Religion and Global Challenges

Exploring Interfaith Futures: insights from Cambridge Divinity students In this episode of the Interfaith Futures conversation series, three undergraduate students from the Faculty of Divinity at the University of Cambridge—Tassy, Alice, and Tom—discuss their experiences attending the national launch event for Inter Faith Week in London. Speaking with CIP Programme Manager Dr Iona Hine, they share...

What does the future hold for interfaith relations? What research is needed? What knowledge do researchers and practitioners hold that might benefit each other? And what do policymakers need to know? Such are the questions that underpin Interfaith Futures, a 15-part conversation series featuring a mix of academics, practitioners and activists, interviewed by an emerging generation of scholars and...

Dr Iona Hine, Programme Manager for the Cambridge Interfaith Programme, interviews Professor Esra Ozyurek, Academic Director of the Cambridge Interfaith Programme and Sultan Qaboos Professor of Abrahamic Faiths and Shared Values. Discussion begins by considering how Esra's research on interreligious relations in Turkey and Germany may be applied to the UK. They discuss the impact of historical emp...

Peach, a PhD student at the University of Cambridge, interviews Professor Jagbir Jhutti Johal from the University of Birmingham about the role of women in interfaith activities. Professor Jhutti Johal discusses the increasing prominence of women in interfaith dialogue, emphasizing the need for support and mentorship to facilitate these conversations. They also talk about the importance of communit...

Dr Iona Hine interviews Professor Flora Samuel, Head of the Department of Architecture at the University of Cambridge. The conversation explores the concept of urban rooms, spaces where communities converge to discuss city futures, and the potential role of faith groups in these discussions. They discuss theoretical and practical challenges of considering representation, noting the 1% of a populac...

CIP Programme Manager Dr Iona Hine interviews Bushra Nasir CBE, a pioneering educator and advocate for religious education. They discuss the importance of religious education in the UK, particularly amid contemporary societal challenges such as politicized differences and misinformation. Bushra Nasir emphasizes the role of schools in fostering understanding, tolerance, and respect among young peop...

Ian McKay Constantine, a legal professional from St Lucia and alumnus of The Faith & Belief Forum's ParliaMentors Programme, interviews Dr Daniel Moulin, Religious Education lead at the University of Cambridge. They discuss the importance and potential of religious education (RE) in contemporary society. Dr Moulin emphasizes the need for deep, authentic engagement with religious traditions in...

Dr Anastasia Badder, an anthropologist of religion at the University of Cambridge, converses with Dr Kathryn Wright, the Chief Executive of Culham St Gabriel's, about the evolving role and significance of Religious Education (RE). They discuss how RE can respond to contemporary challenges by fostering understanding, empathy, and critical thinking among students. Dr Wright highlights the importance...

In this episode, Susie Triffitt, a third-year PhD student studying Theology and Anthropology at the University of Cambridge, interviews Michael Wakelin, the executive chair of the Religion Media Centre. They discuss Wakelin's extensive background in religious broadcasting, his work with the Cambridge Interfaith Programme, and various interfaith projects, such as the leadership training program at...

In this episode, Ryan Keating, a PhD student at Cambridge University and pastor in North Cyprus, engages with Professor Sriya Iyer, a pioneer in the field of economics of religion. They discuss the role of religion in mental health, the impact of religious communities on public welfare, and how economic theories can help understand religious interactions. Their dialogue explores the intersection o...

In this episode, host Noah Rouse engages in discussion with Professor Michael Pollitt, Professor of Business Economics at Cambridge Judge Business School. They explore the intersection of faith, economics, and climate change, with Pollitt pressing the case for faith leaders to support economic solutions like carbon markets. The conversation touches on overcoming theologians’ misconceptions about m...

PhD student Peach interviews Laura Marks CBE, a distinguished policy advisor and interfaith social activist. Marks discusses the evolution of Mitzvah Day, which she founded as a Jewish-led initiative promoting interfaith collaboration through acts of community service. She reflects on how the interfaith landscape has changed over the years, highlighting the significance of positive engagement amon...

Reem, a first-year PhD student at the Faculty of Divinity, interviews Professor Chris Baker from Goldsmiths University of London, to discuss the role of faith in public life. Baker emphasizes the importance of “radical ontology,” alternative social visions, and “radical practice” as contributions of faith groups to policy-making. He highlights examples where faith communities have influenced urban...

Arbah, a PhD Theology student at the University of Cambridge, interviews the Reverend Dr Alex Clare Young, a trans non-binary United Reformed Church minister and theologian. They discuss the challenges and assumptions affecting intersectionality and inclusivity in interfaith futures. Dr Clare Young emphasizes the importance of queer theology, their doctoral research and book “Trans Formations,” an...

Religion and Conflict MPhil student Julia interviews Arezoo Farahzad, a television producer, director, and chair of an interfaith charity in Plymouth, UK. They discuss Arezoo's initiatives, including an annual interfaith festival and monthly international dinners aimed at fostering community and cultural understanding. Arezoo emphasizes that these events celebrate unity and dialogue among differen...

Susie Triffitt, a PhD student in Theology and Anthropology, introduces her friend the Reverend Nathanael Poole, who shares his experiences and insights on interfaith work in Bradford, a city so religiously diverse it matches Pew research projections for the world in 2050. Nathanael discusses interactions with Muslim and Hindu communities, highlighting the importance of honest dialogue and shared s...

Arbah, a PhD Theology student at the University of Cambridge, interviews Jeeves Rohilla, CEO of the National Multifaith Youth Centre and now also studying at Cambridge, about interfaith futures and the role of young people in shaping them. The discussion covers the importance of co-creating programmes with young people, the intersection of interfaith and social justice, and challenges faced by you...

Cambridge Interfaith Programme Manager Dr Iona Hine interviews Professor Laurie Zoloth about her recent book, Ethics for the Coming Storm. The conversation was recorded via Zoom in June 2024 and is now included as an extension to the Religion and Climate Change miniseries. About the guest Laurie Zoloth is Margaret E Burton Professor of Ethics at the University of Chicago and former Dean of Chicago...

In this second instalment of our mini-series on religion and climate change, we host Dr Hjördis Becker-Lindenthal (University of Cambridge) and Dr Simone Kotva (University of Oslo) to talk about the reverberations of Christian theology within environmental movements. Together we discuss how to face the end of the world as we know it, how to tackle climate despair, and what it might mean to cultiva...

In this first episode of our mini-series on religion and climate change, we host Dr Tobias Müller (University of Cambridge) to talk about the role religious communities play in climate change activism. Reporting from his research with Extinction Rebellion (XR) and at COP26, Tobias talks about the many points of convergence between spirituality and climate activism and highlights how religious comm...

In this third instalment of our mini-series on  Living with Religious Difference , we talk to Dr Andrew Bush (Cracow University of Economics) about the way in which pious and not so pious Muslims in Iraqi Kurdistan craft everyday lives together. During our conversation, we delve into the everyday as a site of exploring religious difference and consider how poetry becomes a way of engaging wit...

For the second episode of our mini-series on Living with Religious Difference, I talked to Dr Anoush Suni (Northwestern University) about her research on the reverberations of the historic Armenian presence in the lives of contemporary Kurdish communities in eastern Anatolia. Together we explore how the memory of the Armenian past lives on within Kurdish communities, how legacies of state violence...

In this first episode of our new series on Living with Religious Difference, our guest is Dr Tilmann Heil who talks about his research with Muslim Senegalese migrants in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Together, we consider how religion may function as a moral infrastructure that allows navigating a world where different communities, beliefs, and convictions meet. Tilmann outlines how his interlocutors po...

In this third and last episode of our mini-series on the politics of martyrdom, we talk to historian Dr Chris Moffat (Queen Mary University London) about the manifold afterlives of the early-twentieth-century Indian revolutionary Bhagat Singh. Our conversation explores the political potency of self-sacrifice, interrogates the difficulty to stabilize the meaning of martyrdom, and reflects on the po...

The second episode of our series on the politics of martyrdom hosts Dr Maria Rashid, author of Dying to Serve: Militarism, Affect, and the Politics of Sacrifice in the Pakistan Army (Stanford UP, 2020). Together we discuss the role that affects and emotions play in making martyrdom a key theme for Pakistani militarism, the way in which gender impacts ideas about sacrifice, and how religion and nat...