In 2019, Interfaith Philadelphia will offer a series of large, public conversations that model the skills needed to navigate complex topics within critical relationships. We plan to highlight the nuance of topics, postures for listening, and transferable skills around navigating difference. Each conversation will feature a special moderator and featured guests engaging in provocative topics that are current, potentially divisive, and connected to the general theme of interfaith understanding.
"Race and Faith"
Date: January 17, 2019 | 6:30 - 8:30 PM
Location: WHYY
Partners: NewCORE (New Conversations on Race & Ethnicity) and WHYY
Conversationalists: Bishop Patricia Davenport, Rabbi David Straus, Reverend Bonnie Camarda, and Sheikh Anwar Muhaimin
Description: In partnership with NewCORE and WHYY, a group of prominent religious leaders will share stories and engage in a conversation on how race and racism informs their leadership and the communities they lead. Included in the evening will be a light reception, where attendees will be invited to engage in their own small group discussion and storytelling activity. Conversation moderated by Reverend Steven Lawrence.
Live Events
"Navigating Identity and Belonging"
Date: February 6, 2019 | 6:30 - 8:30 PM
Location: University of Pennsylvania
Partners: University of Pennsylvania's Spiritual & Religious Life Center and the Penn Graduate School of Education
Conversationalists: Kameelah Mu'Min Rashad, Max Rothschild, and Emily Zislis
Description: Join us for community conversation focusing on how we navigate identity and belonging. How do we identify? Where do we feel known and understood? Answers to these questions are not always simple. In this Live Event, Conversationalists will start the discussion by reflecting on the complexity of their religious/spiritual identity, and explore the religious/spiritual spaces where they've developed a sense of belonging or struggled to find acceptance. Throughout the evening, attendees will engage in facilitated small group discussions on the same questions.
The evening's conversation will be moderated by WHYY’s Jennifer Lynn. Food will be offered at this event.
"Challenges to Religious Liberty Today"
Date: March 27, 2019 | 6:30 - 7:30 PM
Location: National Constitution Center
Partners: National Constitution Center
Description: From nuns seeking exemptions from health care mandates to a baker who refused to bake a wedding cake for a gay couple, questions about religion and the Constitution are at the center of our national debate. Join us for a conversation with legal experts from differing perspectives, including Matt Sharp, Elizabeth Clark, Tobias B. Wolff, and Robin Fretwell Wilson, exploring what happens when religious liberty collides with anti-discrimination laws and regulations protecting LGBTQ and other minority groups. Moderated by Jeffrey Rosen.
"Religion and the Media"
Date: April 8, 2019 | 6:15 - 8:30 PM (Reception begins at 5:45 PM)
Location: MBA Commons, Alter Hall, Temple University | 1801 Liacouras Walk | Philadelphia, PA 19122 (Temple’s Main Campus)
Partners: Temple University Klein College of Media and Communications
Conversationalists: Wajahat Ali, Rev. Dr. Malcolm Byrd, Dr. Besheer Mohamed, Suhag Shukla, Esq.
Description: Media permeates society. It has become a constant presence in our lives, and shapes public discourse, including the ways we talk about and understand religion. At this event, Conversationalists representing different faith communities and working within different spheres of the media, will discuss the role and responsibility of the media as a primary source of religious literacy in the United States. Attendees will also break out into small groups and explore their own responses to reports on religion in news and entertainment media. This event will be moderated by Rabbi Dr. Rebecca Alpert, Senior Associate Dean, Temple University College of Liberal Arts.