Taking on the Mideast crisis, Hunter College’s Civil Discourse & Intellectual Dialogue series will feature a discussion with an American-Jewish and a Palestinian-American professor.
“We Need to be able to Hear the Other: Talking Across Divides about the Israel & Hamas War with Ari L. Goldman and Gregory Khalil” is a dialogue between the two, who co-teach a course on covering religion for secular media at Columbia University School of Journalism.
Goldman, a former religion correspondent for The New York Times, and Khalil, the co-founder and president of a Washington D.C.-based peacemaking organization, the Telos Group, will speak on the conflict and their conflict-resolution experiences. They aim to model an empathetic and constructive approach to difficult conversations regarding areas of conflict.
“At this moment and all others, we need the language to speak respectfully and show empathy to each other about this fraught topic that affects so many in our community on all sides of the conflict,” said Hunter Interim Provost Manoj Pardasani.
The Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute at Hunter College’s Human Rights Program is an organizer of the event. The event will take place February 4, 6–8 pm, at the Roosevelt House Auditorium, 47-49 E. 65th St. All are invited.
Goldman is the author of four books: The Search for God at Harvard, Being Jewish, Living a Year of Kaddish, and The Late Starters Orchestra. He was educated at Yeshiva University, Harvard, and Columbia.
Before founding Telos, Khalil lived in Ramallah, the West Bank, where he advised the Palestinian leadership on peace negotiations with Israel. Although he was born and raised in San Diego, Calif., much of his extended family still lives in Beit Sahour, a predominantly Palestinian Christian town near Bethlehem. He has lectured widely on the Middle East and has been published by The Review of Faith & International Affairs and The New York Times. He is a graduate of UCLA and Yale Law School.
The discussion aligns with a campaign to foster civil discourse and tolerance across CUNY’s 25 campuses, which was announced by CUNY Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez this past August during a visit to Hunter College.
Previous talks have focused on community healing by incorporating diversity and inclusion and interfaith cooperation and pluralism.
Other events in the series planned for the spring semester include:
“A Fairer Playing Field: Trans Rights in School and Sports”
Speaker: Lex Horwitz, a former transgender athlete who speaks and consults on transgender rights in sports.
Speaker: Bobby Hodgson, the assistant legal director of the New York Civil Liberties Union.
Moderator: Hunter Political Science Prof. Erin Mayo-Adam, director of the LGBTQ Initiative at Roosevelt House.
Date and Location: Wednesday, February 5, 2:30 pm at Roosevelt House Auditorium
“The Intersection of Identity: Growing up Palestinian American”
Speaker: Susan Muaddi Darraj, a Palestinian American author of books for adults and children, including the Farah Rocks series.
Date and Location: Thursday, February 13, 3 pm at Roosevelt House Auditorium
“Leaving the Hasidic Community: Reality Versus Popular Culture”
Speaker: Hunter Sociology Prof. Zalman Newfield, the acting Director of the Jewish Studies Program.
Speaker: Sociology Prof. Heba Gowayed.
Date and Location: Wednesday, March 5, 1 pm at Roosevelt House Auditorium
“Forum on Academic Freedom and Freedom of Speech: What do they mean for the Hunter Community?”
Speaker: Professor Risa Lieberwitz of the Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations. Lieberwitz is academic director of the Worker Institute at Cornell and a co-director of the Cornell University law and society minor.
Speaker: Frederick (Rick) Schaffer, former CUNY general counsel and vice chancellor for legal affairs.
Speaker: Deepa Das Acevedo, an associate professor of law at Emory University and author of The Battle for Sabarimala Religion, Law, and Gender in Contemporary India (Oxford University Press).
Moderator: William Herbert, Hunter distinguished lecturer and executive director of the National Center for the Study of Collective Bargaining in Higher Education and the Professions at Hunter College.
Date and Location: Tuesday, March 25, 2 pm at Roosevelt House Auditorium
“Finding Our Voice”
Speaker: Aarti Namdev Shahani
Shahani is a journalist working and the author of Here We Are, a memoir. She is the creator and host of the Art of Power podcast.
Date and Location: Thursday, March 27, 2 pm at Roosevelt House Auditorium
“The Refugee Experience in the US: Building Community Capacity and Resilience”
Speaker: Marciana Popescu, PhD
Popescu is a professor at the Fordham University Graduate School of Social Service and a member of the UN-NGO Committee on Migration. Her work focuses on global and local migration policies, particular areas of interest include forced migration and gender, forced migration and mental health, and violence against women.
Date and Location: Thursday, April 17, 3 pm at Roosevelt House.
