Spring 2019 Interfaith Dinner Dialogue Series Begins Jan. 22 with Discussion on Trevor Noah’s ‘Born A Crime’

An in-depth discussion of Trevor Noah’s “Born A Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood” will kick off the University’s spring 2019 Interfaith Dialogue Dinner Series, “Common and Diverse Ground: Raising Consciousnesses by Acknowledging the ‘Hidden’ Things that Divide Us,” on Tuesday, Jan. 22.

The dialogue, on “Can Anyone Be Born a Crime?” will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Noble Room of Hendricks Chapel. The two-hour gathering will include a shared meal (begins at 5:30 p.m.), facilitated dialogue and two times of mindful meditation (at the beginning and the end). The dialogue will be co-facilitated by chaplains, staff and students.

The Interfaith Dialogue Dinner Series is free and open to the public. No R.S.V.P. is necessary. American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation and inclusive food will be provided. Requests for accommodations or food queries should be made in advance by contacting chapel@syr.edu.

The discussion will explore Noah’s book through the lenses of religion and spirituality, identity and belonging, and connections between South Africa and the United States. Noah will be the keynote speaker for the University’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration, “The Global Impact of Civil Rights,” which will be held on Sunday, Jan. 27, at 7 p.m. in the Carrier Dome.

“The Interfaith Dinner Dialogue Series is intended to be a direct expression of Syracuse University’s commitment to fostering and supporting an inclusive, accessible campus community of opportunity for a richly diverse student body. To host a discussion of Trevor Noah’s book just days before he visits our campus is quite exciting, and the entire 2019 Spring Series will provide meaningful and memorable learning for all participants,” says the Rev. Brian Konkol, dean of Hendricks Chapel. “Once again, we will be shown how an education informed by multiple points of view, life experiences, ethnicities, cultures, abilities and belief systems is essential to academic excellence.”

The “Common and Diverse Ground” series is co-sponsored by Hendricks Chapel, the Office of Interdisciplinary Programs and Outreach in the Burton Blatt Institute and the Disability Cultural Center, and for several years has brought members of the campus community together in an inclusive environment to explore challenging contemporary issues.

“It remains a privilege to collaborate with Jikyo Bonnie Shoultz and my colleagues in Hendricks Chapel, the Disability Cultural Center and elsewhere on campus to continue this ongoing series, aiming to create spaces wherein students, faculty, staff, chaplains and members of the local community can come together and interact deeply about timely and sometimes tough subjects,” says Diane Wiener, research professor and associate director of interdisciplinary programs and outreach in the Burton Blatt Institute.

“Sharing meals that include Kosher, Halal, vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free and other options; assuring that American Sign Language interpretation is provided, as a matter of course; and mindfulness meditation regularly happening, to center ourselves, prior to and after each dialogue, are all recognizable facets of the series,” Wiener says. “Two of my favorite aspects are bearing witness—and not just visually—to the spontaneous coalescing of brave energies, sometimes in a room of strangers, who may leave with new friends, and experiencing the powerful, expert leadership of students as co-facilitators working closely with chaplains, faculty and staff.”

The other dinner dialogues this semester are:

• Thursday, Feb. 28—“On Disability, Forgiveness, Animals and Faith”
• Thursday, March 28—“Interfaith Responses to Sexual and Relationship Violence”

For more information on the event, contact Hendricks Chapel at 315.443.2901 or chapel@syr.edu.