Students report: A pedagogy of play and justice in Nicaragua; Interfaith dialogue in Jerusalem
For the past few years, the Divinity School has awarded International Ministry Travel Grants to MDiv students for research abroad. House Scholar Rachel Abdoler and House Resident Kathryn Ray, both recipients of the award this last summer, are presenting reports of their travel and research at DDH in November.
On November 4, Kathryn Ray led a presentation entitled, "Creating the Reign of God through Play: Liberation Theology and Gender Justice in Nicaragua." She returned to Nicaragua, where she had previously lived and studied for 18 months, to study the relationship between human rights work and theology in several women’s grass roots organizations. Fluent in Spanish, she was able to be a participant-observer in popular workshops for women given by two nonprofit organizations, CANTERA and the Antonio Valdivieso Ecumenical Center (CAV). In her presentation and in her time in Nicaragua, she focused on the role of pleasure and play within the theology and practice of liberation, and on how theories of liberation (especially Paulo Freire's) and practices of biblical interpretation support and further those connections. Ms. Ray is a third-year student in the joint MDiv/MA in Social Service Administration degree program.
RachelDivinity House Scholar Rachel Abdoler will speak about "Identity and Interfaith Dialogue" on Monday, November 18, at 7:00 pm. She was in Jerusalem for eight weeks this summer, where she studied the work of the Interfaith Encounter Association, an organization dedicated to promoting peace through interfaith dialogue and cross-cultural study. She observed organized dialogues between Muslims and Jews with the goal of gaining insight into the formal and informal rules guiding such conversations. She also looked at how participants' involvement in dialogue is (or is not) supported by their religious communities. Ms. Abdoler, a second year MDiv student, is also a student of Arabic.
The third recipient of the award, Ryan Fordice, also chose to present his findings at DDH. (He is a regular Monday dinner guest!) Mr. Fordice, a third-year MDiv, returned to Turkey to further examine secularization and religion in Istanbul and in Antakya; he had previously studied in Gaziantep on a Fulbright grant. He spoke on Tuesday, November 12.