The Interfaith Dialogue Program, part of a new effort to promote appreciation for religious diversity, kicked off its semester-long series last Wednesday. The forum, an initiative of the Kenan Ethics Program, meets weekly in assigned locations on East Campus, and the discussions feature people of a particular faith sharing their stories and experiences.
"The key component is relating experiences instead of preaching dogma, because people relate better to what has happened to others instead of learning about rules," said Trinity senior Ed Cheely, organizer of the Interfaith Dialogue. The program's goal is to "offer students a chance to tap into something on a personal level that is not necessarily found in an academic setting," said Cheely, who is Self Knowledge Symposium president.
While open to anyone interested, the Interfaith Dialogue is currently based on East Campus to encourage freshmen to attend.
According to Betsy Alden, chair of the Interfaith Dialogue and the Kenan Ethics Program's coordinator of service learning, the strong freshman community on East Campus makes discussion of Duke's diversity all the more relevant.
"People of different faiths live together during their freshman year, making [dialogue] especially important before they separate into smaller groups, like selective housing," she said.
The impetus for the new program came from the Education as Transformation Conference held last year at Wellesley College. The conference, which was attended by several students and administrators, encouraged "experiential education" and religious pluralism on college campuses. A group of these students began meeting last May to develop the Interfaith Dialogue.
Several other groups had a role in developing the Interfaith Dialogue, including the Student Religious Activities group, Religious Life staff and the Duke Chapel.
Twenty-five people attended the first meeting, which was held in the commons room of Giles Dormitory. SKS introduced the program and conducted a discussion about spirituality. Future sessions are planned for Jewish, Catholic, Mormon, Muslim and Protestant groups.
Baptist Campus Minister Ted Purcell said he is involved in the project for both professional and personal reasons. "[The group] is a common ground in which we can begin to address issues facing today's society from a spiritual perspective," he said. He feels that many problems, such as the global ecological crisis, can be uniquely approached by using the insights of various religions.
Although he did not attend Wednesday's meeting, Trinity freshman Andrew Taube said he would be interested in the program. "I wouldn't go to think about converting or anything, but I would like to learn about the things that have made a difference in these people's lives," he said. "You can't learn about those things in a book."
If successful, the Interfaith Dialogue may expand into a house course. Meetings are held on Wednesday nights from 8 to 9:30 p.m. Tonight's session on Judaism is hosted by Hillel and will be in the Brown Common Room.
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