In evaluating the webinar Dr. Matthew Anderson appreciated the work done but said we should also address secularism. People often question religions for this and that. “Secularism is often given a free pass in these conversations as if there aren’t questions we can ask about secularism, as if there are things that secularism doesn’t need to answer for. This has changed in the past couple of decades. Secularism is not a simple solution to all the problems in the modern world, I think that people have to realise that.”
Dr. Anderson explained what CAWU and CIDT are trying to do with these webinars, summer schools and programmes. “Really, we are trying to help people develop skills for intercultural and interreligious dialogue and push beyond the superficial generalisations we have about other cultures and appreciate these cultures in all their complexity.”
Students provided feedback. Yomna said “The part that I enjoyed the most was yesterday’s contribution of Professor Hulsman where he spoke about incidents [between Muslims and Christians, the presentation earlier given at Georgetown University] that did happen in Egypt and provided the context that was missing, that we didn’t know about. That was something that I really enjoyed. I thought that was really important. I want to see more of that.”
Dina “I was initially surprised to know that the Center for Arab West Understanding institution exists really. I was telling Dr Kees that I have been working on something related to interfaith dialogue. It was easier to get in touch with organisations that were international rather than here in Egypt. We were unable to identify where we can go in Egypt.”
Yosr liked the session with Dr Slomp, “I really loved this and the difference between religion and ideology and how each one impacts the reality of the people.”
Thomas is from the UK, “for me this has been a real eye-opener because, similar to Kees, I have grown up in an area of England which is very sheltered. I have never seen a mosque before I went on a school trip to a city, when I was 14 or 15. I have grown up in an area where we aren’t exposed to Islam and other religions, so, I have learnt a huge deal from this.”
Yomna, “how do we move forward?” How can we foster this dialogue on a larger scale? Kees expressed hope that the Anna Lindh Foundation will be ready to fund the proposal for the development of the Ambassadorial Dialogue Program since only this would make it possible to increase the scale of the dialogue activities.
