Consortium for Christian–Muslim Dialogue

Duquesne’s Consortium for Christian–Muslim Dialogue (CCMD) was commissioned by the Dean of Liberal Arts in 2009 to promote healthy and peaceful Christian–Muslim relations in both the United States and Africa. The Consortium consists of faculty from several schools within the University, each sharing the resources of his or her discipline in order that the group may explore the social, cultural, economic, philosophical, historical, political, and religious roots of and solutions to interreligious conflicts.

In accord with Duquesne’s mission, we seek to work with academic, religious, and social institutions here and abroad to end interreligious conflicts. Both single-handedly and collaborating with University offices, departments, and centers and with outside entities, CCMD has organized well received lectures, workshops, and symposia, as described in our brochure.

While Africa and the United States remain special concerns of CCMD, we try to recognize and respond to each new opportunity for fostering dialogue. For that reason, we design courses and have created an undergraduate minor in Interreligious Studies, so that our work of peace will continue after us and spread wherever our alumni may find themselves. We also sponsor the Interfaith Student Organization (IFSO).

Interreligious Thanksgiving Dinner 2019:

Fruitful Interreligious Dialogue, 2019 symposium:

Religions and the Welfare of Refugees, April 2019:

Drs. Salman and Iwuchukwu with their collaborators present gift cards to the director of AJAPO at our recent interfaith gathering.

presentation of gift cards

Who we are

The members of the Consortium are

Dr. Marinus Iwuchukwu, Chair (Theology)
Dr. James Swindal (Philosophy)
Dr. Khlood Salman (Nursing)
Dr. Gerald Boodoo (Director, Center for African Studies)
Dr. Elochukwu Uzukwu (Theology)
Dr. Thérèse Bonin (Philosophy)
Dr. Gita Maharaja (advising)

Media

2015

On 18 November, we considered religion and music: Prof. Sadık Kara (Fatih University, Istanbul) spoke on “The Use of Music in Islam,” and Fr. Stephen Concordia, O.S.B. (Saint Vincent College) discussed “Music in Christian Life: The Expressive Power of the Word.”

2016

On 19 January, Mais Haddad, Esq., a Syrian native, described the plight of Syrian Christian immigrants and refugees; the text of her talk and her slides are also available.
On 16 February, Dr. Basel Termanini, vice president of the Syrian American Medical Society, spoke on the crisis of Syrian refugees.
On 9 March, panelists Haider Ala Hamoudi, Mark Haas, and David Harris-Gershon, with moderator Luke Peterson, discussed Abrahamic Religions and the Middle East.
- David Harris-Gershon has graciously shared the notes he made in preparation.
- Haider Ala Hamoudi has generously allowed us to post the draft of a paper he is preparing for publication and upon which he based his remarks.
- The article upon which Dr. Haas based his contributions is under copyright but may be consulted through e-Journals: Mark L. Haas, “Reinhold Niebuhr’s ‘Christian Pragmatism:’ A Principled Alternative to Consequentialism,” The Review of Politics 61.4 (Fall 1999): 605–36.
On 5 October, panelists Mark Haas and Ihsan Colak, with moderator Clifford Bob, discussed Religion and Democracy.
On 2 November 2016, the Rev. Robert Dowd (Notre Dame) and Elaine Linn (Pitt) discussed ‘Christian–Muslim Relations Here & Abroad: How People’s Faith Guides Their Lives.’

2017

On 29 November, panelists Suhail Abboushi, James Bailey, Bernadette Paolo, and Nihat Polat, with moderator Barbara Murock, discussed Migration and Policies on Immigration: Economic, Political, Legal, Cultural, and Moral Implications.

Resources

Duquesne’s Gumberg Library provides an Islamic Studies Research Guide and a guide to Christian–Muslim dialogue
CERIS, the Consortium for Educational Resources on Islamic Studies, of which Duquesne is a member

Mailing List

To be notified of our events, please fill out our simple form. If you wish to contact us, our address is ccmd@duq.edu.

Upcoming Events

March 3, 7:00 p.m.

Brian Dougherty: Inside and Outside the ‘Sacred Canopy’: Putting Your Religion in a Comparative and Anthropological Perspective. Session one: What Is Religion? Church and State, Religious Boundaries, Belonging and Exclusion. Via Zoom, with recording here and here.

March 18, 4:30

Racial Equity and Religions, a webinar with George Yancy and panelists Rona Kaufman Kitchen, Will Adams, Jesse Washington, Sangeeta Chakravorty, Kamal Shlbei, and Anna Floerke Scheid, via Zoom. Audio recording with transcript.

April 22, 4:30 p.m.

Brian Dougherty, Crossing the Boundaries between Islam and Christianity in Egypt: An Anthropological Exploration of Challenges and Insights posed by Religious Conversion and the Quest for Truth(s). Brian, a Ph.D. candidate at Central European University and a scholar-in-residence with the Consortium for Christian–Muslim Dialogue, shares his research. Recording. Abstract: From an aerial view of its religious landscape, Egypt is a Muslim majority country (roughly 80%) with an historically significant Christian population (roughly 10%). However, from different experiences of religiosity among different classes, to rises in atheism, to conversion between religions, there are more complicated stories happening beneath the surface of these demographics. Based upon ethnographic fieldwork research with secret converts from Islam to Christianity, this talk explores the lines that make up this religious landscape which complicate questions of interreligious dialogue. It explores what it means for people to cross those boundaries, and brings examples of those who have done so to explore what that tells us about the nature of religious boundaries, difference, belief, and interreligious relations.