Learning How to Talk About Religion and Inter-Religious Differences: Building Compassion and Confidence for Difficult Conversations

• In Event: Contemplative inquiry, holistic learning, and compassionate dialogues across differences

Proposal

In our increasingly polarized world, it is becoming more and more difficult for people who have different backgrounds, values, and opinions to engage in nuanced and empathetic dialogue. When conversations attempt to cover topics relating to social injustice, political repression, and global power imbalances, tensions and emotions can become inflamed and it can be difficult to practice compassion and empathy. Yet, dialogue with people who see and experience the world differently than we do is an important and promising tool for mitigating conflict and building peaceful societies. So, developing the skills and confidence to effectively engage in conversations about controversial topics is important. Unfortunately, however, it is not a skill that is commonly taught or practiced in formal educational settings.

This paper describes the process and outcomes of a class that is explicitly designed to help students build the skills and confidence to engage in dialogue related to religion and inter-religious differences—a topic that has always been controversial, and is foundational to many of most polarizing issues we are facing in our local/national contexts and our global society. The course is titled “Interfaith Dialogue in the Age of Globalization” and is an optional class for students enrolled in an International Peace Studies Master’s program at a university in Tokyo, Japan. As the designer and instructor of the course, I have participated in all class sessions and read all student reflections and papers over the last three years. For this study, I conducted one-on-one interviews with all students who previously completed the course with me (interviews took place long after grades were submitted and received), and analyzed all student evaluations (anonymous) and written reflections (not anonymous). In total, there were 23 students in three different class sections (one each year for the last three years), representing nine different countries. While the course itself cannot necessarily be characterized as an interfaith dialogue (as there was an overwhelming majority of students from one particular Buddhist tradition and very little disagreement about controversial topics among the students enrolled in each class), all students participated in an at least one interfaith “difficult conversation” for their final course project. Findings of the study suggest that (a) the course helped prepare them, both intellectually and emotionally, for the conversation; (b) the final course project gave them the opportunity to have a conversation they have long wanted to have but were previously too scared to have; and (c) after completing the course, students felt more motivated to continue having difficult interfaith conversations, more confident in their ability to do so effectively, and more compassionate toward people with whom they have fundamental differences.

While the findings of this study certainly cannot be generalized to all educational contexts, my hope is that through sharing an example of one unique and context specific course designed to build compassion and confidence for difficult conversations, educators around the world can think more deeply about how they might be able to incorporate similar learning experiences into their own teaching.

Author

• Sachi エドワーズ　サチ, Soka University