WOMEN'S INTERFAITH INITIATIVES AFTER 9/11

Gail Katz, Co-Founder of WISDOM, has been invited to be part of Radcliffe Institute seminar on Women’s Interfaith Initiatives After 9/11!!

The Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University is going to be sponsoring the exploratory seminar “Women’s Interfaith Initiatives After 9/11,” which will be led by Diana Eck, Director of the Pluralism Project and Professor of Comparative Religion and Indian Studies, Harvard University Faculty of Arts and Sciences. beginning Friday morning, September 28, 2007 and concluding early afternoon on Saturday, September 29. WISDOM will be one of the featured Women’s Interfaith groups presenting at this seminar. The other groups to present are:

Daughters of Abraham, The Faith Club, Spiritual and Religious Alliance for Hope
(SARAH), and Women Transcending Boundaries (WTB).

Professor Eck has described the seminar as follows:

“Since 9/11, the interfaith movement in the United States has grown exponentially, and women’s leadership has played a critical role. Interfaith organizations and initiatives are often decentralized, removing structural barriers to women’s leadership that exist within many religious institutions. The result is both new forms of women’s religious leadership and new venues for women’s participation in American religious life. Notably, the grassroots, women-led interfaith initiatives that have emerged over the last six years offer a critical alternative to the traditional model for interfaith engagement. This seminar will attempt to explore the import and impact of these initiatives on American religious life ­ specifically on the interfaith movement and the women’s movement. An inter-disciplinary team of scholars will be joined by the founders of these various women’s interfaith initiatives, as well as by faith-based and interfaith practitioners and activists. Their task will be to identify the emerging methodologies and new models at play, and to begin to document the changing shape of American women’s religious leadership.”

Gail is so thrilled to be able to share WISDOM’s history, mission, activities and projected plans. After the seminar, Gail will post what she has learned from the other women’s interfaith groups on the blog. Stay tuned for exciting information!!