During Elizabethtown College’s recent spring break, Religious Studies Professor and Department Chair Dr. Jeffery Long and Psychology Professor Dr. John Teske traveled to New Delhi as delegates for the “On World Religions: Diversity Not Dissensus” conference. While at the event, Long spoke on “Diversity as the Nature of Reality: A Jain-informed Approach to the Variety of Worldviews” and Teske on “The Emotional Psychology of Religious Diversity.”
“As expected and planned, [the conference] was an enriching continuation of cross-cultural and interfaith conversations with a set of particular individuals. [It was beneficial] to see some of the high-level religious leaders seriously addressing these issues,” Teske stated. The conference included an inaugurating by the president of India at the Rashtrapati Bhavan and a Valedictory session including HH the Dalai Lama. “We were pretty awed to be in Durbar Hall of the Rashtrapati Bhavan, and thus recognizing the conference at high levels of the Indian Government,” he said. “I think I was sitting next to the Ambassador from Papua/New Guinea in the front row. We certainly felt honored. Hence, even Jeff Long wore a tie.”
The two professors, along with Anindita Balslev, a philosophy professor at the University of Copenhagen, and Whitney Bauman, a religious studies professor at Florida International University, have been studying the research they presented over the past few years. “We all produced ‘working papers’ and met together last summer at the Institute of Religion in an Age of Science (IRAS) summer conference at Silver Bay, N.Y.,” Teske said.
Their dedication to a tolerant way of thinking is what ultimately led them to the conference. “ We are very committed to the idea that the differences in worldviews, which so often lead to conflict and violence, need to be addressed in a peaceful and mutually enlightening way,” Long stated. “This conference was aimed at advancing that conversation. A special feature of this conference is that it was in honor of the 150th birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda, the first Hindu spiritual master to teach in the Western world.”
Although Long and Teske do not always share similar opinions on global issues, the two professors have been able to reach enough compromises to expand their global awareness. They, along with Balslev and Bauman, have been able to work successfully together because of this mutual understanding. “We all decided that, with our shared interests and the differences amongst ourselves, in terms of worldviews, it would be great to extend and expand this conversation to include as many other people as possible, from a wide variety of faith traditions and backgrounds, in order to promote the idea of harmony in the name of planetary survival,” Long said.
After attending the conference, Teske and Long have been brainstorming ways in which they will be able to teach Etown students about these pressing issues. In addition to continuing their research and inspiring students to continue learning about diversity, they have already made initial strides toward bringing international conferences on worldviews to Etown’s campus.
“I’ve already been talking with people in international business, like Sanjay Paul, about bringing Steven Killelea here,” Teske said. “His ‘Global Peace Index’ is something that is both a good guide to international investment, and something that it is in the interest of businesses to help foment. What would be more perfect than this kind of initiative for international business at a peace college like Etown?”
They specifically hope to bring a similarly themed conference to the College during the 2014 school year. “I hope we can follow up with a similar conference that focuses on one of the College’s institutional learning goals: teaching students to navigate diverse worldviews and to realize that the search for truth involves taking a variety of belief systems seriously, and not just the beliefs with which one is raised,” Long said.