Podcasts about ifyc

Religious diversity is a characteristic that defines American society, and today, more people are embracing interfaith connections. Seventy-two percent of Americans say they have built a relationship with someone from a different religion than their own, according to a survey from the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) and Interfaith America (formerly Interfaith Youth Core, IFYC). In this episode of “Restoring Community,” we speak with Eboo Patel and Jeff Pinzino from Interfaith America, as well as Bahá'í leader Syda Segovia Taylor, to learn how religious pluralism can build and strengthen community bonds.

Eboo Patel, president and founder of Interfaith America, reflects on the new American religious landscape with diverse civic leaders.

Wear is the Love, Episode #9This week, we chat about the recent polling commissioned by the DCCC and reported by Politico (article here) that shows how Democrats, especially in vulnerable districts, are faring against Republican culture war attacks (spoiler: not well!). After, we discuss the NYT Magazine piece in the first Top 5 on what might be driving “anti-ambition” across American workplaces. Episode notes:IFYC report: “Evangelicals and Interfaith Engagement: Assessing Evangelical Resources, Motivations, Hesitancies, Hopes”IFYC webinar registration, 2/21 at 1pm EST/12pm CTEzra Klein interview with David Shor (NYT)“The Digital Gap Between Rich and Poor Kids Is Not What We Expected” (NYT)The Top 5 articles for your week:“The Age of Anti-Ambition” (NYT Magazine)Because the “Great Resignation” isn't happening just because of burnout or because some would like a better title or salary. There are multiple factors causing workers to ask “ what is all this striving for?”“A Child's TikTok Stardom Opens Doors. Then a Gunman Arrives.” (NYT)Because children and their parents are being given choices: pursue fame and fortune on social media apps and risk all kinds of negative consequences, or limit the potential for stardom, income and avenues of self-expression that comes with hyper-connectivity and virality. In a world where it seems there are no gatekeepers to attracting the attention of millions, how is one expected to turn down the opportunity to seek their affirmation and be validated by it? Our society has few ready, constructive answers to turn to when answering these kinds of questions.“On Attentional Norms” (Hedgehog Review)Because Alan Jacobs looks at the norms we're creating on Zoom, that is how little time and attention we give to meetings and speakers. “But Zoom, it seems to me, is a medium that offers constant permission to be distracted. And while the norms of any particular moment are in a sense not objectively good or bad, they can be good or bad in relation to certain human purposes. The purposes I have in my classes are not compatible with the attentional norms that we've learned to employ in our teleconferencing pandemic.”“COVID and the Brittle West” (The New Atlantis)Because we're at the point in the pandemic — two years in — where we can start asking questions about when the US's public health policy succeeded in doing its job, and when it failed. And this essay argues that the West's fixation on data and personal choice caused reactive rather than proactive policy decisions. “Our need to fully justify action by politicians and public officials — a basic requirement of the rule of law — tended to reduce their ability to make decisions in a moment of emergency, when full justification by data, let alone publicly avail --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/wear-we-are/support

  This episode of the Good Neighbear is a part of a special series for the podcast that focuses on IFYC's Faith in the Vaccine Ambassador (FIVA) Project, which is a grant-funded project awarded to Sharyl West Loeung of Baylor's Department of Multicultural Affairs. In this episode, we join in with current Baylor student, Katy Dulany, and listen to her story about COVID-19 and the vaccine. In response to the high need of the current moment, the Chicago-based Interfaith Youth Core, a long-time partner of Baylor and our Better Together BU interfaith group on campus, is launching the Faith in the Vaccine Ambassadors project. Baylor is participating in this project, and throughout this special series of our podcast, we will meet different Baylor students who are serving as Ambassadors in this project, and we will have the opportunity to hear their stories.  

This episode of the Good Neighbear is a part of a special series for the podcast that focuses on IFYC's Faith in the Vaccine Ambassador (FIVA) Project, which is a grant-funded project awarded to Sharyl West Loeung of Baylor's Department of Multicultural Affairs. In this episode, we join in with current Baylor student, Diana Gillespie, and listen to her story about COVID-19 and the vaccine. In response to the high need of the current moment, the Chicago-based Interfaith Youth Core, a long-time partner of Baylor and our Better Together BU interfaith group on campus, is launching the Faith in the Vaccine Ambassadors project. Baylor is participating in this project, and throughout this special series of our podcast, we will meet different Baylor students who are serving as Ambassadors in this project, and we will have the opportunity to hear their stories.

Join Eboo Patel, Founder and Executive Director of the Chicago-based Interfaith Youth Core, for a convocation address entitled, We Need to Build: Field Notes for Diverse Democracy. We live in a molten era where so much is changing and therefore anything is possible. Will America become a nightmare or a dream? So much depends on leaders like....

  This episode of the Good Neighbear is a part of a special series for the podcast that focuses on IFYC's Faith in the Vaccine Ambassador (FIVA) Project, which is a grant-funded project awarded to Sharyl West Loeung of Baylor's Department of Multicultural Affairs. In this episode, we join in with current Baylor student, Andrew McElroy, and listen to his story about COVID-19 and the vaccine. In response to the high need of the current moment, the Chicago-based Interfaith Youth Core, a long-time partner of Baylor and our Better Together BU interfaith group on campus, is launching the Faith in the Vaccine Ambassadors project. Baylor is participating in this project, and throughout this special series of our podcast, we will meet different Baylor students who are serving as Ambassadors in this project, and we will have the opportunity to hear their stories.  

This episode of the Good Neighbear is a part of a special series for the podcast that focuses on IFYC's Faith in the Vaccine Ambassador (FIVA) Project, which is a grant-funded project awarded to Sharyl West Loeung of Baylor's Department of Multicultural Affairs. In this episode, we join in with current Baylor student, Courtney Haubert, and listen to her story about COVID-19 and the vaccine. In response to the high need of the current moment, the Chicago-based Interfaith Youth Core, a long-time partner of Baylor and our Better Together BU interfaith group on campus, is launching the Faith in the Vaccine Ambassadors project. Baylor is participating in this project, and throughout this special series of our podcast, we will meet different Baylor students who are serving as Ambassadors in this project, and we will have the opportunity to hear their stories.

This episode of the Good Neighbear is a part of a special series for the podcast that focuses on IFYC's Faith in the Vaccine Ambassador (FIVA) Project, which is a grant-funded project awarded to Sharyl West Loeung of Baylor's Department of Multicultural Affairs. In this episode, we join in with current Baylor student, Alexander Garcia, and listen to his story about COVID-19 and the vaccine. In response to the high need of the current moment, the Chicago-based Interfaith Youth Core, a long-time partner of Baylor and our Better Together BU interfaith group on campus, is launching the Faith in the Vaccine Ambassadors project. Baylor is participating in this project, and throughout this special series of our podcast, we will meet different Baylor students who are serving as Ambassadors in this project, and we will have the opportunity to hear their stories.

  This episode of the Good Neighbear is a part of a special series for the podcast that focuses on IFYC's Faith in the Vaccine Ambassador (FIVA) Project, which is a grant-funded project awarded to Sharyl West Loeung of Baylor's Department of Multicultural Affairs. In this episode, we join in with current Baylor student, Mari Sanchez, and listen to her story about COVID-19 and the vaccine. In response to the high need of the current moment, the Chicago-based Interfaith Youth Core, a long-time partner of Baylor and our Better Together BU interfaith group on campus, is launching the Faith in the Vaccine Ambassadors project. Baylor is participating in this project, and throughout this special series of our podcast, we will meet different Baylor students who are serving as Ambassadors in this project, and we will have the opportunity to hear their stories.  

This episode of the Good Neighbear is the beginning of a special series for the podcast that focuses on IFYC's Faith in the Vaccine Ambassador (FIVA) Project, which is a grant-funded project awarded to Sharyl West Loeung of Baylor's Department of Multicultural Affairs. In this first episode, we join in with current Baylor student, Anu Agbi, and listen to her story about COVID-19 and the vaccine. In response to the high need of the current moment, the Chicago-based Interfaith Youth Core, a long-time partner of Baylor and our Better Together BU interfaith group on campus, is launching the Faith in the Vaccine Ambassadors project. Baylor is participating in this project, and throughout this special series of our podcast, we will meet different Baylor students who are serving as Ambassadors in this project, and we will have the opportunity to hear their stories.

This episode of the Good Neighbear discusses being a Better Together Co-Leader, a Civic Interfaith Leader, and having the space to question with Baylor student, Nate Rowan.

My guest for this podcast is Eboo Patel. Eboo is the founder of IFYC, Interfaith Youth Core, and is now a national figure in developing interfaith conversations and relationships. Named by U.S. News & World Report as one of America’s Best Leaders of 2009, Eboo served on President Obama’s Inaugural Faith Council and is the author of several books, including "Acts of Faith: The Story of An American Muslim, in the Struggle for the Soul of a Generation" and "Out of Many Faiths: Religious Diversity and the American Promise." We talked about the state of interfaith relations in today’s society, the importance of connecting with young people, and where he finds hope. You can learn more about IFYC at ifyc.org and you can follow Eboo on Twitter @EbooPatel.

Dr. Janett I. Cordovés and I speak about being a first-generation Cubana, STEM student who pursued a career in higher education, now working on supporting interfaith movement work at IFYC. We chat about how she is harnessing her spiritual gifts of humility, faith and joy to thrive during the pandemic. Janett speaks about the badass women that inspire her and the the importance of Marie Kondo-ing your community (surrounding yourself with people that espouse joy). She also speaks about three important questions she asks her self at various critical moments in her life:- "What brings me joy?"- "Does the world need me to do it?"- "Am I any good at it?” Janett I. Cordovés is an interfaith scholar, higher education consultant and digital pedagogy specialist. She is the Director of Higher Education Partnerships for Interfaith Youth Core, working to equip and empower campus professional staff and faculty to be interfaith leaders. Before joining the IFYC team, Janett worked in higher education for over a decade, elevating the importance of engaging worldview identity and creating religious and spiritual accommodations and policies to support students' holistic development and retention and success efforts. Janett has a bachelor's in applied mathematics, a master's in higher education, and a doctorate in ethical leadership. Her research interests include first-generation, #digitalfaith, leadership development, and spirituality. In her spare time, Janett travels to spend time with family and friends, volunteers with Beyond Hunger, the Chicago Food Pantry, and at her place of worship - City Church Chicago.https://www.janetticordoves.com@joyful_makingadifference@JanettIsabel

Interfaith Youth Core (IFYC) was founded by Eboo Patel, and its mission is to create a system of people and campuses where interfaith cooperation is the norm. The organization continues the tradition of modern interfaith work which started in 1893 with the Parliament of World’s Religions. However, IFYC is less focused on theoretical dialogue and more focused on action. They provide free educator resources on their website, organize training conferences, and provide grant funding for scholars to create or revise undergraduate courses that integrate interfaith themes. Noah Silverman is their senior director of learning and partnerships and Katie Baxter is their Vice President of Program Strategy. * The Chronicle of Higher Education's profile of Eboo Patel, IFYC's founder and president * Faith Is the Diversity Issue Ignored by Colleges. Here's Why That  Needs to Change by Eboo Patel, Chronicle of Higher Education * The first chapter of Eboo’s most recent book, Out of Many Faiths: Religious Diversity and the American Promise, which lays out IFYC's organizational vision, is  online * The first chapter of his book, Interfaith Leadership: A Primer, on IFYC's organizational methodology,is also online * Eboo writes a blog for Inside Higher Ed that addresses identity and diversity issues in higher education * A piece on excellence in interfaith engagement: Leadership Practices for Interfaith Excellence in Higher Education by Eboo Patel, Katie Baxter, and Noah Silverman, Liberal Education * A piece on tribalism and marginalization in contemporary culture: A Nation Under Two Flags: Liberal Education, Interfaith Literacy, and the New American Holy War by Eboo Patel, Liberal Education * IFYC's annual Interfaith Leadership Institute was featured on PBS News Hour Transcript Here is a transcript of this episode. Rating the Show If you enjoyed this show, please rate it on iTunes: * Go to the show's iTunes page and click “View in iTunes” * Click “Ratings and Reviews” which is to the right of "Details" * Next to "Click to Rate" select the stars. See the full list of episodes of Half Hour of Heterodoxy >>

Listen to Eboo Patel and Hannah Minks on the very first edition of Your True North on WPRR, Public Reality Radio. Eboo Patel is a leading voice in the movement for interfaith cooperation and the Founder and President of Interfaith Youth Core (IFYC), a national nonprofit working to make interfaith cooperation a social norm. He is the author of Acts of Faith, Sacred Ground, Interfaith Leadership and Out of Many Faiths. Named by US News & World Report as one of America’s Best Leaders of 2009, Eboo served on President Obama’s Inaugural Faith Council. Hannah Minks, Student and Alumni Leadership Manager at Interfaith Youth Corps (IFYC), develops programs and communication tools that speak to the needs of both students and IFYC alums. Hannah brings personal experience to her position having been through many of IFYC’s programs as an undergrad student and alum, most recently the Germanacos Fellowship.

Chicago Theological Seminary is located just south of the Midway Plaisance in Hyde Park. Many of you probably know that this stretch of green space, stretching more than a mile from Jackson Park and Lake Michigan on the east to Washington Park on the west, was created as part of the World’s Fair, the Colombian Exposition, held in 1893 and attracting some 27 million visitors. One of the most amazing events that was convened as part of the Exposition was the first World’s Parliament of Religions. This was the first formal gathering of Eastern and Western spiritual and religious leaders and we recognize it as the beginning of interfaith dialogue. Hindus, Buddhists, Bahais, Jains, Jews, Protestants, Catholics, Unitarians, and adherents of the Shinto and Zoroastrian traditions gathered for the first time ever in one place. This history continues to amaze me. I can’t imagine the logistics ... in 1893 ... of creating, organizing, and implementing an event so large and so far-reaching. I admit to a lack of imagination here but seriously ... invitations had to cross oceans by boat! No one was arriving on frequent flyer miles and plans couldn’t be confirmed via email accessible on smart phones. I confess, this simply astounds me. Often on my lunch hour, I will walk over to the Midway and contemplate that history and its legacy. I think of the audacity, the courage, and the vision of those who convened the Parliament in particular. The whole idea of it is incredulous and must have been met with skepticism in some circles and ridicule in others. Think about it. This had never happened before. Imagine the concerns about bringing together this mixed bag of religious leaders. Imagine the hand wringing and the naysayers. The “we’ve never done this before” attitudes. The worries that the difference is too much, the world views too disparate. And yet ... Here we are some 125 years later and the Parliament of the World’s Religions has its global offices here in Chicago, we continue to have a rich multiplicity of religious and faith communities, we have more theological schools than any other place in the world except Vatican City, we are the headquarters of the Interfaith Youth Core, and honestly, every time we step on the CTA, it’s an interfaith experience. I suspect that we owe this incredible religious diversity to that audacity, courage, and vision. I’ve been asked to share with you some of my thoughts on doing congregational ministry in the religious diversity of our city and our time. And I think, in order to do that, we have to hold that legacy and history in our minds. I also think I need to share with you a little bit of my own story and how I’ve come to this work. I’m truly an unlikely candidate for leading an interfaith project. I grew up in a household that was entirely non-religious. I can’t say we were atheist. We just weren’t anything. I suppose I could say we were trend-setters. I’m old enough that my public elementary school sent students to “Wednesday school” every week after lunch. At the beginning of the school year, families had to select which church they wanted their child to attend for that weekly program. My Jewish friend, Shoshana, and I were the “Nones” of our day, hanging back to help teachers organize classrooms or work on special art projects while all our other classmates headed off for a mid-week dose of religious instruction. So with today’s headlines proclaiming and sometimes fretting over the rise of the “nones,” I’m here as a reminder that we’ve always had nones in our midst. In any case, my adolescence, college and young adult years are an interfaith journey of their own as my then “Spiritual but not religious” self sought out a community in which to make meaning and wrestle with those “meaning of life” age-old questions that kept me awake at night from my youngest memories. I fell into a UCC church when my children were young and attending a co-op preschool housed in the church. The signs on the wall intrigued me. And the community welcomed and nurtured me, giving me space to question, think, and be authentic. Eventually the pastor invited me to lead the youth program. When I reminded him I didn’t own a Bible and certainly couldn’t believe Jesus was the only way to God, he told me the youth didn’t need pat answers, they needed someone to make space for their questions and accompany them on their journeys. And he gave me my first Bible. I found that though I didn’t have answers, I could make space for questions and journeys. And I did. And as I did, my own questions grew and my own journey deepened and eventually, in a wonderfully surprising way, I was led to the classrooms of CTS for my MDiv and then a second master’s of sacred theology degree. And to ordination in this denomination that has always made space for my questions, accompanied me on my journey, and never offered me pat answers. Throughout my work in youth ministry and my seminary studies, I was drawn and committed to interfaith engagement. Sharing Seders with a Jewish community every Passover, building Habitat for Humanity homes with youth and leaders from the local Muslim community center, spending time at the Lakeshore Interfaith Center where we encountered Eastern traditions, native traditions, healing traditions. I interned with an interfaith community organizing group, building interfaith coalitions to address issues including early childhood education, access to housing, and food security in local communities. I worked with Jewish and Muslim youth groups on a play called Children of Abraham, where we shared our tellings of the stories of Isaac and Ishmael as a way to see our shared roots. After graduation, I first worked at CTS as the Director of Admission, taking special care to recruit and welcome non-Christian students. I helped to facilitate a cohort program of religiously diverse students and gave workshops on college campuses, at IFYC events, at the Parliament of the World’s Religions. I blogged, and posted on social media, and marched with my arms joined with a myriad of friends from all kinds of traditions. Not just the usual suspects but also Jains, Pagans, ecowarriors, queer Muslims, indigenous leaders, and of course, the Nones. I share this litany not so much to highlight what I did but to demonstrate my commitment to this work. How I believed in the power of interfaith work, of dialoguing, of building bridges across lines of difference, of creating coalitions to address injustice. In December of 2016 I was speaking on a panel at CTS. One of my Muslim friends who works at IFYC was also on the panel. We each gave our usual spiel about the importance of interfaith work. And after the panel, when we were munching on hummus (because the mark of interfaith work is always hummus), we found ourselves having an honest conversation. A heartbreaking, challenging, honest conversation. You see, the rhetoric of the 2016 election, the rise of hate crimes against Muslims, the overt religious bigotry evident in proposed legislation and policies, a rabid nationalism couched in a version of Christianity so far from the gospel it makes me wretch ... it was affecting me. And it was affecting my friend. With tears in her eyes, she said, “Honestly, Lisa, what’s the point? We’ve been doing this work, sharing on these panels, we’ve eaten so much hummus together ...” Unable to finish her sentence, I completed it for her, “...and it feels like we’re moving backward. It feels like we haven’t made a difference.” We didn’t say much after that. We hugged goodbye shortly afterward, a wistful look in her eye as she walked out the door. Don’t get me wrong here. It’s not that the things my IFYC friend and I were doing for those many years were wrong. Not at all. I think we need to keep doing all that and do more of it. It’s just that, alone, those efforts are not enough, they haven’t been effective in creating the kind of solidarity that insists on religious pluralism and refuses bigotry, hate speech, and violence. The tiki torches in Charlottesville show me that we haven’t been effective. The targeted surveillance of mosques tells me we haven’t been effective. My Iranian-born, green-card holding friend Sarvin coming home from a visit to Australia, detained for four days in the first Muslim travel ban tells me we haven’t been effective. The question becomes, how do we create and discover new and deepened ways of truly being in community in solidarity? How do we as Christians create partnerships and alliances that help to change public opinion and policy, moving us to a lived ethic of religious pluralism? Where there is truly space for a multiplicity of religious and non- religious identities? As I consider these questions, I think what’s required is something with the kind of audacity, courage, and vision that the creators of that first Parliament had. I think we need to be bold, to push beyond existing models and frameworks, to not only stay in tried and true models and methods. In fact, if I can be so bold, I think, for us as Christians, we need to bring more of the Gospel to our interfaith work. And by this I don’t mean we need to proselytize or seek to convert anyone. Truly, I don’t think that’s the intention of the Gospel. I believe the power of the Gospel lies in the ability to go beyond what seems possible, to imagine and live in ways that truly counter reality. And I think perhaps that’s where the audacious vision might arise. I’d like to tell you I have this all figured out but, once again, pat answers aren’t at hand, instead I’m inviting you to question, explore, and to journey with me. And I do have some thoughts about at least part of what we might envision. First, I think we need to intentionally move from coalitions to community. Pulling from a gospel framework, I don’t think Jesus gathered people simply to address issues or inequities of his time. I think he gathered people, people who were radically different, who shouldn’t have been at the table together, who didn’t belong ... he gathered for the sake of being community, of being whole, of being healed. He demonstrated that if even one is left out, one sheep, one coin, we are not complete. I think a gospel-ized interfaith movement cannot be content with coalition building. Second, I think we have work to do to move us from tolerance to beloved. Too often our interfaith efforts end with religious communities moving from animosity to tolerance. From saying, “I don’t want a mosque in my backyard” to saying, “Fine; I’m okay with a mosque being here,” and again... this is good ... but not enough and certainly not what I think our faith calls us to. What would it take for us to insist that our Muslim, our humanist, our Jewish neighbors belong, not as tolerated groups, but as beloved, affirmed, welcomed, members of our society? Not that we’re simply okay with their presence but that we are incomplete without each other. Where a Muslim citizen could of course run for and be elected to president of this nation. What does that even look like? I’m not sure I know yet. Third, we have to see our religious identities as part of our overall complicated, messy, intersectional identities. Race matters in this work. Gender matters. Sexuality matters. Class matters. First language matters. National identity matters. Age matters. Ability matters. We can’t imagine that when we engage in interfaith work, we leave those other identities on the doorstep. And we shouldn’t imagine that our religious identities are as clear and delineated as we might like to think. I doubt there is one definition of Christian that would fit everyone in this room. And yet, too often in our interfaith work, we as Christians assume Muslims, or Jews, or even the Nones are definable groups, all on the same page. I think we need an audacious vision that says we can make space for all our authentic, messy, complicated identities. I think we need courage because bringing all that into the room means there will be conflict but perhaps authenticity is more important than a false sense of peace that requires us to silence or stifle parts of ourselves. And last, I think for us in this moment, we need to have courage. Faced with trends that show declines in church attendance, the rise of the nones, and aging congregations, it’s easy to turn inward and to pour our energy into maintaining what feels comfortable and familiar. But nothing about the Gospel is comfortable or familiar. And we risk isolating ourselves into oblivion. With audacious courage, let’s engage with the nones, with the spiritual but not religious, with those of a multitude of faiths, building community, being beloved, opening ourselves authentically to receive one another ... not in hopes that they will join our traditions or fill our pews and not to simply build bridges across our differences but truly to become beloved community to one another. We are here in Chicago, the birthplace of interfaith work, standing on a legacy of audacity, courage, and vision, living in a community steeped in diversity, where we don’t have to go far to encounter the other. And we are here in Chicago as people of faith, a faith that reminds us God is already doing a new thing, and that urges us to have the kind of audacity in being assured of things we have not yet seen. Theologian Marjorie Suchocki writes, “In our newly small earth, where we are forced to know one another or die, could we be experiencing a new direction from God toward human community through the affirmation of many who remain many and yet are as one? If that were the case, and if we responded, we might know something of the kingdom of God on earth.” This my friends, is where I believe our ministry is called. I believe God is already doing a new thing, and I have conviction that though we have not yet seen it, living as beloved, as members of God’s kin-dom on earth, is indeed possible. May our audacity, courage, and vision take us there. Amen.

Eboo Patel is the founder and president of Interfaith Youth Core, a national nonprofit working to making interfaith cooperation a social norm. Eboo visited the University of Chicago this winter as an Institute of Politics Pritzker Fellow, where we spoke with him about interfaith dialogue in a university context and how to be a leader in such dialogue.Credits:Anita Joshi (MPP '19) and Aamir Hussain (MD '19/MAPP '18) for interviewingNick McFadden (MPP '19) for engineering David Raban (JD/MPP '20) for editingSpecial thanks to IOP for having Eboo Patel as a Pritzker Fellow!

Eboo Patel is the founder and president of Interfaith Youth Core, a national nonprofit working to making interfaith cooperation a social norm. Eboo visited the University of Chicago this winter as an Institute of Politics Pritzker Fellow, where we spoke with him about interfaith dialogue in a university context and how to be a leader in such dialogue.Credits:Anita Joshi (MPP '19) and Aamir Hussain (MD '19/MAPP '18) for interviewingNick McFadden (MPP '19) for engineering David Raban (JD/MPP '20) for editingSpecial thanks to IOP for having Eboo Patel as a Pritzker Fellow!

We live in a religiously diverse democracy, yet our country today seems frustratingly polarized around lines of difference and not connection. This month’s episode of Common Knowledge features a speech from IFYC president and founder, Eboo Patel, tackling this issue head on. Given in the aftermath of the 2016 election, Eboo offers his thoughts on how pluralism and interfaith cooperation can be a spur to social action and offers a vision for how to engage, not vilify, our differences.

This month, we offer a special short episode reflecting on the troubling and violent events this past summer—from Orlando to Medina. Jenan Mohajir, an educator and IFYC staff member, talks about how her Ramadan this year, overlapping with many of these incidents, was marked by both undeniable anguish and a renewed commitment to connect with those under threat.

Issues of religion, gender, and ethnicity can often seem difficult to discuss or fully understand when not tied to our daily lives and concerns. Rohina Malik, a nationally-recognized playwright and performer, talks with us about how theatre can spotlight these issues in an approachable and empathetic way. Her one-woman show, Unveiled, looks at the lives of five Muslim women from differing backgrounds and how they challenge, confound, and exceed the stereotypes placed on them by others. More about Rohina:http://rohinamalik.weebly.com/ More about Unveiled:http://rohinamalik.weebly.com/unveiled.html

How is data useful for the work of interfaith cooperation? On this month’s episode of Common Knowledge we talk with members of IFYC’s Assessment Team about how they utilize data to promote interfaith engagement on college campuses and what they see as major trends regarding religious attitudes for college students today.

In this episode, focusing on Islam and interfaith engagement, we chat with Mustafa Abdullah, an IFYC alumni and current Program Associate for the American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri. We’ll learn how interfaith work has played a part in his development as a civic activist and how he uses those skills in his work with the ACLU today. Also Randa Kuziez, an IFYC staff member, will share a story about how a lost Qur’an and some bad luck led to a meaningful interfaith moment.

One of the most religiously diverse areas of American life is healthcare and medicine. In this episode, we hear from three people working at the nexus of medicine and religion. Christine Mitchell is a public health researcher who shares her experiences working as a chaplain at a cancer hospital. We also talk with Victoria Psomiadis, a student at University of South Florida medical school, about the importance of interfaith literacy in a doctor-patient relationship. And we hear from Aamir Hussain, a student at the University of Chicago medical school, about why he started a Spirituality and Medicine interest group for medical school students.

This month, we focus on concepts and stories that inspire Jewish interfaith work. We talk to Rabbi Josh Stanton about why he engages in interfaith activism and about the emergence of the new academic field of interfaith studies. Rachel Schwartz, an IFYC staff member, shares a story about how a trip to India offered her an unexpected insight into her own Jewish faith.

Eboo Patel founded the Interfaith Youth Core to counter the growing problem of religious intolerance and violence at home and abroad. IFYC trains students to bridge the faith-divide through interfaith cooperation. Patel says that “interfaith interactions can be a bomb of destruction, a barrier of division, a bubble of isolation, or a bridge of cooperation.” He says that he's inspired to build a bridge of cooperation by his faith as a Muslim, his Indian heritage, and his American citizenship.

This episode, we talk to Chris Stedman, author and Humanist Chaplain at Harvard University, about what it means to be both an atheist and an interfaith activist. Prerna Abbi, a secular Hindu, tells us about how an encounter in middle school involving PB&J sandwiches influenced her view of religion. Music by:Floating Fast (@soundcloud.com/floatingfast)Broke For Free (freemusicarchive.org/music/Broke_For_Free/)Blank & Kytt (freemusicarchive.org/music/Blank__Kytt/)

In our first episode, you’ll meet our hosts, Cassie and Carr, unpack the big idea that is interfaith literacy with Eboo Patel, and hear the story of a Christian minister from Chicago who learned a profound pastoral lesson from Buddhist monks in Thailand.