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FACULTY LEADER

Thomas Banchoff
Banchoff
Thomas Banchoff is Director of the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs, and Associate Professor in the Government Department and the School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University. His research read more >>

RELATED PUBLICATIONS
January 2010
Faith and the Global Agenda: Values for the Post-Crisis Economy

November 2008
Religious Pluralism, Globalization, and World Politics

June 2007
Democracy and the New Religious Pluralism

more publications >

RELATED EVENTS
April 26, 2010
Religious Dialogue and the Quest for Peace in the Holy Land

December 14, 2009
The Role of Religion in the Public Square of a Pluralist Democracy

November 30, 2009
Islamopedia: Mapping Islamic Thinking Online

more events >

Religious Pluralism in World Affairs


Unprecedented dialogue and engagement across religious communities is one of the hallmarks of the contemporary era. Through scholarship, seminars, and outreach, the Center promotes knowledge of diverse religious traditions and promotes dialogue and action in the face of pressing global policy challenges.

 		Pluralism


RELATED PROJECTS

Religion in China and the United States
China and the United States are leading global powers with very different constellations of religion, society, and politics. Knowledge of those differences, their origins, and their contemporary implications, remains weak in both countries. The Religion in China and the US Project seeks to promote dialogue, improve understanding, and inform better policy. Its research and outreach activities do not obscure sharp differences between both countries, for example on the issue of religious freedom. The project is premised on the view that a deeper grasp of both differences and commonalities is a crucial way forward.

Islam and the West
In 2007-08 Georgetown University collaborated with the World Economic Forum to produce a report on the state of dialogue between the West and the Muslim World. Islam and the West: Annual Report on the State of Dialogue, released at the Forum's annual meeting in Davos in January 2008, tracked dialogue efforts across a range of issue areas, including international politics, citizenship and integration, and economic and social development.. It included the Gallup Muslim-West Dialogue Index, which tracks global perceptions of the state of the dialogue, as well as Media Tenor analysis of coverage of the Muslim and Western "other" in newspapers and television around the world. President John J. DeGioia of Georgetown University is serving as lead author on the report. The Berkley Center and the Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Center for Muslim -Christian Understanding provided research support for the project. In connection with the report project, the Berkley Center administers a survey of mapping of dialogue efforts worldwide, the Muslim-West Dialogue Survey.

Working Group on Religion and Politics
The Georgetown Working Group on Religion and Politics was formed by Georgetown faculty and graduate students to analyze questions of religion and contemporary politics. Drawing on Georgetown's scholarly strength in this area, the Working Group will feature the research of Georgetown scholars, outside scholars, and graduate students on topics relating to religion and politics. Each meeting will focus on one ongoing research project/paper, highlighting an issue of both substantive and methodological interest in this developing area of research.

Buddhism and Science Lecture Series
Recent decades have seen the dramatic proliferation of studies of the physiological effects of Buddhist meditation, dialogues between leaders of the Buddhist and scientific communities on topics ranging from cosmology to cognition, and other signs of widespread interest in the connections between Buddhism and science. This lecture series, co-sponsored by the Theology Department and the Berkley Center during the 2008/09 academic year, provided a variety of perspectives on the intricate embrace of Buddhism and science -- its historical development, present situation, and future prospects.

The Berkley Center Lectures
The Berkley Center Lectures bring global thought leaders to campus for presentations on cutting-edge topics at the intersection of religion, culture and politics. The formal program is flanked by informal interaction with faculty and students. In April 2007 the Center sponsored satellite conversations with Tariq Ramadan, the Muslim reformer then barred from entry to the United States, on the topic was "Islam in the West." The October 2008 lectures featured the philosopher Charles Taylor under the heading "Narratives of Secularity." In October 2009, Hans Joas of the University of Chicago will present on "Universal Human Rights: A New Genealogy."