Advancing Interreligious Studies: Interactive Workshop

This presentation opens a conversation about the evolving landscape of Interreligious Studies (IRS) within the broader taxonomy of the study of religion by asking about its inter- and multidisciplinary nature. How is IRS related to Religious Studies (RS), theological studies, Jewish studies, Islamic studies, and other fields beyond those represented in the AAR? This paper initiates a critical discussion on the academic classification or home of IRS and its relationship to other fields. By likening IRS to RS as ecology to biology, a thought experiment is opened – one that welcomes rigorous critical feedback – to examine IRS's roles, methods, pitfalls, and interdisciplinary potential. The session invites diverse scholarly insights to workshop IRS's academic positioning and identify gaps in scholarship to further enhance the field's future.

This paper explores the impact of physical spaces on interreligious dialogue by analyzing key works in interreligious studies from the last five years. While cognitive concepts like 'third spaces' and 'sacred space' have garnered significant attention, the actual physical venues of interreligious meetings has received less attention. The paper will investigate how issues of neutrality, inclusivity, and exclusivity manifest in recent literature on meeting spaces. This entails examining each work from an array of perspectives on the topic, including religious perspectives on spaces of other faiths and secular venues, as well as considering intersecting factors such as gender, class, race, and sexuality. Additionally, it explores emerging thoughts on the nature of supposedly neutral spaces. The paper aims to uncover emerging trends and theoretical frameworks while identifying unresolved issues. A brief comparison between theoretical discourse and practical examples will be included to assess the alignment between academic literature and current practices.

In the Western world, we are witnessing the emergence of hybrid forms of religiosity; individuals who do not identify or belong to one religious tradition but identify with or combine elements from multiple religious traditions. Research has shown that people with a multiple religious belonging comprise as much as 24% of the population in the Netherlands, making it one of the largest religious minorities in the country. The word “belonging” has strong emotional connotations. The occurrence of people with a multiple religious belonging, a hybrid religious practice or a multi-religious identity invites us, scholars of religion, to reimagine religious belonging beyond a common understanding of “belonging to a religion”. The multiplicity of religious beliefs and practices to which individuals connect creates a new framework in which individuals experience a sense of rhizomatic belonging, which is both beyond religious traditions.

This paper will explore the non-violent, interreligious nature of the resistance during the 26-day occupation of the H.E.W. Building in 1977. Since the occupation took place over Easter and Passover, many of the activists celebrated their religious holidays in the building. Many of the organizers, such as Daniel Billups, drew on their own religious practices to lead and sustain the occupation. I will argue that the constraints of the occupation necessitated that these religious practices were interreligious and led to inter-riting among the occupants.

Using archival material from The Healing Community, an interfaith disability rights organization, newspaper articles covering the occupation, and memoirs from key disability activists, I will show that interreligious practice and inter-riting sustained the occupation through non-violent methods. This occupation can expand our notions about where interreligious ritual participation takes place and question the “host and guest” framework of interreligious practices.