Draft:Interfaith studies

The cover of the "World's Congress of Religions" seminal book, examplary interfaith studies literature.

Summary

Interfaith Studies, or Interreligious Studies, is a new and primarily evidence-based education interdisciplinary academic discipline that uses scientific methods to access social sciences and humanities in the development of rule of law nonviolence humanitarian aid social services cultural diplomacy, mainly through policymaking, multi-religious literacy, and interfaith education, always aiming at the common good in interpersonal relationships and communities organizing.

Interfaith Studies Urgency for World Affairs

Interfaith Studies are Urgent because, according to the University of Amsterdam's Faculty of Religion & Theology, "Interfaith initiatives are seen as promising sites for societal change and personal transformation; however, many questions about the actual outcomes of such initiatives have remained unanswered." This usage of interfaith diplomacy by the most varied different fields of humanity's enterprise without proper methodology, called many agents worldwide to develop dozens of nonformal education and higher education interfaith studies programs and journals now internationally unionized in the Association for Interreligious / Interfaith Studies (AIIS), that declares its own foundation historical necessity as the growing interest in the field professionalization at the American Academy of Religion (AAR) "Interreligious and Interfaith Studies Unit" forum.

The 'Auxiliary Officers' of the PoWR's 1893 World Congress of Religions, probably the first modern interfaith studies and religious studies summit.

• Historical Relevance: The urgency of interfaith studies is evident in the historical prominent role of the World Congress of Religions as the inaugural summit in the 1893 Parliament of World's Religions (PoWR), the first modern interfaith meeting. This inspired the creation of the International Association for the History of Religions (IAHR), the first religious studies association, in the 1900 Religious History Congress in Paris. Throughout the twentieth century, interfaith studies, has had a vital role of feeding religious studies, at the same time that defining rule of law compliance standards to it, through the analysis of its usage by interfaith-based organizations.

• File:Norman Rockwell's Golden Rule.webp

  The "Golden Rule" painting by Norman Rockwell, interfaith sacred art masterpiece, exhibited at the entrance of the United Nations Secretariat Building.

  International Diplomacy Relevance: The area's imprescindible importance was even recognized by UNESCO UNITWIN Network for Inter-Religious Dialogue and Intercultural Understanding (IDIU) due to the large amount of interreligious and interfaith International non-governmental organizations that use the area's qualitative research and data analysis. The Institute for Global Engagement (IGE) has reiterated the value of the cathedra for International relations with the publishing of the "Interfaith on the World Stage" special edition of The Review of Faith & International Affairs. Examples of imprescindible interfaith study are the "Considerations and Guidance for the Humanitarian Engagement with Religious Leaders" of the University of York Generating Respect Project, that assists the implementation of International humanitarian law, and the Search for Common Ground "Universal Code of Conduct for Holy Sites" development analyses.
• Organizational Chaplaincy Relevance: The Religious Freedom and Business Foundation (RFBF) Corporate Religious Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (REDI) Index pledges that interfaith studies are imprescindible because of the relations between religion and health by stating that "religious freedom is the next diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) field of inquiry for environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG), which is obviously important also for non-governmental organizations.
• Personal Affairs Relevance: Since we have an ever increasing number of Interfaith marriages, families, groups, communities, and civil movements worldwide, we also require further studies areas related to interfaith multi-religious education, as it is being developed by World Religions Education for Kids, Arigatou International Global Network of Religions for Children (GNRC), and the United States Agency for International Development Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) Learning Platform.

File:Interfaith Studies Cover.jpg

The discipline defining "Interreligious/Interfaith Studies" book cover.

Interfaith Studies Methodology

Interfaith Study is an Interdisciplinary Field: The field's scholars examine, through evidence-based education interdisciplinarity, uses scientific methods to inquiry on the multiple ways in which different religious, spiritual, and secular identities (RSSIs) influence how religious people, faith-based organizations (FBOs), and interfaith-based organizations, who orient themselves around religious beliefs and laity, interact with one another and in interconvictional dialogue with nonreligious persons and institutions (including humanist, ethical, atheist, agnostic movements) under the secular state rule of law. This includes the overall in-depth research and data analysis of:

The Scarboro Missions' "Golden Rule" poster, one of the first interfaith studies based educational technologies, distributed as open educational resource (OER).

• Nonviolence Peace and Conflict Studies
• Chaplaincy
• Religious Studies
• Psychology of Religions
• Science of Religion (Religious Experience Studies)
• Theology of Religions
• Religious Philosophies
• Atheology (Nonreligiosity Studies), including History of Atheism
• Humanities
• Intercultural Communication
• Anthropology of Religions
• Social Responsibility Effective Altruism
• Applied Theologies
• Glocal Religious Politics
• Religious Art Theopoetics, Curatorship and Social Ecomuseology
• Religious Heritage, including Sacred Natural Sites, Safeguard
• Religious Advocacy Groups Governance
• Multi-Religious Literacy
• Religious Education
• Interfaith Literacy Multi-Religious Pedagogy
• Cultural Diplomacy
• International Relations
• Planetary Management
• United Nations Studies

The Association for Interreligious / Interfaith Studies (AIIS) logo.

Interfaith Studies Institutions

• The Journal of Interreligious Studies (JIS)
• Association for Interreligious / Interfaith Studies (AIIS)
• Interfaith America (IA) Emerging Leaders Network
• International Association for the History of Religions (IAHR)
• Interfaith Research Institute
• Harvard Divinity School Pluralism Project
• Association of Religion Data Archives (ARDA)
• KAICIID Dialogue Centre Joint Learning Initiative on Faith & Local Communities (JLIF&LC)
• Religious Freedom and Business Foundation (RFBF)
• Interfaith Religious Education Association of Brazil (ASSINTEC)
• Arigatou International Global Network of Religions for Children (GNRC)
• Columbia University Teachers College's International Interfaith Research Lab
• Future for Religious Heritage (FRH)
• Search for Common Ground
• The Foundation for Religious Literacy Religion And Public Life

The Journal of Interreligious Studies (JIS) logo.

Interfaith Studies Bibliography

• "Interreligious/Interfaith Studies: Defining a New Field" by Eboo Patel
• "Interreligious Studies: An Introduction" by Rachel Mikva
• "Interreligious Studies: A Relational Approach to Religious Activism and the Study of Religions" by Oddbjørn Leirvik
• "Interfaith on the World Stage" special edition of The Review of Faith & International Affairs by Institute for Global Engagement (IGE)
• "Student Voices in Interfaith Studies" Conference by Interfaith America (IA)
• "Considerations and Guidance for the Humanitarian Engagement with Religious Leaders" by the University of York's Generating Respect Project
• "Universal Code of Conduct for Holy Sites" by Search for Common Ground
• "Religion And Public Life Courses" by The Foundation for Religious Literacy