IRD Activities

• Interreligious Dialogue Projects

  The UNESCO Chair is planning to provide a platform where professors, students and other intellectuals from Iraq, the region and beyond can meet and work together across sectarian and religious divides. Furthermore, it aims to produce, jointly with partners, quality research on comparative religion and inter-religious relations in Iraq and the Islamic world from different disciplinary perspectives (religious sciences, humanities, and social sciences) as well as to develop the knowledge and skills of lecturers, researchers, and students in research methodologies and theoretical and conceptual approaches for the study of religion and inter-religious relations

• Webinars

  Within the activities of the UNESCO Chair for Development of Inter-Religious Dialogue Studies in the Islamic World, the University of Kufa convened a webinar in February 2015 entitled “Jewish Theological Systemization in the Context of Islamic Culture”. The study mainly focused on the encounter between the Jewish culture and Iranian, Greek and Islamic culture. The webinar discussed how Islamic theology influenced Jewish theology since the Second Century AH, Eight Century EC. Another seminar, which was entitled (Raising a Citizenship that Fosters Cultural-Religious Diversity), was held in collaboration with the Lebanese Foundation of Adyan. The video-conference seminar addressed the means of maintaining citizenship in light of the multiplicity of sects and ethnic groups in the same society. Also, the seminar dealt with ways of directing the Ministry of Education to develop new educational policies and edit its curricula to build a better community partnership. The President of the University stated that the university has prioritized the topic and is training a number of its professors and researchers on real field work concerning the development of inter-religious dialogue studies. The Dean of the Faculty of Basic Education also stressed on the fact that the Iraqi community is a multicultural one, engulfing different groups of Muslims, Christians, Azedians and even Jews

• Youth Activities

  To tackle the issue of sectarianism, which is an ongoing problem in Iraq, UNESCO Chair at University of Kufa in partnership with George Mason University and Rutgers University worked together to create an educational program that seeks to improve interfaith relations between communities, especially among youth, which is needed to create a more peaceful future for the country. This program was sponsored by US–Iraq Higher Education Partnerships Program. This project included youth based interfaith activities, and the creation of materials that aimed to minimize the appeal of extremism by increasing awareness of Iraq as a multi-faith society and by pulling together a community from regions where there is evidence of religious and cultural divide. Youth who participated in the Interfaith and Intercultural Youth Camp came from various universities across Iraq. They were trained in practising religious pluralism in an environment where controversial topics relating to religion can be discussed in an atmosphere of respect.

Main Focus Countries of Activities

Northern Africa - South-Western Asia - Canada - Western Europe - Eastern Europe - Northern Europe - Southern Europe - Virtual - Najaf, Iraq -