Parliament of Worlds Religion 2009 Melbourne Australia

Author(s): Parliament of the World’s Religions
Publisher: USA Parliament of the Worlds Religions

Page 308

PROGRAM
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
9:30-11:00am INTRARELIGIOUS SESSION
DR Kaarthikeyan is a human rights activist, environmentalist and promoter of interfaith harmony. He has held positions in the Indian government, including Director General of the National Human Rights Commission, Director of the Central Bureau of Investigation, and Director General of the Central Reserve Police Force. He has been honoured with President's Medals for Distinguished and Meritorious Service and awarded titles including Atma Jyoti and Delhi Ratna. He is also an author and editor. Narayan Rao is the founder of the Hindu Association of Great Britain and currently a trustee with both the Britannia Hindu Temple Trust and the Tividale Tirupati Temple. Mr Rao is also the director of the Interfaith Hindu Council Laj Utreja is a CEO and engineer in the space and defense industry. Laj has also accumulated training and experience in yogaasana, praanaayaama, dhyaana and ayurvedic healing. He is founder of the Institute of Spiritual Healing (ISHI where he teaches Vedic disciplines related to wellness, healing, harmony and peace. He is the author of 'Who Are We? (2006) and 'What Is Our Origin?' (2007).
The Centrality of Spirituality in Australian Indigenous Education Nereda White Aunty Joan Hendriks Room 102 Seminar Drawing on their extensive experience in education, community and family life, Dr Nereda White and Aunty Joan Hendriks will explore the interconnectedness of spirituality and leadership. They will present insights from post-colonial Indigenous women's perspectives, reflecting on the challenges and opportunities faced by Australia's Indigenous Communities in particular. White and Hendriks will share their experiences working at Australian Catholic University, where the challenge is to support Indigenous learners on both academic and spiritual journeys. Although there has been significant growth in the number of Indigenous people attending university in recent years, the outcomes are still unsatisfactory, with lower progression and completion rates for Indigenous students than for other Australian students. This has raised many questions about the barriers, both personal and institutional, that Indigenous students encounter in their attempts to educate themselves. It raises concerns about whether university communities are meeting the full needs of Indigenous students and whether there is a need to place more emphasis on the spiritual as well the intellectual growth of students. Dr Nereda White is a Gooreng Gooreng woman and Research Director of the Weemala Indigenous Unit of Australian Catholic University. For eighteen years, she has worked in Indigenous Higher Education, supporting Indigenous people in their educational journeys. Dr White has presented at conferences nationally and internationally and has published widely on Indigenous students' experiences. She has received two national teach ing awards, including the Neville Bonner Award for Indigenous Higher Education, Aunty Joan Hendriks is a respected elder of the Ngugi people of North Stradbroke Island, Queensland, Australia. She has presented at many national and international forums, including the United Nations Indigenous People's Forum and Raimon Panikkar's Interreligious Dialogue in Venice. Hendriks lectures at Australian Catholic University. She has been an arnbassador of reconciliation and was the co-chair of Reconciliation Australia for many years. She has received an Elders award from the Indigenous Higher Education Council.
The Imam and the Pastor: An Exploration of Muslim-Christian Dialogue and Collaborative Power in Nigeria Fr Gerald Musa Pr Paul A Wee Imam Mohamad Bashar Arafat Karen L Hernandez-Andrews Room 103 Panel Discussion They once fought against each other as leaders of violent Christian and Muslim militias. Now they are brothers in faith, secure in their traditions but bound to each other in the cause of understanding. peace and reconciliation What was it that turned fierce hatred into love and sectarian strife into a bold and creative venture in interfaith conflict resolution? A clip from the award-winning film *The Imam and the Pastor' will introduce this amazing story. The starting point for the discussion will be Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, which is evenly divided between Muslims and Christians. When conflicts erupt over land ownership, environmental pollution, migrating cattle herds or the question of rights to sand in a flowing river, they invariably become 'religious', pitting Christian against Muslim. In this session, panellists will examine the roots of the conflicts, the progress and the challenges that lic ahead, and how the interfaith community can resolve such conflicts. Participants will be asked to give their reflections and share their own experiences in overcoming ignorance and sectarian strife in their own conlexl. All will be given the opportunity to examine how religious communities can re-channel their energy from conflict into collaboration through the dialogue of action. Refer to the film section of the program book for information regarding the screening of the film 'The Imam and the Pastor' in its entirety, which will take place earlier in the Parliament Fr Gerald M Musa is a Catholic priest from the Diocese of Sokoto, Nigeria. He comes from a predominantly Muslim family. In his ministry as priest, he has worked in communities where Muslims and Christians live together. He has worked with the Nigeria Inter Religious Council INIRECI as well as the Muslim-Christian Forum in Nigeria. He is currently pursuing a PhD at the School of Journalism and Communication, University of Queensland, Australia. Paul Wee is presently adjunct professor at the Elliott School of International Affairs, George Washington University, Washington, DC He served as program officer for the United States Institute of Peace, where he worked primarily on interfaith conflict resolution in Nigeria and Colombia. He received his BA from Harvard University Paul has a Masters of Divinity degree from Luther Seminary and a PhD, magna cum laude, in Philosophy and Social Science from the University of Berlin. Imam Mohamad Bashar Arafat is a graduate of Damascus University in Shari'a Law and has been serving as an Imam in the USA since 1989. He is the founder at An Nur Institute for Islamic Studies and Arabic Language and Civilizations Exchange and Cooperation Foundation. CECF provides various exchange programs for students, professionals and clergy. He served as Campus Imam at Johns Hopkins University and a Chaplain for the Baltimore City Police Department. He is an international speaker on the issue of Islam and Pluralism in America'. Karen L Hernandez-Andrews holds an MA Theological Research in Christian-Muslim Understanding from Andover Newton Theological
304 PWR - Parliament of the World's Religions Jain Education Interational