Berkley Center

In honor of International Women's Day, Senior Fellow Jocelyne Cesari will participate in a March 8 virtual talk about the diversity of religious positions on women's rights and the politicization of Islam across Muslim countries and among Muslim minorities. The event is hosted by Syracuse University's Moynihan Institute of Global Affairs and the Middle Eastern Studies Program.

Senior Research Fellow Julia Watts Belzer will deliver a March 22 webinar on "Hope and Grief in the Age of Climate Change." Arguing against cultural tropes of widespread cataclysm often found in Jewish text, Belzer will empower the embodied ethics of contemporary queer disability communities on the frontlines of climate disruption, showing how disability practices of collective care offer hope.

Berkley Center Director Thomas Banchoff attended the opening of the Abrahamic Family House in Abu Dhabi on February 16. This multibuilding complex includes a mosque, church, and synagogue, and it is designed to carry forward the legacy of Pope Francis’ historic trip to the United Arab Emirates in February 2019 and the signing of the Document on Human Fraternity.

As part of the League of Women Voters of the Lewisburg Area’s Educational Forum series, Senior Research Fellow Amy Uelmen will deliver a February 21 talk on “Three Healthy Habits for Good Citizenship in Polarized Times.” The presentation will offer ways to foster understanding across deep divides that help to heal polarization and allow for a positive political dialogue.