Making Dialogue Effective, Panel Discussion 6- Preaching to the Unconverted: How Can Dialogue Reach the Disengaged, the Prejudiced and the Hostile?

Wed, 23 Mar 2011 18:45 in Discussion Forums

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Where: Dialogue Society, London
Time: 6:45pm
Panelists:

Prof Ian Linden, Director of Faiths Act, Tony Blair Faith Foundation/ Professor of Religious Studies, SOAS
Canon David W Porter BA MA, Canon Director for Reconciliation Ministry at Coventry Cathedral
Stephen Shashoua, Director, Three Faiths Forum
Alison Seabrooke, Chief Executive, Community Development Foundation

Abstract

Mother Theresa of Calcutta: "If you want to make peace, you don't talk to your friends. You talk to your enemies."
In this discussion panellists will bring their own experience to bear on the important question of how dialogue can reach beyond the (semi-)sympathetic to those suspicious of or even hostile to the idea.

Questions to be considered:

How broad an audience do dialogue initiatives reach?
How can we publicise dialogue events in order to reach beyond those already sympathetic to intercultural dialogue?
What kinds of project are most effective in reaching beyond a typical audience?
What role can dialogue play in engaging with those who have become actively hostile towards other cultural, religious or ethnic groups?

Confirmed panellists:

Prof Ian Linden, Director of Faiths Act, Tony Blair Faith Foundation/ Professor of Religious Studies, SOAS
Ian Linden is Director of Policy at the TBFF, formerly director of the Social Action Programme, Faiths Act, and an associate professor in the Study of Religion at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in the University of London. He has published a number of books on religion in Africa and, recently, two major studies on faith and globalisation, “A New Map of the World and Global Catholicism”. He was for fifteen years director of the Catholic Institute for International Relations and was awarded the CMG for work for human rights in 2000. He is a member of the Christian-Muslim Forum of the UK, worked in interfaith dialogue with Shi’a leaders in Iran and has acted as a DfID (UK government Department for International Development) consultant on matters of Faith and Development.
Canon David W Porter BA MA, Canon Director for Reconciliation Ministry at Coventry Cathedral
Prior to his current post, David was co-founder and Director of ECONI (Evangelical Contribution on N Ireland). A member of the N Ireland Community Relations Council he is honorary Research Fellow in Peace Studies at Coventry University. In 2006 he was Visiting Practitioner Fellow at the Centre for Reconciliation, Duke University Divinity School. He was a member of the independent Consultative Group on the Past chaired by Lord Eames which reported to government in 2008 on how to deal with the legacy of the troubles in N Ireland. In 2000/03 David served on the Northern Ireland Civic Forum, chairing its working group on peacebuilding and reconciliation.
Stephen Shashoua, Director, Three Faiths Forum
Born in Canada, of Iraqi-Jewish descent, Stephen has been involved in communal and voluntary organisations all his life.
- Studied Journalism, Anthropology, Teaching and English Literature
- Worked internationally with students (all ages, cultures and abilities)
- Freeman of the City of London and fellow of the Royal Society of Arts
Alison Seabrooke, Chief Executive, Community Development Foundation
Alison Seabrooke was appointed as Chief Executive of the Community Development Foundation (CDF) in 2005. Prior to this she was seconded for a year to the Home Office and Department for Education and Skills, bringing with her skills and knowledge from working within communities. Between 1996 to 2004 she was the volunteer founder member and later chief executive of an ambitious new-build community facility in Yorkshire. She developed a range of services to meet local to national needs and grew the centre into a successful social enterprise, winning two BURA awards. Since joining CDF she has developed and strengthened its role as a public body, building on the organisation's 40 years' experience of acting as a bridge between government and communities.

Introduction to Panel Discussion Series

A series of panel discussions examining the question of how to make intercultural dialogue work. Those working with intercultural and interreligious dialogue at the community or professional level face a range of challenges regarding its effectiveness. We are asked, or ask ourselves, such questions as:

Does what we do make or contribute to a tangible difference to society in any way?
Does our work, whether directly or otherwise, reach beyond the sympathetic to those whose attitudes and behaviour are an actual threat to peace and social cohesion?
Are the relationships that our work initiates across cultural or religious boundaries of a meaningful and lasting kind?
Is our work part of something broader that is capable of effecting change on a grand scale?

This series is intended to occasion focused and constructive discussion of such questions among a range of people concerned with relationships between different cultural, religious or social groups, in their professional lives or at the community level.

Findings and conclusions will be published. It is hoped that the series will be replicated at three independent UK branches of the Dialogue Society, allowing us to draw on a wider range of perspectives in collating findings.

Aims and Objectives

To encourage interprofessional dialogue, interaction and cooperation between people working on intercultural/ interreligious dialogue, peace and social cohesion.
To foster dialogue between people engaged with dialogue at the personal or community level, and those concerned with the same questions in a professional capacity.
To explore and clarify the questions of what effectiveness in dialogue is, and whether and how it can be measured.
To find a range of creative and practical answers to the question of how dialogue can be made effective by

identifying and promoting current best practice and
identifying and promoting promising future possibilities.
To share these answers among all participants of the series and more widely.

The Topics:

1. "Effectiveness" in Intercultural and Interfaith Dialogue: Can it be defined? How do we measure it?
30/11/2010
Confirmed speakers:

Mehri Niknam, MA, MBE, Executive Director, the Joseph Interfaith Foundation.
Simon Keyes, Director of St Ethelburga's Centre for Reconciliation and Peace.
Dr Andrew Smith, Scripture Union.

2. Effectiveness at the grassroots: seeking the personal and the genuine
07/12/2010
Confirmed speakers:

Imam Dr Abduljalil Sajid, Chairman, Muslim Council for Religious Harmony UK; Executive Member, World Congress of Faiths.
Samuel Klein, Co-Director, the Coexistence Trust
Sarah Perceval, Storyteller

3. Effectiveness in dialogue for conflict transformation
14/12/2010
Confirmed speakers:

Dr Diana Francis, Conflict Transformation Facilitator, Trainer and Consultant.
Dr Marwan Darweish, Senior Lecturer at Coventry, Expert in Peace Processes and Conflict Transformation.

4. Skills in dialogue: cultivating effective listening and empathy.
09/02/2011
Confirmed speakers:

Lisa Cumming, Programme for a Peaceful City, Bradford University Peace Studies Department
Justine Huxley, Interfaith Projects Coordinator, St Ethelburga’s Centre for Reconciliation and Peace
Jill Adam, Executive Director, Level Partnerships; previously Head of the School of Education and Professional Development at Leeds Metropolitan University.

5. Becoming a dialogue movement: what can dialogue learn from other movements?
02/03/2011
Confirmed speakers:

Danny Chivers, Performance Poet Involved in the Environmental Movement
Dr Nicola Montagna, Middlesex University

6. Preaching to the unconverted: how can dialogue reach the disengaged, the prejudiced and the hostile?
Confirmed speakers:

Stephen Shashoua, Director, Three Faiths Forum
Alison Seabrooke, Community Development Foundation
Prof Ian Linden, Director of Faiths Act, Tony Blair Faith Foundation / Professor of Religious Studies, SOAS
Canon David Porter, Canon Director for Reconciliation Ministry at Coventry Cathedral

Guests are warmly invited to attend as many of the sessions as possible to contribute to an ongoing process of focused reflection over the course of the series.