Featuring Dr. Luis Lugo from the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, Washington.
Fear and Hope: Religion's Role in Conflict and Peace
Keynote Presenter:
Dr. Luis E. Lugo, Director of the Pew Research Centres' Forum on Religion and Public Life.
Moderator:
Dr. Nathan C. Funk, Associate Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies, Conrad Grebel University College, University of Waterloo.
Host & Co-sponsor:
Dr. John Siebert, Director of Project Ploughshares.
Respondents:
Mr. Iyinoluwa "E" Aboyeji, President, Waterloo Imprint, University of Waterloo.
Dr. Jennifer Ball, Lecturer, Peace and Conflict Studies, Conrad Grebel University College.
Mr. Geoffrey Cameron, Senior Policy Analyst, Africa Bureau, Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade.
Dr. Paul Freston, Chair in Religion and Politics in Global Context, Balsillie School of International Affairs, Wilfrid Laurier University.
Dr. Ali Zaidi, Assistant Professor of Global Studies, Wilfrid Laurier University (Global Studies).
Our aim is to provide a forum for respectful dialogue with the intent to learn and understand. The colloquium envisions dialogue and engagement around:
- How religion can motivate positive civic action and build bridges between communities.
- How to transform conflicts influenced by religious identities, beliefs, and values in a manner that respects religious commitment and provides scope for expression.
- The value of a nuanced, well-informed understanding of the role religion plays in society and politics, as a prerequisite for good public policy, substantive dialogue and problem solving.
The colloquium’s basis will be Pew’s recent, in-depth study of inter-communal relations between Christians and Muslims in Sub-Saharan Africa.
For more information see the executive summary or the Tolerance and Tension: Islam and Christianity in Sub-Saharan Africa (PDF) - retrieved from The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. For more information on the Pew Forum, read About the Pew Research Center and Forum (PDF).
Co-sponsors:
Frank H. Epp Memorial Fund
Respondents
Iyinoluwa "E" Aboyeji, President of Waterloo Imprint, University of Waterloo.
Iyinoluwa "E" Aboyeji is a 19-year-old Nigerian student at the University of Waterloo. Born and raised in Nigeria, he left his home in the Niger Delta to pursue an education at age sixteen. Mr Aboyeji has worked with many local and international organisations, most notably the
World Youth Alliance, an international youth advocacy organisation associated with the United Nations. Currently, he is President of Imprint Publications, one of Canada's largest student newspapers. He serves as Vice President (Projects) of the
African Students' Association at Waterloo and Fundraising Manager of Harambe Africa. He dreams of becoming a tenured professor at a reputable university before the age of twenty-five.
Dr. Jennifer Ball, Peace and Conflict Studies, Conrad Grebel University College, University of Waterloo.
Jennifer Ball was born in Zambia and has lived and worked for over 13 years in East and Southern Africa. She holds a PhD in Rural Studies from the University of Guelph. She is the 2009 Forster Medal Recipient – the highest academic award at the University of Guelph. A specialist in narrative research methodologies, her past and current research includes: intercultural communication in professional planning, conflict management, storytelling, rural land use planning, and the role of women in peacebuilding (with a particular focus on Uganda, East Africa). Jennifer has taught courses in international development in the Peace and Conflict Studies Programme at Conrad Grebel University College at the University of Waterloo. As an accredited land use and community development planner, she consults on several research projects at the University of Guelph. Jennifer's book,
Doing Democracy with Circles: Engaging Communities in Public Planning,was recently released by
Living Justice Press (2009).
Geoffrey Cameron, Senior Policy Analyst, Africa Bureau, Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade.
Geoffrey Cameron was born in Calgary, Canada, and raised in Fiji, the United States and Canada. He graduated with a BA (Hons) in International Development Studies from Trent University, Peterborough, Ontario, and as a Commonwealth Scholar he completed his MPhil in Politics at St Antony’s College, University of Oxford. He has previously been a College Lecturer in Politics at St Catherine's College (Oxford), and he is a Research Associate at the James Martin 21st Century School (Oxford). Currently he serves as a Senior Policy Analyst, working with the Director-General of the Africa Bureau at Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada. Geoffrey is the co-author of the forthcoming book (with Ian Goldin),
Exceptional People: How Migration Shaped Our World and Will Define Our Future (Princeton, 2010).
Dr. Paul Freston, Centre for International Goverance Innovation (CIGI) Chair in Religion and Politics in Global Context, Balsillie School of International Affairs, Wilfrid Laurier University
Paul Freston is a sociologist of religion. Born in England and educated at Cambridge University, Dr. Freston has a master's degree in Latin American Studies from the University of Liverpool and a master's degree in Christian Studies from Regent College in Vancouver. He earned a Doctorate in Sociology at the University of Campinas in Brazil. He is also professor of sociology in the post-graduate programme in social science at the Universidade Federal de São Carlos, Brazil. His scholarly interest has focused on religion and politics, the growth of Pentecostalism in the global south, and questions of religion and globalization. His books include
Evangelicals and Politics in Asia, Africa and Latin America (Cambridge University Press, 2001);
Protestant Political Parties: A Global Survey (Ashgate, 2004); and
Evangelical Christianity and Democracy in Latin America (Oxford University Press, 2008).
Dr. Ali Zaidi, Assistant Professor of Global Studies, Wilfrid Laurier University (Global Studies, Wilfrid Laurier University)
Ali Zaidi, Assistant Professor in the Global Studies Department at Wilfrid Laurier University, is a social theorist interested in the globalization of – and resistance to – secular, cultural modernity. He focuses this interest more specifically on intercultural dialogue and criticism, especially pertaining to Islam. In 2008, he was a Visiting Fellow at the Institute for the Study of Islam in the Modern World (ISIM) in Leiden, Netherlands, and in 2006 he was an Invited Junior Fellow at the Summer Academy on “Islam and the Repositioning of Religion,” at the Kulturwissenschaftliches Institut (KWI) in Essen, Germany. His forthcoming book is entitled
Islam, Modernity and the Human Sciences (Palgrave MacMillan)
, and his work has appeared in
International Sociology;
Theory, Culture and Society; and the
American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences.
