The Center for Interfaith Dialogue at the University of Wisconsin will host a opening reception at the Pyle Center Thursday at 4:30 p.m.
Led by Ulrich Rosenhagen, the new center – which replaced the Center for Religion and Global Citizenship this summer – goals providing students with resources and programs on religious and spiritual diversity, identity, literacy, spiritual well-being and engagement, according to the center’s website.
The CID works with the ideology that every person has some form of core beliefs, whether religious or not, and that those beliefs are part of their identity, Rosenhagen said.
“Religion is an essential aspect of everyone’s identity, or if you’re not religious, then you have to say something about your core beliefs,” Rosenhagen said. “There is a certain kind of faith that is not based on what people call the divine or the sacred, but you still have to have core beliefs around a certain kind of faith, and that is part of your identify. »
Rosenhagen first proposed the creation of the center to Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Lori Reesor before the pandemic. But the center’s vision and framework for its purpose on campus didn’t fully develop until July 2022 and didn’t secure funding from the Office of Student Affairs until June 2023, Rosenhagen said.
At that time, Rosenhagen and his colleagues were able establish the Center for Interfaith Dialogue at the Pyle Center on Langdon Street, replacing the pre-existing Center for Religion and Global Citizenship.
The center’s programming will revolve around the idea that the world is not black and white but rather very diverse and that there must be a place where people of different cultures and identities can find common ground. agreement, Rosenhagen said.
The CID will host events and programs throughout the year, including Chabad and Iftar services for the Jewish and Muslim communities, through collaboration with the UW. Hillel and the Muslim Students Association on campus, Rosenhagen said.
Through the CID, Rosenhagen wants to bring together the UW’s religious and non-religious communities, where students can form meaningful and cohesive relationships with people of different perspectives and core beliefs.
For a complete guide to the Center for Interfaith Dialogue’s calendar of events, visit their website.
Editor’s note: This article has been updated to correct a hyperlink to the Center for Interfaith Dialogue website.
