Interfaith Dialogue and Action at the University of Iowa
May 5th, 2007
After too much delay, I’m finally posting a story on a recent trip to Iowa City (read on below). Also available: PDF file of the presentation given at the University of Iowa.
What might interfaith dialogue and action look like at the University of Iowa, in Iowa City, Iowa, USA? For the ten students, faculty, and community members who recently gathered on April 15th to discuss the matter, the answers ranged from combating religious/race intolerance to providing a less-polarized venue for anti-war efforts, from learning about other religion in a safe space to exploring the nexus of science and faith.
Cosponsored by the campus magazine Content and the United Religions Initiative (URI), the afternoon began with a presentation from URI co-Regional Coordinator Stephen Fuqua, of St. Paul, MN, USA. By briefly covering the history and impetus for both the interfaith movement as a whole and the URI in specific, the presentation aimed to create a global context in which to address questions of religious diversity in the local campus setting.
The main part of the afternoon was spent in appreciative conversations, using questions originally developed by Sally Mahé and Charles Gibbs for the Uncovering the Heart of Higher Education: Integrative Learning for Compassionate Action in an Inter-connected World conference (story @ uri.org). In exploring the potential for interfaith dialogue at the Iowa campus, interview questions challenged participants to reflect on their experiences of religious diversity and openness at the school.
Most participants felt that their school did not have any substantial inter-group religious conflicts – though this opinion seemed tempered by the realization that the conflicts may exist but have been swept under the proverbial carpet. Indeed, one participant remarked that the campus felt like it had a “self-congratulatory smugness” about tolerance, particularly when it comes to race relations. Rather than problems between religious groups, the most glaring tension seemed to be between proponents of creationist theologies and evolutionary science. Interestingly, half of the participants studied in decidedly scientific fields, leading to speculation that they might provide a strong base for dialogue on bridging the gap between these two means of knowing about the world.
The most difficult question of the day was how to continue the conversation. With no permanent interfaith group on campus, and the main organizer for the delay graduating shortly, who would carry on, and with whom would they work? Though a satisfactory answer was not found, a number of resources were identified who might be interested in contributing to an interfaith forum or organization on campus:
- Iowa Dialog Center, an off-campus group promoting dialogue dinners and documentaries in several Iowa cities;
- The International Students Association;
- Resident Advisers (RAs);
- Religious studies department;
- The art department, whose museums include a number of exhibits of religious art;
- The Iowa City Consultation for Religious Communities, an off-campus coalition of congregations promoting dialogue and service.
Two additional questions dwelt on the pragmatic – what are other interfaith student groups doing? And how do groups preserve their history, especially when the membership turns over every 4-5 years? These questions were left acknowledged but unanswered as the afternoon drew to a close.