Friday, November 21, 2025

10am - noon: Morning Panel, Boston University Marsh Chapel, 735 Commonwealth Ave, Boston, MA 02215

Interreligious Legacies of Marsh Chapel: Thurman, Schachter-Shalomi, and Students

Daryl Healea, Assistant Dean for Curriculum & Enrollment Services at Boston University College of Arts and Sciences.

Soren M. Hessler, Assistant Professor in the Practice of Leadership and Administration at Candler School of Theology, Emory University and Treasurer of the Association for Interreligious/Interfaith Studies

Rober Allan Hill, Dean of Marsh Chapel, Chaplain to the University, and Professor of New Testament & Pastoral Theology at Boston University.

Or N. Rose, Founding Director of the Betty Ann Greenbaum Miller Center for Interreligious Learning and Leadership at Hebrew College and Publisher Emeritus of the Journal of Interreligious Studies.

Shively T. J. Smith, Associate Professor of New Testament and Director of the Ph.D. Program at Boston University School of Theology.

2pm - 5pm: Afternoon Session, Sheraton Boston, Commonwealth Room, 39 Dalton St, Boston, MA 02199

“Dialogue Across Religious Differences in the Current Moment”:

Panel Discussion, Followed by Small Group Dialogues

This session begins with a panel bringing together scholars publishing on dialogue to discuss the possibilities and challenges for forging fresh conversations across religious differences in this difficult historical moment. Drawing on their distinct disciplinary approaches, the panelists' research and practice dialogue in a variety of contexts, including higher education, community groups, inter- and intra-religious organizations, and publicly funded programs. The panel discussion will be facilitated around a set of questions inviting conversation between panelists about what they have been learning about dialogue and the insights as well as questions they have about how to do dialogue across religious differences now.

Building on the panel discussion, the second half of this event will invite everyone to participate in structured, small-group dialogues about the possibilities and challenges people are experiencing as scholars, educators, activists, or individuals engaging across religious differences in today’s environment.

Panelists:

Hans Gustafson, Director of the Jay Phillips Center for Interreligious Studies and Senior Adjunct at St. Thomas University and Past President of the Association for Interreligious/Interfaith Studies. 

Dave Krueger, Executive Director of the Dialogue Institute at Temple University and Co-Editor of the Journal of Ecumenical Studies.

Karen Ross, Associate Professor of Conflict Resolution, Director of Graduate Programs in Conflict Resolution, and Director of the Center for Peacebuilding, Democracy & Development at UMass Boston, as well as an Associate at Essential Partners.

Ben Sax, Head of Scholarship and the Jewish Scholar at the Institute for Islamic, Christian, and ClJewish Studies, Vice President of the Association for Interreligious/Interfaith Studies, and Co-Editor of the Journal of Ecumenical Studies.

6:30pm - 8:30pm: Dinner & Evening Social Hour: Clover Food Lab, inside the Prudential Center, 800 Boylston St, #15, Boston, MA 02199