Dear friends,
We hope you will be able to join us for a meaningful day of workshops
tomorrow (Tuesday) on how to seek out "higher ground." Speakers and
facilitators include the Pluralism Project's own Research Director, Elinor
Pierce, as well as Rev. Mariama White Hammond, Bob Stains, Salma Kazmi,
Rabbi Or Rose, and many other illustrious leaders! Register at the link
below and check out the attached flier.
*Seeking Higher Ground: Religion and Conflict Transformation**Tuesday,
March 28, *
*9 am-4 pm, Hebrew College*
*(co-sponsored event- check out fliers for other sponsors)**This one day
workshop will explore the vision of our religious communities as contexts
for the discovery of “higher ground.” The presentations will be interactive
and will offer specific skills and practices from the world of conflict
transformation to assist professional and lay leaders in realizing this
vision. *
*REGISTER HERE
<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__bit.ly_2lVQDDO&d=CwMFAg…>PLURALISM
PROJECT EVENTS COMING UP...*
*Performance and Discussion of “Kultar’s Mime”**Sunday, April 9, *
*4-6 pm, Tsai Auditorium, Harvard University**“Kultar's Mime” is a play
that blends painting, poetry, theater and music to tell the stories of Sikh
children who survived the 1984 Delhi massacre that was organized in the
wake of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's assassination. A collective of young
Jewish artists decides to commemorate a 1903 Pogrom that targeted Jews in
the Russian town of Kishinev. During their journey, they learn about the
1984 massacre of the Sikhs in Delhi and in a powerful moment of embracing
the pain of the 'other', they shift focus and decide to tell a story that
the world has largely ignored. *
*REGISTER HERE
<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.eventbrite.com_e_k…>YOU
MIGHT BE INTERESTED...*
*Religions and the Practice of Peace Colloquium event: "Beyond
Militarization: The Role of Religious Communities in the Struggle for
Justice and Peace"**Thursday, April 6, 6-8:30 pm*
*, Sperry Room, Harvard Divinity School, 45 Francis Ave.**At a time when
the White House proposes to increase military spending by $54 billion while
slashing funds for social programs at home and humanitarian aid abroad, we
recall the warning of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. that a nation
spending more money on the military than on social uplift "is approaching
spiritual death." What role can religious communities play today in
resisting war and militarism and working for social and economic justice?
Speaker David Cortright (University of Notre Dame) and respondent J. Bryan
Hehir (Harvard Kennedy School and Catholic Archdiocese of Boston) REGISTER
HERE <https://harvard.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bEjlM396uGy9XqB>*
Best wishes,
Pluralism Project staff
--
The Pluralism Project at Harvard University
2 Arrow Street, 4th Floor
Cambridge, MA 02138
617-496-2481
www.pluralism.org
Twittter: @pluralismproj
Like The Pluralism Project on Facebook
<http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Pluralism-Project-at-Harvard-University/1…>!
Dear friends,
We want to invite you to mark your calendars for two upcoming events in our
new initiative, “Communities Against Hate: Response and Resilience in
Multireligious Boston," which we kicked off with our first event
<https://www.facebook.com/pg/pluralismproj/photos/?tab=album&album_id=135440…>
this week. (You can read more about the initiative here
<http://pluralism.org/communities-against-hate-response-and-resilience-in-mu…>!)
Fliers for both events are attached. We hope you will be able to join us!
As always, please let us know if you have any questions.
*Seeking Higher Ground: Religion and Conflict Transformation**Tuesday,
March 28, *
*9 am-4 pm, Hebrew College*
*(co-sponsored event- check out fliers for other sponsors)**This one day
workshop will explore the vision of our religious communities as contexts
for the discovery of “higher ground.” The presentations will be interactive
and will offer specific skills and practices from the world of conflict
transformation to assit professional and lay leaders in realizing this
vision. *
*REGISTER HERE
<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__bit.ly_2lVQDDO&d=CwMFAg…>*
*Performance and Discussion of “Kultar’s Mime”**Sunday, April 9, *
*4-6 pm, Tsai Auditorium, Harvard University**“Kultar's Mime” is a play
that blends painting, poetry, theater and music to tell the stories of Sikh
children who survived the 1984 Delhi massacre that was organized in the
wake of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's assassination. A collective of young
Jewish artists decides to commemorate a 1903 Pogrom that targeted Jews in
the Russian town of Kishinev. During their journey, they learn about the
1984 massacre of the Sikhs in Delhi and in a powerful moment of embracing
the pain of the 'other', they shift focus and decide to tell a story that
the world has largely ignored. **REGISTER HERE
<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.eventbrite.com_e_k…>*
Best wishes,
Pluralism Project staff
--
The Pluralism Project at Harvard University
2 Arrow Street, 4th Floor
Cambridge, MA 02138
617-496-2481
www.pluralism.org
Twittter: @pluralismproj
Like The Pluralism Project on Facebook
<http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Pluralism-Project-at-Harvard-University/1…>!
*WHAT: Roundtable Discussion: Response and Resilience in Multireligious
Boston*
*WHEN & WHERE: March 7th at 6 pm in Ticknor Lounge, Boylston Hall, Harvard
University*
*MORE INFO: Click here <https://www.facebook.com/events/962567907176893/>*
Dear friends,
We hope our local allies will join us for our upcoming event on March 7th.
This event will serve as the kickoff to a larger project, which brings us
to some exciting news: *The Pluralism Project has received a grant from the
Open Society Foundations' initiative "Communities Against Hate."* We are
eager to gather a diverse group of voices together for the first event in
this series, so please take a moment to register
<https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/JTRBBCZ> if you would like to join us on
Tuesday, March 7th.
Our initiative, "Communities Against Hate: Response and Resilience in
Multireligious Boston
<http://pluralism.org/communities-against-hate-response-and-resilience-in-mu…>,"
will bring together leaders and community members from religious,
interfaith, and civic groups for monthly sessions over the next 6 months
where attendees can network, share information, and collaborate on best
practices. The Pluralism Project will also be documenting support efforts
and bias-motivated incidents while creating a centralized calendar for
events and actions. We are eager to partner with local leaders and groups
to build and strengthen multi-sided networks of response and resilience.
Below this message you will find the press release with more details about
the program, and you can bookmark the initiative page
<http://pluralism.org/communities-against-hate-response-and-resilience-in-mu…>
to stay up-to-date on relevant events and endeavors. We are also
offering summer
internships
<http://pluralism.org/about/contribute/internship-opportunities/> to
support this work, so please pass this along to any undergraduate or
graduate students (from any college or university) who might be interested.
We hope to see many of you on Tuesday, and we look forward to keeping you
updated as we move forward on this timely and important project!
Best wishes,
The Pluralism Project staff
--------------------------------------
*Pluralism Project Launches Initiative “Response and Resilience in
Multireligious Boston” Through Grant from the Open Society Foundations*
*Cambridge, MA, March 1, 201*7– On March 7th, The Pluralism Project at
Harvard University will launch its new initiative, “Communities Against
Hate: Response and Resilience in Multireligious Boston.” The public event,
held at 6 pm in Ticknor Lounge, Boylston Hall on Harvard’s campus, will be
a roundtable discussion with civic and religious leaders as well as members
of communities most affected by increased hate speech and bias-motivated
harassment. This event will include civic leaders from the Attorney
General’s Office, Cambridge City Council, the ACLU, and other local
organizations. The second event in this project, a performance and
discussion of the powerful play “Kultar’s Mime,” will take place in early
April in Cambridge.
This project is made possible by a grant from the Open Society Foundations’
rapid-response initiative, “Communities Against Hate,” which allocates
multiple small grants for projects responding to and fighting against acts
of hate while supporting collaboration, cooperation, and bridge-building
among vulnerable communities and their allies. The Pluralism Project’s
longstanding track record as a trusted resource for research, education,
and collaboration makes it an ideal partner for this initiative of the Open
Society Foundations.
Incidents of hate crimes and bias-motivated harassment are rising in
Greater Boston, from spray-painted swastikas in high school bathrooms to
the verbal harassment of Sikh and Muslim college students. At the same
time, we have seen a striking increase in civic response that builds
solidarity. The Project’s 8-month initiative will collaborate with Muslim,
Sikh, Jewish, Hindu, and Christian communities to track incidents of
harassment as well as the response of local communities. This project will
also include monthly sessions for leaders from these communities in order
to centralize information sharing, document local incidents, offer
skill-building opportunities, and allow leaders to network and share best
practices in increasingly difficult times. Pluralism Project staff will
also develop a decision-based case study about a Boston incident that might
enable leaders and laity to understand some of the dilemmas and strategies
of response when an individual or community is attacked.
Pluralism Project Director and Harvard University Professor Diana Eck
expressed her excitement for the work ahead: “In this climate of fear,
threat, and uncertainty that affects many vulnerable communities, it is
urgent to develop multi-sided networks of response and resilience. We need
to hear each other -- Sikhs, Muslims, Jews, and Christians, African
Americans and Latinos, mayors and city councilors. Whether the harassment
of a Sikh student at Harvard or the swastikas on a suburban school wall,
the issues we face are of mutual concern across lines of faith. For many
years, the Pluralism Project has been at the forefront of documenting the
fast-changing religious landscape of greater Boston. I look forward to this
opportunity to convene a working group of religious and civic leaders as we
face the future together.”
As OSF moves forward with other grantees in the Boston area, the Pluralism
Project will work to build relationships and collaborate with these new
partners. For more information on the event and this initiative, please
visit the Pluralism Project website (www.pluralism.org).
--------------------------------------
*Want to invest with us in this immensely important work?*
*Make a tax-deductible donation online
<http://pluralism.org/about/contribute/donate/> or donate by check at the
address below, payable to Harvard University (Memo note: "Pluralism
Project")Want to get involved?*
*Email us <staff(a)pluralism.org>, follow us on Facebook
<https://www.facebook.com/pluralismproj/?fref=ts> to learn about events,
films, and organizations, or call us to find out about opportunities to
engage*
--
The Pluralism Project at Harvard University
2 Arrow Street, 4th Floor
Cambridge, MA 02138
617-496-2481
www.pluralism.org
Twittter: @pluralismproj
Like The Pluralism Project on Facebook
<http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Pluralism-Project-at-Harvard-University/1…>
!