Center for the Study of Democracy, Toleration, and Religion

民主、宽容与宗教研究中心

The Center for the Study of Democracy, Toleration, and Religion (CDTR) was founded in 2006, within Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs. CDTR’s overarching goals are to identify how tolerance between religious and secular actors can be better theorized, and to aid in the development of new strategies for promoting religious-secular tolerance. To this end, it works toward building a new subfield on religion and international affairs, in which novel research and policy solutions can be formulated. While global in scope, CDTR’s work has particularly focused on Islam and international affairs, on variants of secularism, and on how these variants have affected coexistence in different states. Program activities include numerous conferences, faculty seminars, student courses, and publications. CDTR was made possible through a 2006 grant from the Henry R. Luce Initiative on Religion and International Affairs and received an additional three-year Luce grant in 2009 that will support the growth of a religion and international affairs subfield, facilitate research by promising young academics and practitioners, and expand media outreach efforts. The Center is led by its director, Alfred Stepan.