Jay Phillips Center News

September 18, 2017

On Sept 15, 2017, the Jay Phillips Center for Interfaith Learning at the University of St. Thomas hosted a private panel of local faith and interfaith leaders who spoke on “Instilling Faith and Interfaith Understanding.” The event was organized and sponsored by the East-West Center, an independent public non-profit organization, with headquarters in Honolulu and Washington, D.C., that “promotes better relations and understanding among the people and nations of the United States, Asia, and the Pacific through cooperative study, research, and dialogue.”

The panel audience was made up of 12 senior international journalists from Australia, India, Indonesia, Kuwait, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Tunisia, and the United States. These journalists make up a cohort for the East-West Center’s 2017 Senior Journalists Seminar taking place September 6 – 29, 2017 with travel to Washington, D.C.; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Manila and Cotabato City, Philippines, and Rabat, Morocco. The Senior Journalists Seminar is an immersive 21-day dialogue, study, and travel program intended to enhance media coverage and elevate the public debate regarding identity and religion’s role in and resulting impact on the public sphere, specifically as it concerns U.S. relations with Muslim majority regions.

While in Minneapolis, the group met with religious and interfaith leaders, artists, public officials, members of the media, and law enforcement to experientially explore America’s multicultural and multi-religious society, the experiences of religious communities, interfaith initiatives, and how cultural and religious identity, experience, and diversity is expressed in the visual, performing, and media arts. Additionally, the journalists examine the political, military, and cultural engagement of American Muslims.

This panel, titled “Instilling Faith and Interfaith Understanding,” addressed the religious landscape of Minnesota and Minneapolis and how different religious communities in the area communicate and partner to educate the public, political leaders, and law enforcement agencies about religious tolerance. The four panelists were Rev. Dr. Curtiss DeYoung, CEO of Minnesota Council of Churches, Dr. Hans Gustafson, Director of the Jay Phillips Center for Interfaith Learning at the University of St. Thomas and adjunct professor in the College of Arts and Sciences, Randi Ilyse Roth, Executive Director of Interfaith Action of St. Paul, and Imam Dr. Tamim Saidi, Imam at Northwest Islamic Community Center and board member of Islamic Resource Group.

| August 1, 2017

In July of this year, at the suggestion of Dr. John Merkle and upon the recommendation of UST president Dr. Julie Sullivan and Saint John’s University(SJU) president Dr. Michael Hemesath, the Jay Phillips Center, which was a joint enterprise of UST and SJU through June of this year, was formally divided into two partner centers, one at each university. Dr. Merkle, who directed the center at both campuses for the past eight years, was appointed the director of the Jay Phillips Center for Interfaith Learning at Saint John’s University. Dr. Hans Gustafson, who served as the associate director of the center at both campuses for past six years, was appointed the director of the Jay Phillips Center for Interfaith Learning at the University of St. Thomas. The two centers will maintain a strong collaborative relationship and share the common mission to foster understanding, cooperation, and friendship among people of diverse religious identities through academic study and civic engagement. Click here to read a brief history of the Jay Phillips Center.

March 13, 2017 | Jim Winterer ’71

Dr. Timothy Snyder, the Housum Professor of History at Yale University and author of several award-winning books – including Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin and Black Earth: The Holocaust as History and Warning – will give two lectures in the Twin Cities on Thursday, April 6, one at the University of St. Thomas and another at the University of Minnesota

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March 2, 2017 | St. Thomas Newsroom

Jeannine Hill Fletcher, professor of theology at Fordham University in New York City, will present “The Oneness of God and the Diversity of Religions: A Christian Perspective” at 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 15, in Room 100 (the Great Room) of McNeely Hall on the St. Paul campus of the University of St. Thomas. The lecture, sponsored by the Jay Phillips Center for Interfaith Learning, is free and open to the public. “The earliest Christians experienced the reality of God as creator beyond human comprehension, but they also gave witness to the experience of God in Jesus Christ and the Spirit among them,” Hill Fletcher said.

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January 19, 2017

The Twin Cities Jewish Community Alzheimer’s Task Force presents “Keeping the Spirit Alive,” a conference for caregivers and those supporting a loved one with Dementia. The conference is free and open to people of all faiths or no faith at all. It takes place Sunday, April 30th at Adath Jeshurun Congregation in Minnetonka. It will include keynote addresses from Marc and Deb Grossfield who will share their personal journey as care partners for their father, Stuart, who has been living with dementia for the past sixteen years. Conference participants will have the opportunity to learn from experts and other caregivers about dementia and how to navigate through what can be a difficult time.

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October 28, 2016 St. Thomas Newsroom

Rahuldeep Singh Gill, associate professor of religion and director of the Center for Equality and Justice at California Lutheran University, will present “The Oneness of God and the Diversity of Religions: A Sikh Perspective” on Monday, Nov. 14, at 1:30 p.m. in Room 100 of McNeely Hall on the St. Paul campus of the University of St. Thomas.

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