The School of Theology and Ministry at Seattle University and the American Jewish Committee of Seattle host critical interfaith events on May 13-14, 2009

 On May 13 at noon, the School of Theology and Ministry (STM) will host an invitation-only luncheon for friends of interfaith work. The location is the Casey Building, Room 516, on the Seattle University campus. The luncheon speaker will be Dr. Eboo Patel, founder and executive director of the International Youth Core, a Chicago-based international nonprofit working to build mutual respect among religiously diverse young people. Dr. Patel was recently appointed by President Obama to the Advisory Council of the White House Office of Faith Based and Neighborhood Initiatives. Dr. Patel was also recently selected to join the Young Global Leaders network of the World Economic Forum. He is a graduate of Oxford University where his doctorate was in the sociology of religion. He studied on a Rhodes scholarship. Dr. Patel is author of Acts of Faith: The Story of an American Muslim, the Struggle for the Soul of a Generation.

On May 13 at 2:00, following the luncheon, there will be a press roundtable with Dr. Patel and three UNESCO* chairs: Professors Joseph Yacoub, from the Catholic University of Lyon, France, Professor Dimitri Spivak from St. Petersburg, Russia and Basilius Groen from the University of Graz in Austria.

On May 13 at 7:00 pm, Dr. Patel is the keynote speaker for the 2009 Student Human Relations Awards Ceremony, hosted by the American Jewish Committee (AJC) of Seattle. This event is at Sodo Park from 7:00 to 9:00 pm.

Immediately prior to these events, from May 8 - 11, 2009, the Center for Intercultural Dialogue, with the support of the University of Oregon, will host the first-ever meeting on U.S. soil of the UNESCO Chairs from the UNITWIN network on inter-religious dialogue for intercultural understanding. UNITWIN is the abbreviation for UNESCO’s university twinning and networking system. Chairs from Austria, France, Georgia, Israel, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Moldova, Russia, Romania, Tajikistan, the UK and Uzbekistan will attend the conference.

Three of the UNESCO directors, from Russia, Austria and France, are traveling from the meeting in Eugene, Oregon for the May 13 luncheon, courtesy of Anil Singh- Molarles, director of Compassionate Action Network.

On May 14, at 7:30 am, STM will host a breakfast of interfaith leaders from across the region in Room 160 of the Seattle University Student Center. One critically important mandate for the UNESCO chairs is to engage people around the world working at the grass roots level to effect dialogue―both intercultural and inter-religious. The breakfast is intended to help facilitate this mandate. Members of the press are invited to this event as well.

*United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization