University creates Center for Religious Understanding

November 2, 2011 | News, UToday
By Meghan Cunningham



The new Center for Religious Understanding at The University of Toledo establishes a formal entity to support the growing religious diversity programming on campus.

Dr. Jeanine Diller talked about the University's new Center for Religious Understanding at a press conference.

During the last decade, the University has greatly expanded its outreach to enhance religious understanding on campus and in the community. What started as collaboration with the community for the Jewish-Christian-Muslim Dialogue evolved into a series of lectures that developed into an Initiative for Religious Understanding.

“The Center for Religious Understanding will be the arm of the University that works on religious diversity,” said Dr. Jeanine Diller, director of the Center for Religious Understanding and assistant professor in the Department of Philosophy. “I am thankful for the University’s support for this new center and look forward to the enhancements of our programming that a permanent place in the institution will make possible.”

The center, which officially was announced at an event Oct. 25, will include all of the efforts of the previous Initiative for Religious Understanding, such as student interfaith forums and a TV series with WGTE Public Media on contemporary religious issues. It also will include new programs such as local participation in the national Interfaith and Community Service Campus Challenge.

A community advisory board will assist with programming, and fellows will enhance research and teaching in religious studies at the University.

“The Center for Religious Understanding will be an important focal point for linkages on campus and in the community for interfaith activities and programs,” said Dr. Alice Skeens, dean of the College of Languages, Literature and Social Sciences. “The University is committed to diversity, and the new center is another avenue to support the varied belief systems of our faculty, students and staff, and to encourage interaction among people of different faiths.”

For more information, visit the Center for Religious Understanding website.

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