UNESCO Chair in Interfaith Studies, University of Birmingham (1999)
Purpose/Objectives of the Chair
The academic study of religion is an interdisciplinary area, extending far beyond the confines of ‘theology’ in the narrow sense. It embraces the social sciences, politics, development studies, cultural studies, gender studies, international relations, history, and law––among many others. The UNESCO Chair in Interfaith Studies consists of a multidisciplinary group of specialists working both in their own particular disciplines as well as in joint teaching and research projects with specific interfaith objectives––the better understanding of other faiths and of the relations between them, especially their interdependence.
The UNESCO Chair has a number of short term specific objectives. It seeks to establish long-term cooperation among participating institutions in the study of the encounter between the three Abrahamic faiths and their interaction with culture and society. The Chair participates in developing an international network of cooperating academic institutions working on the interaction between different religions and between religion and society. Moreover, the Chair hopes to promote an equitable exchange of expertise in a spirit of peace and tolerance, solidarity, and intercultural and interfaith dialogue. The Chair also aims to identify research priorities and training opportunities for young researchers and make the results available to governments and international agencies, NGOs, the educational sector, and the media
Chairholder Professor Jonathan Webber
Address: Department of Philosophy, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK
Email: J.Webber [at] bham.ac.uk
Tel: +44 (0)121 4158375
Fax: +44 (0)121 4158376
Professor Jonathan Webber trained as a social anthropologist at Oxford University, where he taught for twenty years before moving in 2002 to the University of Birmingham, where he is Chairholder of the UNESCO Chair in Interfaith Studies. His principal research interests include the sociology of the contemporary Jewish diaspora, Holocaust studies, biblical studies, museum studies, and Polish–Jewish studies.
He has been a member of the International Council of the Auschwitz Museum since it was founded in 1990, and in 1999 he was awarded the Gold Cross of the Order of Merit by the President of the Republic of Poland for services to Polish–Jewish dialogue.
Select Activity
- PUBLICATION: Thomas, David and Barbara Roggema eds. Christian-Muslim Relations. A Bibliographical History. Volume 1 (600-900) (Leiden: Brill, 2009) - A bibliographical history of the works written by Christians and Muslims against and about one another from the start of Islam in the seventh century to the establishment of Ottoman rule in the fifteenth century.
- EVENT: Annual meeting of the UNESCO Chairs of the UNITWIN Network of Interreligious Dialogue for Intercultural Understanding (held at University of Oregon, USA, 8-11 May 2009), where the UNESCO Chair was represented by Dr J. Boehle.
- SPEAKING ENGAGEMENT: Dr J. Boehle spoke at the Second International Conference on “Integrating Spirituality and Organisational Leadership” held in Pondicherry, India (February 2009).
- EVENT: Professor Jonathan Webber chaired the International Conference “Forty Years On: The March 1968 ‘Anti-Zionist’ Campaign and its Significance for Polish-Jewish Relations” (London, 27 November 2008).
