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Death is universal. Yet, the beliefs, responses, and rituals around this shared human experience, influenced by religion and culture, vary widely. In this minicourse, we will examine Muslim views and responses related to death. How can Muslim perspectives contribute to our understanding and facilitate a better engagement in facing human mortality?
In the past few years, Christian nationalism has surged to become a powerful force and a major topic in American politics. But even as the conversation about Christian nationalism has proliferated, there are raging debates about how to define it and understand its impact on American politics. This minicourse will try to understand these debates while not taking our eyes away from the peril of Christian nationalism.
Today, antisemitism is still a social and political problem. However, many disagree as to what it actually is. This course explores the various efforts in history to define antisemitism and the political factors that inform them. We examine a few contemporary definitions of antisemitism and evaluate the political worldviews of each, so that participants can consider the role these definitions play in efforts to counter antisemitism as well as how they inform broader socio-political concerns.
What does the Jewish religious ethical tradition say about Zionism and the modern state of Israel? How has Oct. 7th changed explorations of this question? Mikhael Manekin, author of “End of Days: Ethics, Tradition and Power in Israel,” wrestles with these questions as a religious Jew and a peace activist who lives in Jerusalem. Join Ben Sax, ICJS Jewish Scholar, in this conversation with Mikhael Manekin.
Uncover the goals of the Christian movement that is a threat to the American values of democracy and pluralism. Through podcasts, articles, courses, and videos, Matthew D. Taylor shares his research and storytelling.
Interreligious dialogue is difficult even in the best of times. But in the fraught atmosphere around the Israel-Hamas War, is dialogue possible—or even a good idea? This dilemma confronted the ICJS scholars this spring as they prepared to lead the annual ICJS 2024 Emerging Religious Leaders Intensive (ERLI), a week-long residential experience at the Pearlstone…
Amid the grief, the sorrow, the anger, and the anguish surrounding the Israel-Hamas war, is dialogue still possible? The horrific attacks of October 7th, and the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, have left both individuals and institutions bereft. For an organization like the Institute for Islamic, Christian, and Jewish Studies (ICJS), whose mission is to…
At ICJS we believe that a multireligious democracy—an interreligious society where religious diversity flourishes and shapes civic life—is not only possible, but absolutely necessary. And if we want a multireligious democracy, we will need to work for it. That work begins when we commit to engaging interreligiously with one another in the public square. That…
October 10, 2023—ICJS recognizes that this is a fearful time; the violence is overwhelming. Hamas attackers invaded Israel. Israeli military operations are intensifying in Gaza. Although the violence is taking place in Israel and Gaza—seemingly a world away—it has hit close to home here in Baltimore. People we know and love at ICJS have lost…
If we want to create a multireligious democracy where people of all religions—including no religion—can flourish, we need to be able to see the world, and one another, with an interreligious lens.
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