Can Faith Help Unite Us in Divided Times?
Setup
To many Americans, Christianity and Islam are on a collision course — one of the many fissures that are pulling our nation apart. But instead of being implements of division, could these faiths play a role in national healing? As Muslims are targeted with travel bans and menacing public displays of Islamophobia, what obligations do Christians have to them, and why? Could these faiths set examples for empathy, respect, and even finding common ground? Are there certain shared values that all people of faith might recognize in each other? With regard to how they teach us to interact with others — even those whose actions or ideas are different from our own — do the lessons of each faith compare?
- 2017 Festival
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Education
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In “Mindset Matters,” Daniel R. Porterfield advances the argument for the value of undergraduate education and suggests ways to improve education for new generations. Three co...
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Academia is beset by challenges related to free speech, admission policies, donor pressures and soaring costs. University leaders are simultaneously negotiating these minefiel...
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Structural racism, reflected in uneven access to care, inequitable community conditions, and the wealth gap, drives persisting racial disparities in health. Unconscionable dif...
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Mental health crises are plaguing Americans. Despite parity mandates that require mental health services to be reimbursed like any other medical service, clinician shortages,...
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The Broadway musical “How to Dance in Ohio” is the true story of a group of young people with autism preparing for a formal dance. Based on a documentary of the same name, the...
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Katharine Hayhoe is an atmospheric scientist and Chief Scientist for The Nature Conservancy. Ahead of Aspen Ideas: Climate next week, we caught up with Dr. Hayhoe to discuss t...
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Shakespeare is ubiquitous in literature classes and theater, but the avenues of relating to his work are not always clear to young people and modern audiences. Some, such as S...
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When Sal Khan created Khan Academy, he was trying to scale up the successful experiences he’d had tutoring his cousins one-on-one in math. He saw how effective it could be for...
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Do American universities have an obligation to educate their students to be the next generation of citizens and civic leaders? What does it mean for a university “to offer stu...
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At a moment when decades of academic achievement have been lost, can we amplify the benefits of A.I. equally across society, or will we allow a deeper digital divide to leave...
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Digital skills open doors to jobs in tech, media, and across all industries. Connecting diverse students and workers with the education and training needed for the 92% of toda...
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As members of the Giving Pledge, Melanie and Richard Lundquist have given more than $400 million over the past decade to critical causes ranging from educational opportunity t...
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With students learning in more places and different ways than we have ever seen, the pace of change in education is dizzying. Join our panel of education experts in a discussi...
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Why is there resistance to the idea that public funds should be used for art? What does it mean for the stewardship of cultural and educational organizations and the support o...
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The desire to try and stop people from reading certain printed material has been around since material was first printed. In the modern era, book banning has waxed and waned i...
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Today's kids are coming of age against a backdrop of political, social, technological, and economic upheaval. While these circumstances are shaping a precocious generation tha...
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Parents have always cared about what their kids are learning in school, but education debates have become particularly explosive in the U.S. in the last couple of years. All o...