Islam and the West: Annual Report on the State of Dialogue

for Religion <strong>and</strong> Diplomacy’s Madrasa Reform Project.
The project has sponsored a series of workshops with
school leaders <strong>and</strong> education officials in Pakistan designed
to help schools move away from rote learning <strong>and</strong> focus
more on reflective learning, practical knowledge <strong>and</strong>
underst<strong>and</strong>ing of o<strong>the</strong>r cultures. “We feel motivated to
think in innovative <strong>and</strong> creative ways,” one workshop
participant noted. “We have started looking at ourselves
<strong>and</strong> our system. We have learned here how to plan things
for a better future.”
“ If religions agree on common
guiding principles – to honour
<strong>the</strong> dignity of all human beings –
<strong>the</strong>n why has <strong>the</strong> face of religion
been disfigured, in <strong>the</strong> modern
age, to represent violence,
corruption, <strong>and</strong> extremism in
<strong>the</strong> eyes of many?”
Peter Bisanz
The presence of <strong>West</strong>ern educational initiatives <strong>and</strong> institutions
in Muslim-majority countries is sometimes welcomed <strong>and</strong>
sometimes controversial. Two of <strong>the</strong> more established
institutions, <strong>the</strong> American University of Beirut <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>
American University in Cairo (AUC), have long fostered
intercultural <strong>and</strong> interreligious underst<strong>and</strong>ing through <strong>the</strong>ir
curricula <strong>and</strong> through an open, critical classroom environment.
O<strong>the</strong>r US sponsored colleges <strong>and</strong> universities have been
created in <strong>the</strong> Middle East over <strong>the</strong> past decade. As this
presence has exp<strong>and</strong>ed, concerns about cultural imperialism
have gone h<strong>and</strong>-in-h<strong>and</strong> with charges that <strong>West</strong>ern
educational institutions cater to wealthy elites in <strong>the</strong> region.
At <strong>the</strong> same time <strong>the</strong> academic excellence of <strong>the</strong>se institutions
<strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir remarkable network of graduates have also
generated widespread admiration.
New scholarship programmes have recently sought to counter
concerns about social stratification. The Public School
Scholarship Program at AUC, supported by <strong>the</strong> US
government <strong>and</strong> Egypt’s Ministry of Higher Education, has
given more than 100 of Egypt’s most talented public school
students from every region of <strong>the</strong> country <strong>the</strong> opportunity
to advance <strong>the</strong>ir education in Cairo. The William J. Clinton
Scholarship Program, apartnershipwith<strong>the</strong>American
University in Dubai, aims explicitly to bridge <strong>the</strong> gap of cultural
underst<strong>and</strong>ing between America <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> Arab world.
In <strong>the</strong> <strong>West</strong>, educational institutions have begun to adapt
to greater cultural <strong>and</strong> religious pluralism, <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> increasing
salience of <strong>Islam</strong> in particular. Primary <strong>and</strong> secondary schools
in Europe <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> United States are devoting more attention
to diverse cultures <strong>and</strong> religious traditions, including <strong>Islam</strong>.
The Three Faiths Forum, aLondon-basedinterfaith
foundation, promotes school programmes involving “scriptural
reasoning” that exemplify efforts to bring religious traditions
into school curricula in ways that encourage deep discussion
of shared values <strong>and</strong> differences. Ano<strong>the</strong>r example is <strong>the</strong>
Australian government’s Values Education <strong>and</strong> Good Practice
in Schools programme. The Tanenbaum Center, based in
New York, has a successful programme devoted to teacher
training for cultural diversity. An ambitious transnational
example of curriculum review is <strong>the</strong> effort of <strong>the</strong> United
World College system, toge<strong>the</strong>r with <strong>the</strong> International
Baccalaureate programme, to maintain educational quality
while adding a more explicit component to ensure competence
<strong>and</strong> creativity in working across different cultures.
At <strong>the</strong> university level, more room is being made in <strong>the</strong>
curriculum for religious <strong>and</strong> cultural pluralism, <strong>and</strong> for <strong>the</strong>
study of <strong>Islam</strong> in particular. The sharp growth in Arabic
courses is particularly striking. In part, this is a response to
real-world developments. Students are eager to acquire
knowledge <strong>and</strong> skills that will serve <strong>the</strong>m well upon
graduation. But <strong>the</strong> trend has been reinforced by philanthropy.
In 2006, for example, Prince Alwaleed bin Talal bin Abdul
Aziz Al Saud made high profile grants to Harvard <strong>and</strong>
Georgetown to support <strong>the</strong> study of <strong>Islam</strong> <strong>and</strong> fur<strong>the</strong>r
interreligious <strong>and</strong> intercultural underst<strong>and</strong>ing. Ano<strong>the</strong>r
example was <strong>the</strong> establishment in 2007 of <strong>the</strong> Fethullah
Gülen Chair at <strong>the</strong> Australian Catholic University. The
chair is to foster Muslim-Catholic dialogue within Australia
<strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> Asia-Pacific region, <strong>and</strong> support <strong>the</strong> efforts of <strong>the</strong>
<strong>Islam</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>West</strong>: <strong>Annual</strong> <strong>Report</strong> on <strong>the</strong> State of Dialogue Education <strong>and</strong> Intercultural Underst<strong>and</strong>ing
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