As part of the collaboration between the Royal Institute for Inter-Faith Studies and the Department of Religious Studies at Al-Bayt University, the Royal Institute organised a discussion seminar for a number of students from the university’s Department of Religious Studies. The seminar addressed the importance of the study of religions and its impact on awareness and society.
Dr. Ismael Ghananim, senior researcher at the Royal Institute, started the session by providing an overview of the Institute’s activities and programmes. This was followed by a presentation by Dr. Amer Al-Hafi, The Institute’s Academic Adviser, who outlined the seminar’s topics and welcomed the speakers. The seminar included a distinguished contribution from Dr. Pauls Heck, a lecturer at Georgetown University in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies, where he spoke about the positive impact of understanding religions and openness to the commonalities that unite religions in promoting awareness and social coexistence. Dr. Ibrahim Al-Barqan, Professor of Islamic Theology at the University of Jordan, also discussed the importance of being open to different beliefs and its impact on building bridges of understanding with the students.
This was followed by a cultural field trip to visit religious sites and the Mosaic Institute in Madaba, in which the students had the chance to learn about the site’s historical significance as one of the Christian pilgrimage routes, as well as its spiritual and faith-based significance, in addition to explore the history of the mosaic’s art and its development.