Hey everyone,
I have a feeling this blog is kind of dead, but just in case, I thought I'd give a little update.
I just finished attending a conference in Washington, D. C. as a part of IFYC... a leadership training session of sorts. I learned a lot and was able to connect with a lot of schools who are also struggling to start interfaith dialogue and service on their campus.
My university's proposal for the Obama Challenge (the one I mentioned in my previous post) was accepted and my chaplain is on his way to *his* training conference in D.C. tomorrow. I hope it all goes well.
And most of all, I hope all of your interfaithy endeavors will go successfully into the coming year.
Peace,
Rebecca Short
University of Puget Sound
Monday, August 1, 2011
Monday, May 9, 2011
Puget Sound & the White House Interfaith Initiative
Greetings all,
My school, the University of Puget Sound, is in the final edits of our proposal for the Obama administration's initiative for interfaith dialogue and community service on college campuses. You can find out more information on it here, but I regret that I did not post this sooner so that you all would have enough time to draft proposals yourselves. That said, I think that you could very well answer Obama's call without it being "official" and yet contribute just as much to interfaith understanding and social justice work.
Beyond simply interfaith dialogue and service work between (sometimes quarreling) religious groups on our campus, we are also trying to create a "hub" of connections for social justice and community service work. Our primary emphasis on the social justice portion of the Obama challenge is to help create a campus culture of service work.
I grew up in Texas and went to an all-girls' Catholic high school. One of the things I admire most about the Catholic Church is its strong commitment to social justice. In high school, you got serious popularity points if you were deeply involved in community service, global social justice, and the like, and 100 hours of direct community service was required of me to graduate. Puget Sound is really different. Puget Sound is apathetic about a lot of things (except our Greek life and their philanthropies are pretty active but are usually exclusive), and most people don't even know that there is a building dedicated to community involvement exists on campus.
We are trying to change that. Not to just get interfaith-related stuff happening, but just to bridge all demographic gaps, come together, and make amazing things happen in our community and elsewhere.
I'll update as cool stuff (or troubles!) occurs on campus.
Peace, and good luck to all of you graduating seniors!
Rebecca Short
U. of Puget Sound '12
Religion, philosophy
Pagan Student Alliance
P.S. I still use my CT5 mug. My university's chaplain wants to steal it from me.
My school, the University of Puget Sound, is in the final edits of our proposal for the Obama administration's initiative for interfaith dialogue and community service on college campuses. You can find out more information on it here, but I regret that I did not post this sooner so that you all would have enough time to draft proposals yourselves. That said, I think that you could very well answer Obama's call without it being "official" and yet contribute just as much to interfaith understanding and social justice work.
Beyond simply interfaith dialogue and service work between (sometimes quarreling) religious groups on our campus, we are also trying to create a "hub" of connections for social justice and community service work. Our primary emphasis on the social justice portion of the Obama challenge is to help create a campus culture of service work.
I grew up in Texas and went to an all-girls' Catholic high school. One of the things I admire most about the Catholic Church is its strong commitment to social justice. In high school, you got serious popularity points if you were deeply involved in community service, global social justice, and the like, and 100 hours of direct community service was required of me to graduate. Puget Sound is really different. Puget Sound is apathetic about a lot of things (except our Greek life and their philanthropies are pretty active but are usually exclusive), and most people don't even know that there is a building dedicated to community involvement exists on campus.
We are trying to change that. Not to just get interfaith-related stuff happening, but just to bridge all demographic gaps, come together, and make amazing things happen in our community and elsewhere.
I'll update as cool stuff (or troubles!) occurs on campus.
Peace, and good luck to all of you graduating seniors!
Rebecca Short
U. of Puget Sound '12
Religion, philosophy
Pagan Student Alliance
P.S. I still use my CT5 mug. My university's chaplain wants to steal it from me.
Monday, March 28, 2011
Attempts to Start up an MIT IFC
Hi everyone,
[Please forgive any and all grammar infractions. I'm pulling the tech school card here.]
After CT5 I was inspired by the stories of close friendships between different people and religious groups at other universities across the country, and I was so glad that I had made such great and interesting friends in so short a time. I felt that I really wanted to start an IFC at MIT, (we have a dialogue group, but the focus is on comparative discussion and our main events throughout the year are speakers and panels) and so I've been trying to 1) gather information on how other groups found their beginnings and 2) make a group of five students to help guide the direction of the council so that we can begin accepting applications in the fall.
After trying to gather some people willing to put time into getting this started, I've begun to feel less hopeful. Many people won't distinguish between interfaith dialogue and interfaith positive action, which maybe is legitimate in the sense that perhaps we don't need another interfaith group. How many of your groups include dialogue, how many are separate?
I suppose I could try to make my focus more unique. Maybe "to develop interfaith brotherhood through community service," or something. What I ultimately feel is lacking from the dialogue group MIT has in place already is that it is so intellectual and comparative, even when it's controversial. We just aren't real friends. We'll argue, we'll listen and nod, but we're not developing a community and most importantly, we're not involving the campus of MIT.
I've begun contacting people at Johns Hopkins and Harvard, but I've gotten no responses from other universities. If you know anyone who was involved in or knows about the beginnings of your interfaith councils, could you send their contact information to me at leanna AT mit dot edu, please? I would really appreciate it. I'm really losing steam here.
Also, if you have any ideas for how I can push forward or some ideas for preliminary events we can do in our first year as a student group, please please leave some comments for me.
Thanks for listening. <3
Leanna
[Please forgive any and all grammar infractions. I'm pulling the tech school card here.]
After CT5 I was inspired by the stories of close friendships between different people and religious groups at other universities across the country, and I was so glad that I had made such great and interesting friends in so short a time. I felt that I really wanted to start an IFC at MIT, (we have a dialogue group, but the focus is on comparative discussion and our main events throughout the year are speakers and panels) and so I've been trying to 1) gather information on how other groups found their beginnings and 2) make a group of five students to help guide the direction of the council so that we can begin accepting applications in the fall.
After trying to gather some people willing to put time into getting this started, I've begun to feel less hopeful. Many people won't distinguish between interfaith dialogue and interfaith positive action, which maybe is legitimate in the sense that perhaps we don't need another interfaith group. How many of your groups include dialogue, how many are separate?
I suppose I could try to make my focus more unique. Maybe "to develop interfaith brotherhood through community service," or something. What I ultimately feel is lacking from the dialogue group MIT has in place already is that it is so intellectual and comparative, even when it's controversial. We just aren't real friends. We'll argue, we'll listen and nod, but we're not developing a community and most importantly, we're not involving the campus of MIT.
I've begun contacting people at Johns Hopkins and Harvard, but I've gotten no responses from other universities. If you know anyone who was involved in or knows about the beginnings of your interfaith councils, could you send their contact information to me at leanna AT mit dot edu, please? I would really appreciate it. I'm really losing steam here.
Also, if you have any ideas for how I can push forward or some ideas for preliminary events we can do in our first year as a student group, please please leave some comments for me.
Thanks for listening. <3
Leanna
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Yesterday's Heads of Faith Meeting
Shalom Alechem (greetings/peace to all of you),
Yesterday at Colorado College, Professors David Gardiner and David Weddle, spoke to the Heads of Faith group about the concept of forgiveness in Buddhism and Christianity over dinner at our Interfaith House. Each professor explicated a handout of relevant texts from the tradition they had elected to speak about and then discussion/debate was opened to the group.
Discussion included (but was not limited to) a debate about whether Buddhism acknowledges a unique Self; differences between forgiveness, tolerance, and acceptance; how one interacts with a "foolish" individual; the significance of body as a physical separation of The Soul; the importance of forgiveness; metaphysical energy; negative emotions such as anger and the act of degradation; the difference between receiving forgiveness and forgiving yourself; reincarnation and transgressions from past lives; individually motivated forgiveness and doctrine-based forgiveness; and the roll of compassion.
Looking back on the event, I wonder if the informal nature of the evening contributed some crucial dynamic between attendees that accounts for its high level of positive feedback and success. It was clear that the organizer wished it to be informal; students and professors sat together on sofas in the living room and before officially beginning, each individual in the room shared one blessing and challenge in their life. Though I've experienced intimate settings to be "safer spaces," I find it potentially controversial that the event organizer only invited a select group of students to participate. From what I've heard, it seems the student body highly regards the professors who spoke and I wonder if it would have been possible to maintain a personal, intelligent, and polite dialogue if the meeting had been opened to others.
Do others have input regarding preferences for group size, venue/setting, and the degree of solicitation for events such as this one?
-Esther
Yesterday at Colorado College, Professors David Gardiner and David Weddle, spoke to the Heads of Faith group about the concept of forgiveness in Buddhism and Christianity over dinner at our Interfaith House. Each professor explicated a handout of relevant texts from the tradition they had elected to speak about and then discussion/debate was opened to the group.
Discussion included (but was not limited to) a debate about whether Buddhism acknowledges a unique Self; differences between forgiveness, tolerance, and acceptance; how one interacts with a "foolish" individual; the significance of body as a physical separation of The Soul; the importance of forgiveness; metaphysical energy; negative emotions such as anger and the act of degradation; the difference between receiving forgiveness and forgiving yourself; reincarnation and transgressions from past lives; individually motivated forgiveness and doctrine-based forgiveness; and the roll of compassion.
Looking back on the event, I wonder if the informal nature of the evening contributed some crucial dynamic between attendees that accounts for its high level of positive feedback and success. It was clear that the organizer wished it to be informal; students and professors sat together on sofas in the living room and before officially beginning, each individual in the room shared one blessing and challenge in their life. Though I've experienced intimate settings to be "safer spaces," I find it potentially controversial that the event organizer only invited a select group of students to participate. From what I've heard, it seems the student body highly regards the professors who spoke and I wonder if it would have been possible to maintain a personal, intelligent, and polite dialogue if the meeting had been opened to others.
Do others have input regarding preferences for group size, venue/setting, and the degree of solicitation for events such as this one?
-Esther
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Interfaith trip to a Gurdwara
Today was a momentous day for Lawrencville, NJ and for the Sikhs of Princeton. Today, people of five different religions participated in a Sikh prayer service at the Gurdwara of Lawrenceville. Invited by the Sikhs of Princeton, students of various religious faiths including Catholic, Hindu and Muslim walked into the Gurdwara hand in hand as a family. Not only did it strengthen the bond between group the but it sent a giant message to the world. It reinforced the ideals of respect for all religions, not just tolerance but respect. The fact that these students actually participated and felt at home in a Sikh Gurdwara shows the world that interfaith peace and harmony can exist.
Kirtan (religious songs) were sung with lyrics and translations on a giant screen. Everyone in the group was able to understand the divinity behind each word and the profoundness of the universal teachings. Community lunch called langar was beautifully served by members of the congregation who made endless rounds making sure everyone had thirds and fourths of everything they liked. The love and hospiltality enhanced the flavor of the food and the richness of the entire experience.
It does not stop here. The Sikhs of Princeton will take the Muslim Students Association on March 27th to the same Gurdwara and plan on taking every single religious group on the Princeton campus to learn and share the beauty of Sikhism.
Blog post written by Shikha Uberoi, member of Religious Life Council, Sikhs of Princeton as well as Vice President of Princeton Hindu Satsangam
Kirtan (religious songs) were sung with lyrics and translations on a giant screen. Everyone in the group was able to understand the divinity behind each word and the profoundness of the universal teachings. Community lunch called langar was beautifully served by members of the congregation who made endless rounds making sure everyone had thirds and fourths of everything they liked. The love and hospiltality enhanced the flavor of the food and the richness of the entire experience.
It does not stop here. The Sikhs of Princeton will take the Muslim Students Association on March 27th to the same Gurdwara and plan on taking every single religious group on the Princeton campus to learn and share the beauty of Sikhism.
Blog post written by Shikha Uberoi, member of Religious Life Council, Sikhs of Princeton as well as Vice President of Princeton Hindu Satsangam
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