to improve religious freedom in the context of U.S.-Vietnam bilateral relations through three confidence-building steps in 2006, culminating in the September 2006 conference on "Religion and Rule of Law in Southeast Asia." At the conclusion of the conference, IGE and VUS formalized their partnership through a Memorandum of Understanding to continue working together toward sustainable religious freedom in Vietnam.
Oslo Coalition on Freedom of Religion or Belief
The Oslo Coalition on Freedom of Religion or Belief is based at the Center for Human Rights at the Law School of the University of Norway. Founded in 1998, the Coalition is an international network of representatives from faith communities, NGOs, international organizations and the academia, with the aim of promoting freedom of religion or belief and strengthening interfaith co-operation worldwide. IGE's Council on Faith and International Affairs (CFIA) partnered with the Oslo Coalition to co-sponsor an international conference on "Law and Religion in Transitional Societies" in Oslo in December 2006. The conference convened Asian and Western experts in law, security, and religion to learn from the comparative approaches of one anothers' countries.