Promoting Peace and Tolerance Through Madrasa Renewal
Monday, February 12, 2007
McShain Lounge, McCarthy Hall
Cosponsor: Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding
Dr. Doug Johnston and Ozzie Hussain spoke about their experiences together traveling to Pakistan in an attempt to provide improved education and moral guidance for madrasa students since 2003. Specifically, the goals discussed were:
(1) expansion of madrasa curriculums to include the scientific and social disciplines, with a special emphasis on religious tolerance and human rights (especially women's rights);
(2) transformation of the pedagogy to promote critical thinking skills among the students;
(3) teaching students dialogue facilitation and conflict resolution skills;
(4) equipping newly-trained teachers with the skills necessary to train other madrasa leaders in these same areas.
Dr. Douglas M. Johnston is President and Founder of the International Center for Religion and Diplomacy. Prior to founding ICRD, he served as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, founded and directed the Executive Program in National and International Security at Harvard University, and served as Director of Policy Planning and Management in the Office of the Secretary of Defense and Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy.
Azhar Hussain is Director of the Pakistan Madrasa Project at the International Center for Religion & Diplomacy. He has provided educational and intercultural consulting services for numerous multi-national organizations and has a well-established history of successful training and development initiatives throughout the world.