Conference Dates: October 22 & 23, 2007

---

Monday, October 22, 2007
American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 136 Irving Street

Theological and historical relationships among the Abrahamic traditions

8:45-9:00
Opening Remarks and Greetings:
William Graham, Steven Bloomfield, David Salomon
Chair: Moshe Ma'oz

9:00-11:00 Session I: Religious Themes
Reuven Firestone, Professor of Medieval Jewish and Islamic Studies, Hebrew Union College “A Phenomenology of Chosenness”

Ali Banuazizi, Professor of Political Science and Co-director of the Program in Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, Boston College “Martyrdom in the three faiths”

Benjamin Braude, Associate Professor of History; Co-director of the Program in Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, Boston College “Interdependence of Scripture”

Moderator: William Graham, John Lord O'Brian Professor of Divinity; Dean of the Faculty of Divinity, Harvard Divinity School

11:00-11:15 coffee break

11:15-1:15 Session II: Medieval Times

Mark R. Cohen, Professor of Near Eastern Studies, Princeton University, “The 'Convivencia' of Jews and Muslims in the High Middle Ages”

Mohamed Hawary, Professor of Religious Jewish Thought and Religions, Ain Shams University, Cairo and Director of Center for Study of the Contemporary Civilizations, Ain Shams University, “The Muslim Jewish Relations in Ayyubid Egypt (1171-1250)”

Jamal Elias, Professor of Religious Studies, University of Pennsylvania, “Jewish, Christian and Muslim bureaucrats in Mongol Iran (13th to 14th century)”

Moderator: Wolfhart P. Heinrichs, James Richard Jewett Professor of Arabic, Harvard College

1:15-3:00 Lunch (only for invited panelists, chairs & moderators)

Introduction:Everett Mendelsohn
Speakers: Diane Davis and Leila Farsakh, Project Presentation: “Jerusalem 2050 – Visions for a Place of Peace, Just Jerusalem competition, MIT”

3:00-5:00 Session III: Jerusalem – Key for the Trialogue

Mustafa Abu-Sway, Associate Professor, Philosophy and Islamic Studies and Director of the Islamic Research Center, Al-Quds University, Jerusalem “The Holy Land, Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque in the Qur’an, Sunnah and other Islamic Literary Sources”

Moshe Ma'oz, Professor Emeritus of Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies, Hebrew University of Jerusalem and currently Visiting Scholar at Harvard University “Jerusalem: From Conflict to Compromise?”

Harvey Cox, Hollis Professor of Divinity, Harvard Divinity School, “What Makes Jerusalem a “Holy” City for Three faiths?”

Moderator: Everett Mendelsohn, Research Professor of the History of Science, Harvard University

5:15-6:15 Lecture and musical accompaniment
Introduction: Benjamin Braude
Joel Cohen, Music Director, Boston Camerata, “Conviviencia and Interdependence: A Thinking Person's Guide to Andalusian Music”

---

Tuesday, October 23, 2007
American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 136 Irving Street

Day II: Interfaith Initiatives

9:00-11:00 Session IV: Interfaith Initiatives

M. Hakan Yavuz, Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of Utah “Sufi roots of Interfaith Activities in Turkey: The Case of Fethullah Gulen”

Yehezkel Landau, Hartford Seminary, Faculty Associate in Interfaith Relations “Lessons from the Building Abrahamic Partnerships Program at Hartford Seminary"

Muzammil Siddiqi, Chairman, Fiqh (Islamic Law) Council of North America and Director, Islamic Society of Orange County, California, “Abraham Connection: Goals and Activities”

Meena Sharify-Funk, Assistant Professor of Religion and Culture, Wilfrid Laurier University, Ontario, Canada, and Nathan C. Funk, Assistant Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Waterloo, "Peacemaking among the Religions of Abraham: Overcoming Obstacles to Coexistence"

Richard J. Deckelbaum, Professor of Epidemiology at Columbia University, “Health and Science: Win-Win Modalities towards Brotherhood”

Moderator: Herbert C. Kelman, Richard Clarke Cabot Professor of Social Ethics, Emeritus, Harvard University and former Director of the Program on International Conflict Analysis and Resolution at Harvard's Weatherhead Center for International Affairs

11:00-11:15 coffee break

11:15-1:15 Session V: Education
Abdul Aziz Said, Mohammed Said Farsi Professor of Islamic Peace, American University, “Education in the Abrahamic Perspective”

Elie Podeh, Professor and Head of the Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies Department, Hebrew University “Teaching Islam and Christianity in the Jewish Education System in Israel, 1948-2007”

Muhammad Shafiq, Visiting Professor in Islamic and religious Studies and Executive Director of the Center for Interfaith Studies and Dialogue (CISD) at Nazareth College; Imam/ Executive Director of the Islamic Center of Rochester, NY “Teaching Interfaith Initiatives: Jews and Christians in Muslim Educational Institutions”

Moderator: Ronit Ricci, Postdoctoral Fellow, Institute for Comparative Literature and Society, Columbia University

1:15-3:00 Lunch (only for invited panelists, chairs & moderators)

Introduction: Ali Banuazizi
Speaker: Diana Eck, Professor of Comparative Religion and Indian Studies and Director of the Pluralism Project, Harvard University “Difficult Dialogues Among the Children of Abraham”

3:00-5:00 Session VI: Contemporary Relations

Sari Nusseibeh, Professor of Islamic Philosophy, President of Al Quds University, former PLO representative in Jerusalem, “Jerusalem: Religions and Men”

David Gordis, President and Professor of Rabbinics at Hebrew College, “Interreligious Conversation and Claims to Truth”

J. Bryan Hehir, Parker Montgomery Professor of Practice of Religion and Public Life, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, “Religion and Politics: The Hardest Case”

Moderator: Jocelyne Cesari, Visiting Associate Professor of Islamic Studies, Harvard Divinity School & Associate in the Center for Middle Eastern Studies

5:15-7:00 Concluding Session: Towards Mutual Appreciation

David Saperstein, Director of the Religion Action Center of Reform Judaism
“The Children of Abraham at a Time of Crisis: Challenges and Opportunities”

James Carroll, Author, Constantine’s Sword: The Church and the Jews: A History, and Boston Globe columnist, “Children of Abraham: The Habit of Self Criticism”

Azyumardi Azra, Professor of History and Director of Graduate School, and former Rector, Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University “Trialogue of Abrahamic Faiths;Towards the Alliance of Civilizations”

Moderator: Krister Stendahl, Retired Bishop of Stockholm; Previous Dean of Harvard Divinity School

---

Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Bowie-Vernon conference room N262, CGIS Knafel Building
1737 Cambridge Street

9:30-12:00 The Children and Grandchildren of Abraham:
Reflections from the Youth

Facilitator: Rachel Salomon