News

Dr. Edley Moodley, professor of intercultural studies at Lee University, recently participated in the Teaching Interfaith Learning Seminar at DePaul University in Chicago. The event took place Aug. 3-7 and was hosted by the Council of Independent Colleges in conjunction with the Interfaith Youth Core (IFYC).

The seminar was led by Eboo Patel, founder and president of IFYC, a Chicago-based organization building the interfaith movement on college campuses; and Laurie Patton, dean of Trinity College of Arts and Sciences and the Robert F. Durden Professor of Religion at Duke University.

Broadening faculty members’ knowledge and strengthening their teaching of interfaith understanding was the main goal of the seminar, which was attended by 25 faculty members of diverse faiths selected from private colleges across the nation.

Through discussions of case studies exploring “methodologies and pedagogies for teaching interfaith learning,” Moodley had several “cordial, yet sometimes intense conversations with ‘religious others’ yet stated that “the reaffirmation and the conscientization experience … was the key to authentic understanding and collaboration.”

Moodley plans to develop a new course on “Dialogue with People of Other Faiths.”

“Christianity is a universal faith, indeed. It is not pluralistic but must be an open invitation in the context of a religiously plural world,” said Moodley. “Our task is to make the truth of the Word accessible in speech and deed so that all peoples may witness the gospel lived out.”

Moodley joined the Lee University School of Religion faculty in 1999, and currently serves as the director of Lee’s Intercultural Studies Program, along with teaching Introduction to Christianity and Theology of Missions courses, among others. He received his doctorate from Asbury Theological Seminary, his master of divinity from the Church of God Theological Seminary, and a bachelor of theology from University of South Africa.

The Council of Independent Colleges is an association of 744 nonprofit, independent colleges and universities and higher education affiliates and organizations that has worked since 1956 to support college and university leadership, advance institutional excellence, and enhance public understanding of private higher education’s contributions to society.

Interfaith Youth Core’s mission is to make interfaith cooperation a social norm. Since its incorporation in 2002, IFYC has worked on five continents and with over 200 college and university campuses, trained thousands in the principles of interfaith leadership, and reached millions through the media.