Berkley Center

On April 12, the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs hosted the Hoya Paxa Student Symposium 2025. This annual research symposium showcases capstone projects from students enrolled in the Religion, Ethics, and World Affairs (REWA) minor along with research projects conducted through other Berkley Center student programs, including academic fellowships within the Doyle Engaging Difference Program and the Education and Social Justice Project.

The REWA minor program is guided by thematic areas of study: Faith and Ethics in International Relations, Religion and Politics in Comparative Perspective, and Religion, History, and Intercultural Dialogue. All REWA minors must take at least one course in each area, and they may also choose to focus on a specific geographic region or religious tradition. The Hoya Paxa Symposium 2025 featured three sessions based on the core REWA areas, respectively titled, “Religion and Ethics,” “Religion, Peace, and Conflict,” and “Religion, Reconciliation, and Dialogue."

The event opened with refreshments and a poster review session that introduced research by REWA minor Ariana Biondi-Copeland (C’25) on “The Catholic Church and the Body Politic: The Influence of Religious Doctrine on American Abortion Legislation.” Guests were then formally welcomed by Berkley Center Director of Student Programs Nick Scrimenti (C’18), Berkley Center Director Thomas Banchoff, and Nigel Li, the graduate teaching assistant for the REWA capstone course.

In his words of welcome, Scrimenti noted one of the prominent goals for students in the REWA minor program and the impacts that were later evident across the symposium’s presentations:

As graduates of the REWA program, our students emerge with a capacious and interdisciplinary understanding of religions’ role in contemporary society, recognizing it as a significant aspect of human experience and a potential force for both peace and violence.

​Unique Perspectives Across Academic Disciplines

Abigail Assadi (C'26) opened the first student panel on "Religion and Ethics" by presenting her research on "Applying Catholic Social Teaching to Transitional Justice Theory." Assadi was a member of the 2024-2025 Doyle Global Dialogue cohort while studying abroad in Belgrade, Serbia; she also received a Doyle grant to present another research project at Harvard University in January 2025, and she is a REWA minor.

Assadi was joined by 2024 Education and Social Justice (ESJ) Fellow Julianne Meneses (C'25) and REWA minor Katherine Wijenaike-Bogle (C'25). Meneses presented her project on "Democracy and Non-Formal Education: The Creation of Agency," which she previously presented during the 2024 Global Social Justice Research Symposium. Meneses’ field work for her research was supported by the ESJ program and conducted while she was abroad in Bosnia and Herzegovina at the John Paul II Center. She was followed by Wijenaike-Bogle’s study on “Comparative Environmental Ethics in Christianity and Buddhism,” formulated under the mentorship of Rev. David Hollenbach, S.J., during the REWA minor capstone seminar course this spring.

During her time at Georgetown Assadi has embraced the interdisciplinary opportunities inherent to the REWA minor program.

My favorite part of pursuing a minor in religion, ethics, and world affairs is the fact that the minor program is interdisciplinary, and it allows me to draw on many different courses from across different departments at Georgetown. I’ve taken classes in the justice and peace department, in the theology department, in the Jewish civilization department, and it’s really important to have that interdisciplinary approach because that really is what religion, ethics, and world affairs are all about.

​Interreligious Peace and Dialogue for the Future

The symposium continued with the “Religion, Peace, and Conflict” panel, which featured three REWA capstone project presentations that exemplified historical and current cases of religions intersecting with violence around the world. The students on this panel brought a wealth of research background that each managed to succinctly convey.

Phoebe Chambers (C’25) opened the discussion with her presentation, “Underestimate It At Your Peril: The Role of Religion in the Cyprus Conflict.” Chambers offered personal insight to her findings while covering a vast historical timeline. She was followed by Alex Johnson (C’25), who presented his research about “Christian Nationalism: An Existential and Empowered Terrorist Threat.” His work inspired several questions from the audience regarding religious and political interpretations, both in the United States and abroad. Chantal Li (SFS’25) concluded with her project on “The Return of Interstate Religious Wars,” further extending the international reach of the panel’s presentations.

Judd Birdsall and Hollenbach, both Berkley Center senior fellows and leading faculty members of the REWA minor program, attended this year’s symposium to support their students. Hollenbach found the students’ work inspiring.

I am very encouraged by the personal and intellectual engagement of the students in the minor in Religion, Ethics, and World Affairs. I taught the capstone seminar for the program this spring. Seeing the students address the challenging issues that arise in the interaction of religious traditions with international issues is a genuine source of hope as we look to the future.

The final panel of the day was about “Religion, Reconciliation, and Dialogue,” featuring three presenters who brought considerable knowledge and relatability to their work through personal experiences and identities that they shared throughout the panel discussions.

REWA minor Blain Beyene (C’25) discussed “The Influence of Religion on Ethiopian Politics: Russian Orthodox Internationalism from the Nineteenth to the Twenty-first Century.” Beyene received a number of questions and inquiries during the Q and A session about the current political and religious climates in Ethiopia. Her presentation was followed by REWA minor and member of the 2023-2024 Doyle Global Dialogue cohort Mary Nguyen (C’25). Nguyen spent a semester at the National University of Samoa through the support of the Doyle Global Dialogue program, and she shared her REWA capstone project on “The Fall: Saigon and the Origin of Reconciliation” during the symposium. Nguyen’s presentation incorporated personalized accounts of her learning and shed light on the viewpoints of many Vietnamese-Americans in contemporary politics.

The presentations concluded with Doyle Dialogue Fellow Elizabeth Foster (C'27), who presented her research as the Campus Advocate Fellow for PEN America. Foster previously shared her work during the Academic Freedom Colloquium on April 4. The results of Foster’s study demonstrated a diverse range in understandings of academic freedom across Georgetown’s Hilltop Campus community, as well as distinct differences in expectations from students and professors regarding their online presences. She also discussed the ways in which her experience as a Doyle Dialogue Fellow has helped shape her initiative with PEN America, having developed her dialogue facilitation skills across differing opinions.

Nick Scrimenti closed the event with words of thanks for those in attendance and congratulations for the student presenters. The annual Hoya Paxa Symposium 2025 offered a space for students to share their experiences and learnings from pivotal Berkley Center programs and for REWA minors to conclude their academic pursuits. Berkley Center Executive Director and Professor Michael Kessler affirmed the central role of the event in the center’s curricular and co-curricular programming.

The symposium showcases student insights and intellectual aptitude as they prepare to take on the role of the next leaders who will have to grapple with urgent issues of social, political, and economic well-being and their intersection with religion.