RELIGIOUS LIFE10a FEBRUARY 27-MARCH 12, 2015 NATIONAL CATHOLIC REPORTER

By JULIE GUNTER

Though no longer a collegiate ath-lete with NFL aspirations, Qasim Hatem remains fixed on a goal that is nearer, he believes, than his own breath — Allah, the Arabic name for God. Now garbed in a robe and skull-cap, he is one of two Muslim students currently enrolled in the Master of Arts in Transformational Leadership program at Seattle University’s School of Theology and Ministry. The inten-tionally ecumenical school attracts and educates students of diverse faith traditions while remaining rooted in its Jesuit mission and identity.

Hatem’s decision to attend an ecu-menical school may be a relatively unique phenomenon among members of his Muslim community. But these schools can attest to an increasing in-terest in interfaith study and service not only on campus, but within lo-cal faith communities and the public sphere as well.

Hatem said Seattle University has “al-lowed me to express my religious per-spective as a Muslim from a traditional background … [and] has brought me closer as a Muslim who identifies with Islam to a realization of who I am at my core.” His studies have increased “my expansiveness so that I can include oth-er peoples’ cores into my understand-ing, branch out, be more inclusive.”

Hatem is executive director and resident scholar of the Mihraab Foun-dation in Seattle; the foundation’s mis-sion is to promote traditional Islam in a Western context. He is also the Mus-lim chaplain for Harborview Hospi-tal and the University of Washington Medical Center, and he works with prison inmates, mentors teenagers and teaches classes for all ages.

His interest in the leadership pro-gram was sparked by an informational interfaith meeting, and by the experi-ences and encouragement of another Muslim student, Abdullah Polovina, who graduates this year. Polovina was a “catalyst,” Hatem said.

An imam from Sarajevo, Bosnia, who balances graduate studies with his duties at a Portland, Ore., mosque, Po-lovina speaks of peace with a weighted reverence that comes from surviving the opposite: tanks, desecrated church-es and mosques, and death.

“Peace [can still feel] heavier than war,” said Polovina, who was invited to Seattle by local Muslim leaders in the spring of 2001, “when peace is not spread equally, and society’s values are not experienced by all.”

With a quick yet thoughtful smile that has become a familiar sight in the school’s quiet halls, Abdullah has found his work at Seattle Univer-sity and within the larger community “good, encouraging and needed.”

Other ecumenically oriented schools across the nation, though small in number when compared to seminar-ies focused on one faith tradition, are increasingly reaching out to interfaith partners such as Hatem and Polovina with educational, service and leader-ship opportunities.

In addition to following a mission statement and adapting to changing U.S. demographics, such outreach by ecumenical schools is also a response to enrollment and revenue challenges. The Association of Theological Schools now requires that schools it accredits “address multifaith and multicultural issues in their Master of Divinity pro-grams,” according to Stephen Graham, the association’s senior director of programs and services. However, pro-moting and maintaining this diversity

can be a delicate and sometimes chal-lenging process for schools that are also firmly rooted in their own denomina-tional tradition and history.

On Harvard University’s campus, not far from its Center for the Study of World Religions, the Pluralism Project seeks to understand and communicate America’s changing religious and in-terfaith landscape. Established in 1991 by Diana Eck, the Pluralism Project aims to be a resource for theological schools and others committed to pre-paring future faith leaders for a multi-religious world.

Usra Ghazi, a Muslim student at Harvard Divinity School in Cam-bridge, Mass., founded the first uni-versity-wide interfaith group on cam-pus called Harvard Better Together: Students for Interfaith Action. She hopes that “more and more Muslim students have interfaith encounters at campuses and seminaries so that this influence pours into our internal com-munities and fosters intra-religious understanding between different kinds of Muslims.”

Hartford Seminary President Heidi Hadsell explained, “In higher educa-tion, the whole area of Muslim-Chris-tian engagement and dialogue will

only grow in importance in the years ahead. Christians and Muslims are the two largest religious communities in the world, encompassing billions of people. Thus, in a sense, the whole world has a stake in their peaceful co-existence and engagement.”

At the nondenominational semi-nary she heads in Hartford, Conn., living arrangements for students in interfaith dormitories often mirror what’s learned in the classroom.

Hadsell said, “We have found that learning together, as well as separately, forms leaders that know and love their own traditions, and also have respect for and know another, or several other traditions. This is the kind of leader-ship we need today.”

With 30-40 percent of the student body Muslim and four full-time Mus-lim faculty members on staff, tradi-tional degrees are offered, along with a graduate certificate in interfaith dia-logue and the only accredited Islamic chaplaincy program in the nation. Other opportunities include the Wom-en’s Leadership Institute, the Building Abrahamic Partnerships program, and the International Peacemaking Program. The Macdonald Center for the Study of Islam and Christian-Mus-lim Relations, founded in 1975, is also a vital resource for students.

Claremont School of Theology Pres-ident Kah-Jin Jeffrey Kuan offered his own example of “peaceful coexistence and engagement.” He described a situ-ation that arose last year at the Cali-fornia school’s annual Spring Festival. The Student Council and the Asian Pacific Islanders/American Associa-tion planned the event as a luau. The planners, Kuan said, went to represen-tatives of Muslim students and told them that they’d decided not to have roast pig at the luau.

“Our Muslim students appreciated this gesture immensely,” said Kuan. He said they responded by saying, “We know how important a roast pig is ... to your expression, so go ahead and do what is culturally authentic to you. We will have other food to eat.”

In the end, roast lamb was served to 150-200 people. “We ran out of food very quickly,” Kuan laughingly said.

A school rooted in the Methodist tra-dition, Claremont School of Theology

Reaching out to interfaith partners

THE INDEPENDENT NEWS SOURCEREPORTERNATIONAL

CATHOLIC

HOW TO REACH US

Mailing address: PO Box 410890; Kansas City, MO 64141-0890Street address: 115 E. Armour Blvd.; Kansas City, MO 64111

Phone: (816) 531-0538 Fax: (816) 968-2280

SUBSCRIBENCR is published biweekly. To subscribe, call(800) 333-7373 or visit NCRonline.org/subscribe.

ACCOUNT QUESTIONSContact customer service at (800) 333-7373 or email ncrsub@ncronline.org.

ADVERTISELearn more at NCRonline.org/advertise. Contact the advertising department at (800) 444-8910 or email ncrad@ncronline.org.

VISIT US ONLINEFor the latest news, visit NCRonline.org. Special section content from the print edition does not appear online.

REPRINT PERMISSIONContent belongs to The National Catholic Reporter Publishing Company. To request reprint permission, call (800) 333-7373, ext. 2239.

LETTERS TO THE EDITORLetters should be limited to 250 words and typed. Mail to the address above or email letters@ncronline.org.

MIRAMAR RETREAT CENTERDuxbury, MA 02331-0614

Please check out our website atwww.miramarretreat.org

for additional retreat offerings in 2015

MIRAMAR RETREAT CENTERA year round, tranquil environment for spiritual enhancement.

A scenic, coastal oasis located 45 miles south of Boston overlooking Kingston Bay.

June 13-19, 2015VACATION WITH THE LORD

With Maureen Casey SND and Tom Umbras SVD

July 19-25, 2015DIVINE MYSTERY IN THE HEART OF CREATION

With Linda Neil, CSJ

JULY 25-31, 2015GOD IN AN EVOLVING COSMOS

With Gloria Schaab, SSJ

—Courtesy of Claremont School of Theology

Hafsa Arain in Claremont School of Theology’s Kresge Chapel

COLLEGES & UNIVERSITIESNATIONAL CATHOLIC REPORTER FEBRUARY 27-MARCH 12, 2015 11a

has cross-registration agreements with the Bayan Claremont Islamic Gradu-ate School, the Academy for Jewish Religion-California, and University of the West (a Buddhist institution). Such agreements allow students of partici-pating schools to study together and fac-ulty to collaborate across institutions.

Hafsa Arain, who earned a degree in Islamic studies and leadership at Bay-an, described her experience as both enlightening and challenging.

She reflected on a discussion in class with a more conservative male Muslim student that revealed a deep division of opinion over the ability of Muslim women to lead prayers in a mixed-gender setting. The class ended

with the “acknowledgment [that] both of us, at the end of the day, are Mus-lim,” she said. This acknowledgement “really meant that we were able to test our diversity of thought.”

Arain also pointed out frustrations that are shared by Muslim students at other ecumenical schools.

“Because we are outnumbered, [we are] having the conversation on some-one else’s terms — usually Christians asking us the questions, and us an-swering them. And because there are fewer Muslims, we don’t get to see how diverse, beautiful and intricate our re-ligion is. In so many cases, Muslims are aware of basic things like Chris-tian religious practices, holidays, and

so on. We live in a world where Chris-tianity is the norm — and Islam is seen as the other.”

She added that the other “obvious challenge is the set of dangerous ste-reotypes that exist for Muslims. … Countering those constantly — always being on guard to challenge stereo-types and always feeling like I have to educate others — can sometimes be overwhelming and exhausting.”

The Rev. Michael Kinnamon, visit-ing professor of ecumenical and in-terfaith studies at Seattle University’s School of Theology and Ministry, is keenly aware of the ways that societal structures can impact and shape indi-viduals as well as communities.

“Studying together is only part of the story. For the sake of individual stu-dents, it’s also about changing relation-ships.” He called this “a key component of self-identity and an important step to changing the cultural climate.”

To this end, efforts have been under-way at Seattle University to promote in-terfaith encounters through curriculum updates, interfaith dialogue groups, and community gatherings. An introductory class about the Quran will be offered to students for the first time this fall, and a Feb. 5 event titled “If our faiths teach love, why do we hate?” featured panelists from four faith traditions.

According to Michael Trice, assis-tant dean of ecumenical and interreli-gious dialogue at the School of Theol-ogy and Ministry, such encounters are “bridges across a sea of pluralism” and an essential part of theological education.

The needs for bridges underlies Arain’s words: “In some ways, my ul-timate hope is a utopia: a world that has gone through a process of healing from violence and destruction, that has restored relationships that have been torn through centuries of colo-nial conquest and appropriation of land, resources, culture, and one that has eliminated evils like genocide and poverty. … But I have some simpler hopes until then — that we as a com-munity can build a model of real inter-religious engagement.”

[Freelance writer Julie Gunter is a student

in pastoral studies at Seattle University’s

School of Theology and Ministry.]

—Kurt Lorenz

Qasim Hatem on the Seattle University campus

Programs

Doctor of Philosophy in Contemporary Spirituality

A full-time residential program designed to give each student the tools to

assess religious experience, critically evaluate contemporary movements within

spirituality, help mentor others spiritually, do scholarly research and publishing

Doctor of Ministry in Spirituality and Ministry

A full-time residential program focused on enhancing the understanding

and practice of ministry through exploration of traditional and contemporary

movementsin Christian spirituality

Master of Arts in Spirituality Both full-time and part-time, in residence or on-line

Continuing Education Oblate’s full-time and affiliated faculty offer short courses, seminars, workshops,

and lectures year round. Visiting faculty and resource persons are also invited to

make presentations about vital issues and promising new research

Learn more by contacting: Wayne Cavalier wcavalier@ost.edu

John Markey jmarkey@ost.edu

Cliff Knighten cknighten@ost.edu

The Institute for the Study of

at Oblate School of Theology

The Institute for the Study of Contemporary Spirituality at Oblate School of Theology is the only concentrated, integrative program of its kind in the United States offering ATS accredited PhD, DMin, and MA degrees in Contemporary Spirituality.