Human Rights and Religion

Speakers:

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Founder of the Art of Living Foundation and the International Association for Human Values – the largest volunteer-run humanitarian non-profit organizations in the world. http://www.srisri.org. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is a renowned spiritual leader and humanitarian whose mission of uniting the world into a violence-free global family has inspired millions the world over. An icon of non-violence, human values and universal brotherhood, he seeks global peace through service and fostering human values. Born in 1956 in southern India, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s appeal cuts across all barriers of class, race, religion and nationality. Millions of Hindus respect Sri Sri Ravi Shankar as their religious and spiritual leader, while people of other faiths look up to him for inner peace and promoting ecumenical values. After Mahatma Gandhi, it is Sri Sri Ravi Shankar who has succeeded in uniting people of different traditions into a spiritual communion throughout the length and breadth of India. As a child, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar was often found deep in meditation and at the age of four, he surprised his parents by reciting the Bhagavad Gita. By the age of 17, he had obtained an advanced degree in modern science and later received honorary doctorates from the Kuvempu University, India for his contribution to Indian Literature and the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, India for his contributions to Ayurvedic science. In 2006, Open International University for Complementary Medicine, Sri Lanka conferred the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Holistic Medicine upon him. In 1981, he started the Art of Living Foundation, an international nonprofit educational and humanitarian organization with a presence in over 140 countries. Its educational and self-development programs offer powerful tools to eliminate stress and foster a sense of wellbeing. In Europe and the United States, the Foundation’s programs are helping youth in inner cities turn away from gang violence, drugs and alcohol, toward service. In 1997, he founded the International Association for Human Values, a humanitarian Non-Governmental Organization that advances human values in political, economic, industrial, and social spheres. In India, South Africa, and Latin America, the Association is working in poor rural communities to promote sustainable growth, and has reached more than 30,000 villages. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s prison programs have helped transform the lives of more than 150,000 inmates around the world. Through personal interactions, teachings and humanitarian initiatives, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has reached out to an estimated 300 million people worldwide. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has revived ancient techniques that were traditionally kept exclusive, and made them available to the world. A leading figure in human development and social transformation, he is a multifaceted social activist whose initiatives include conflict resolution, disaster and trauma relief, prisoner rehabilitation programs, youth leadership, women’s empowerment, campaigns against female foeticide and child labor, and education for all. In Kashmir and Sri Lanka, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is working to further dialogue between opposing parties to resolve the conflicts peacefully. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar travels to more than 40 countries a year to share his message that all the great spiritual traditions share common goals and values. He inspires leaders to balance business with ethics and social responsibility. His teachings of love, practical wisdom, and service promote harmony among people, and encourage individuals to follow their chosen spiritual path, while honoring the path of others. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is the recipient of numerous honors including the Order of the Pole Star, the top civilian and military honor of the government of the Republic of Mongolia (August, 2006), The World Peace Prize 2006 by World Peace Centre, India, the “Peter the Great First Grade Medal of Honor” from the Russian Federation in 2006, “2005 Global Humanitarian Award” by the state of Illinois, “Guru Mahatmya” award by Government of Maharashtra, India (September 1997), the title of “Yoga Shiromani (Supreme Jewel of Yoga)” by President of India (1986), Phoenix Award awarded by the Mayor of Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A. (April 2002), the Title of the Illustrious Visitor, Argentina (2004) amongst many other honors. Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane Retired Archbishop of Cape Town, South Africa and President and Founder of African Monitor Winston Hugh Njongonkulu Ndungane was born in Kokstad, South Africa on the 2nd April 1941. He graduated from Lovedale High School, Alice, in December 1958. During March 1960 he was involved in anti-Pass Law Demonstrations while a student at the University of Cape Town, this encouraged an increased interest in politics which resulted in his eventual arrest under apartheid law. From August 1963 to August 1966 he served a three-year sentence on Robben Island as a political prisoner. While in prison, Njongonkulu decided to enter the church. He was ordained as a priest of the Anglican Church in July 1974 in the Diocese of Cape Town. He received a Bachelor of Divinity, Honours degree at King’s College, London, becoming an associate of King’s College in June 1978. In June 1979 he completed his Master of Theology degree in Christian Ethics, also at King’s College. From January 1985 to December 1986 he was Principal of St Bede’s Theological College in Umtata and in September 1981 he became the Provincial Liaison Officer for the Church of the Province of Southern Africa (now the Anglican Church of Southern Africa). From January 1987 to June 1991 he was the Provincial Executive Officer, and in September 1991 he was consecrated Bishop of Kimberley and Kuruman. In September 1996 he became Archbishop of Cape Town. He has been awarded several honorary degrees including Dr of Divinity from Rhodes University, Grahamstown, from the Protestant Episcopal Seminary, Virginia, and from Episcopal Divinity School, Dr of Humane Letters from Worcester State College, Massachusetts, Dr of Philosophy from the University of Cape Town and Dr of Theology from the University of Stellenbosch. The University of South Africa awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Literature and Philosophy in June 2008. Archbishop Ndungane has written many essays and made numerous contributions to books. His own book, A World With A Human Face: A Voice From Africa, part-autobiography and part-record of some speeches and sermons, was published in 2003. He has also recently written substantial articles calling for the Anglican Communion to hold fast to the authentic faith of its rich heritage, found in Scripture, reason and tradition, of which a considerable diversity has always been a part. The Archbishop has been deeply involved in campaigns to abolish debt, combat poverty, tackle HIV/AIDS and promote the Millennium Development Goals. He speaks widely on these issues as well as on rebuilding the new South Africa and theological questions. In 2005, together with Kofi Annan and Jeffrey Sachs, he was a speaker in the St Paul’s Cathedral, London, series on poverty, ‘What can one person do?’ In 2006 he launched African Monitor, a pan-African not-for-profit body harnessing the voice of the continent’s civil society in monitoring and promoting the effective implementation of promises made by the international community, and Africa’s own governments, for the continent’s development. Also during 2006, Archbishop Ndungane was appointed ‘Champion’ – by Minister of Arts and Culture, Dr Pallo Jordan – of an initiative aimed at transforming historically significant and under-resourced schools in South Africa into sustainable and aspirational centres of cultural and educational excellence. This initiative is called the Historic Schools Restoration Project. Njongonkulu Ndungane retired as Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town at the end of 2007 but continues his work on African Monitor and the Historic Schools Restoration Project for the foreseeable future. Archbishop Ndungane continues to be recognised for his dedication and was bestowed the Order of the Grand Counsellor of the Baobab: Silver by President Thabo Mbeki in April 2008, who cited his excellent contribution to the struggle against apartheid and striving for a world free of wars, poverty and inequality. MJ Akbar Journalist, author, editor and public intellectual. Mobashar Jawed (M.J.) Akbar is founder and Editor-in-Chief of The Asian Age, India’s first global newspaper. He founded a series of publications that became nationwide success stories, including Sunday, the weekly newsmagazine and The Telegraph, called India’s first modern daily newspaper. Akbar is also author of several books including The Siege Within: Challenges to India’s Unity; Nehru: The Making of India; Kashmir: Behind the Vale; The Shade of Swords and Blood Brothers all of which have been published to international acclaim. In addition, he served as a member of India’s Parliament and as an advisor in the Ministry of Human Resources. He holds a B.A. in English from Presidency College, Calcutta. M.J. Akbar Joined the Times of India in 1971 as a trainee. Within a few months he moved to the Illustrated Weekly of India, then India’s largest selling magazine, as sub-editor and feature writer. In 1976 he moved to Calcutta to join the Ananda Bazar Patrika Group as editor of Sunday, India’s first genuine political weekly. Within just three years of its launch, the investigative reporting pioneered by the magazine established its national circulation and number one position. The magazine took an uncompromising stand against the Emergency, and fought press censorship and dictatorship. Sunday not only established major trends in journalism but also spawned a new generation of journalists in the country. In 1982 after the success of Sunday, he launched what would be called India’s first modern newspaper. He conceived, designed and edited the daily newspaper, The Telegraph, which had a major impact on newspaper journalism in India. In 1989, he left journalism for a brief stint in politics. He contested the general elections of 1989 from Kishanganj in Bihar on the Congress ticket, and despite the fact that the Congress was wiped out from the political map of the state, won his seat. He served in Lok Sabha (Parliament) from 1989 and 1991. In 1991 Akbar joined Government as an advisor in the Ministry of Human Resources, and helped policy planning in the key areas of education, the National Literacy Mission and protection of heritage. He resigned from government and left politics in December 1992, and returned to journalism and full time writing. In 1993, he started a new media company with the aim of creating India’s first newspaper for both the domestic and international market. It appeared in February, 1994 called The Asian Age; it was launched with initial editions in Delhi, Bombay, and London, and has now grown, in collaboration with the Deccan Chronicle, to eight editions, a major media presence nationally and internationally. He is also Editor-in-Chief of the Deccan Chronicle. In 2005, he was invited by King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz Al – Saud, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques to become a member of the Forum of Islamic Scholars and Intellectuals, held in Makkah al- Mukarammah. He was also Elected President, Mohammedan Sporting Club, one of the country’s oldest football clubs in 2006. In 2007, Akbar was named Non Resident Senior Fellow in the Foreign Policy Studies Program at The Brookings Institution, Washington where he previously served as a Visiting Fellow, on the Brookings Project on U.S. Policy Towards the Islamic World. In May of this year, Akbar launched Covert, a political based fortnight magazine. He currently serves as the Chairman and Director of Publications. Zahid Bukhari Director, American Muslim Studies Program (AMSP) at the Prince Alwaleed Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, Georgetown University. Dr. Zahid H. Bukhari is currently working as Director of the American Muslim Studies Program (AMSP) at the Prince Alwaleed Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, Georgetown University, Washington, DC. From 1999-2004, he also worked as Director of Project MAPS: Muslims in American Public Square, which examined the role and contribution of the Muslim community to the American public life. The Pew Charitable Trusts awarded a grant of $1.25 million for this purpose. Dr. Bukhari is also serving as Executive Director of the Center for Islam and Public Policy (CIPP). Dr. Bukhari’s research interests focus on religion and politics in the United States and South Asia. He has a vast experience in all aspects of survey research. From 1978-1983, he worked as executive director of the Pakistan Institute of Public Opinion (PIPO), Islamabad, a member of Gallup International. He has published and presented papers on Islam and development, Muslim public opinion in the US and other related topics in national and international forums. He is also editor of two volumes of the Project MAPS: Muslims’ Place in the American Public Square: Fears, Hopes and Aspirations and Muslim in America: Engaging Polity and Society in Post 9/11 Era (forthcoming). Dr. Bukhari has a Masters in Economics from the University of Karachi and Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Connecticut. David Coppola Associate Executive Director of the Center for Christian-Jewish Understanding (CCJU), Sacred Heart University. Dr. David L. Coppola, Ph.D Dr. Coppola is the Assistant Vice President of Administration and the Associate Executive Director of the Center for Christian-Jewish Understanding (CCJU) of Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Connecticut, since 1998. He teaches at Sacred Heart in the departments of Religious Studies and Education, and at Fordham University, New York, in the Graduate Schools of Education and Religion. As Assistant Vice President, Dr. Coppola leads in strategic program development and review, the implementation of the University’s Master Space Plan, and the administration of the buildings and grounds, campus operations, and construction and renovation projects. As Associate Executive Director of the CCJU, Dr. Coppola is responsible for overseeing the planning and implementation of conferences and programs sponsored by the CCJU, managing the operations and budget of the Center, and the planning and production of all printed and electronic communications. In this capacity, he has facilitated international conferences including those in Canada, Germany, Israel, Italy, and Poland, as well as presented at dozens of forums in the United States. His responsibilities for managing the publications of the Center include the CCJU Newsletter, articles, monographs and the Center’s website (www.ccju.org) which hosts thousands of articles and links. Dr. Coppola received his Ph.D. from Fordham University and wrote his dissertation on moral leadership in schools. He edits the semi-annual periodical CCJU Perspective, is a frequent Consulting Editor for the Sacred Heart University Review, and writes on education, religion, leadership and youth issues. Representative publications include: “Then and Now: 10 Advances in Christian-Jewish Understanding Since Nostra Aetate” (1999), With My Last Breath Let Me See Jerusalem: Memoirs of Holocaust Survivor Leo Neuman (2000), Religion and Violence, Religion and Peace, editor with Joseph H. Ehrenkranz (2001), a book review on Papal Sin: Structures of Deceit by Gary Wills, in Catholic Education Journal (March, 2002), Religion, Violence and Peace, Continuing Conversations (2004), and What Do We Want the Other to Teach About Us? (2006). A teacher and crisis intervention counselor of elementary and high school students for more than 25 years, Dr. Coppola has spoken at hundreds of workshops and days of renewal for teachers, church groups and young people. He has served as a parish Director of Religious Education and also as a youth consultant to YMCA groups, churches, and diocesan youth offices in the Northeast. More recently, his focus has been on developing programs to educate young religious leaders of the Abrahamic faiths. T. Jeremy Gunn Director of the ACLU’s Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief. Dr. T. Jeremy Gunn Dr. T. Jeremy Gunn is the Director of the ACLU’s Program on Religion and Belief and Senior Fellow for Religion and Human Rights at the Center for the Study of Law and Religion at Emory University School of Law. The ACLU’s Program on Freedom of Religion was founded to help promote the American Constitutional value of freedom of religious opinion and contributes to the ACLU’s vital mission to protect the Bill of Rights and the U.S. Constitution. Dr. Gunn received his Ph.D. in Religion and Society from Harvard University in 1991, and holds a J.D. from Boston University, where he graduated magna cum laude in 1987. He earned his M.A. in Humanities at the University of Chicago and his B.A. in International Relations and Humanities at Brigham Young University where he received high honors with distinction. Dr. Gunn has served as Senior Associate at the Washington-based Institute for Global Engagement. He is a member of the Panel of Experts on Freedom of Religion and Belief, Office of Democratic Institutions and Human Rights of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, working on behalf of evangelical Christians and other religious minorities. He was an attorney at the law firm Covington & Burling, after which he held several positions in the U.S. government, including at the U.S. Department of State where he served as Director of Research and Deputy General Counsel, U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. He also spent four years at the John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Review Board as General Counsel and Executive Director. The Board declassified records related to the assassination of President Kennedy. He was a Senior Fellow at the U.S. Institute of Peace in 1998-99. In 2004, he was a Visiting Professor at the law faculty of the Université d’Aix-Marseille III in France and also has taught courses at Universität Trier in Germany and the Université de Tunis in Tunisia. In 2005, he was a Visiting Professor in the Political Science Faculty at Université Laval in Québec, Canada, and in 2006 at the program on Religion and Law at the University of Siena. His doctoral dissertation on the historical origins of the Establishment Clause of the Constitution was published as A Standard for Repair: The Establishment Clause, Equality, and Natural Rights (1992). Among his other books and articles is the recent “Religious Liberty (Modern Period),” in the Encyclopedia of Christianity (2005) and the forthcoming “Religious Symbols and Religious Liberty in American Public Life,” in the Oxford Handbook on Church and State in the United States. Rosalind I. J. Hackett Distinguished Professor of Religious Studies, University of Tennessee. Dr. Rosalind I. J. Hackett Rosalind I. J. Hackett is Professor in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. She is also an adjunct faculty in Anthropology and at the Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy. She taught in Nigerian universities from 1975-1983, while conducting fieldwork. Her graduate degrees are from the University of London (M.Phil. in History and Philosophy of Religion) and from the University of Aberdeen (Ph.D. Religious Studies). As an undergraduate, she was a French major at the University of Leeds, before ‘converting’ to the academic study of religion. As a specialist on the religions of Africa, she has published widely on new religious movements in Africa (New Religious Movements in Nigeria, ed. 1987), religious pluralism (Religion in Calabar, 1989), art (Art and Religion in Africa, 1996), and religion in relation to human rights (Religious Persecution as a U.S. Policy Issue, co-ed., 1999). Her latest publication is Proselytization Revisited: Rights Talk, Free Markets, and Culture Wars (edited, London: Equinox, 2008), and a co-edited work (with James Smith), Religious Dimensions of Conflict and Peace in a Neoliberal Africa (Univ. of Notre Dame Press) is under review. She is bringing to completion Nigeria: Religion in the Balance (US Institute of Peace). Her future research plans include a monograph on religious regulation in Africa and a co-edited work on religious media in Africa. Rosalind lectures widely in the U.S. and around the world. She has recently held fellowships at Harvard University (2000-01) and the University of Notre Dame, where she was Rockefeller Visiting Fellow at the Joan B. Kroc Institute of International Peace Studies from 2003-04. Rosalind enjoys teaching courses in African religions; anthropology of religion; religion, media, and culture; religion, violence, conflict and peace; comparative religion; religion and human rights; new religious movements; as well as method and theory in the study of religion. She directs her extra-curricular energies on campus to the African Student Association, the Amnesty International chapter, and helping promote international and intercultural perspectives and connections. She is currently President of the International Association for the History of Religions (from 2005-10), for which she travels extensively. She is frequently consulted by government, development, and media organizations on religious conflict in Nigeria, the war and its aftermath in Northern Uganda, and the rise of Pentecostalism in Africa and beyond. She is the founder and coordinator of the Knoxville-based Jazz for Justice Project, which helps support the work of Northern Ugandans seeking to rebuild their war-torn society, especially through the use of music and the arts. Madhu Kishwar Founder, Manushi Citizen’s Rights Forum and Senior Fellow at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies in New Delhi, India. Dr. Madhu Kishwar Kishwar is currently Senior Fellow at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) in New Delhi, India. She is Director of the Indic Studies Project based at CSDS and Convener of a series of International Conferences on “Religions and Cultures in the Indic Civilization”. She has been a Fellow and Lecturer at numerous international organisations and for the past two and a half decades has campaigned tirelessly on political, economic and social issues in India. Kishwar is the founder and editor of “Manushi: a journal on women and society”. The Journal, run by a non-profit Trust, attempts to bridge the gap between academia and activism. It is widely read by social activists, academics, and a whole range of concerned citizens, including Non Resident Indians. The web edition is available at http://www.manushi-india.org. Kishwar is one of India’s foremost thinkers in the arena of women’s rights, social justice, collective responsibility and perspectives on social change. As an activist scholar, Kishwar advocates the politics of engagement. She has made prolific editorial contributions to Manushi since its inception in 1979, and her work has appeared in several anthologies. Her writing is appreciated worldwide for its incisiveness and thought-provoking, challenging quality, and she is an invigorating speaker. She has authored or edited numerous books, including Zealous Reformers: Deadly Law, and she has also produced numerous documentaries, including “License Permit Raj”, a study of street vendors and rickshaw pullers in Delhi. Kishwar is also Founder and President of Manushi Sangathan, a forum for research based activist interventions. It works for democratic reforms that promote greater social justice and strengthen human rights, especially for women. The Sangathan endeavours to go beyond offering critiques and suggestions for reform to actually testing strategies that provide viable and worthwhile solutions to the various problems confronting India today – such as denial of inheritance rights to women, religion and ethnic conflicts, and livelihood rights of the self employed poor. Kishwar’s work with Manushi Sangathan includes: Carrying out investigations on violations of human rights of minority communities and right to livelihood of vulnerable communities and occupational groups; advocacy for policy and legal reform to free the livelihoods of the self employed poor from harmful statist controls; provide legal aid for women, including Public Interest Litigation on behalf of vulnerable individuals and groups; making documentary films as part of advocacy campaigns on issues that require serious policy reform; and ground level research on the gap between the intent and actual impact of various laws enacted for women’s rights and propose workable laws and policy reform for strengthening women’s rights. In the last ten years much of her work has centered on issues relating to Laws, Liberty and Livelihoods. She is presently involved in both investigative research as well as activist interventions for policy reform aimed at freeing the livelihoods of two of the largest groups of urban self employed poor—namely street vendors and cycle rickshaw pullers — from needless and harmful bureaucratic controls that make them vulnerable to human rights abuses and extortionist mafias. At the moment the main focus of her work with Manushi and CSDS is evolving a comprehensive agenda of pro poor economic reforms.