Professor Kusumita Pedersen. Poster image courtesy of St. Joseph’s College
This “Faith in Brooklyn” article by Francesca Norsen Tate, Religion Editor of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, features Dr. Kusumita P. Pedersen, who is a Co-Chair on ICNY’s Board of Directors. The original article is here.
Hinduism Is the Topic of St. Joseph College’s Eighth Annual Lecture in Comparative Religion
Tuesday, March 8, 2016 • 1 p.m.
Tuohy Hall Auditorium
SJC Brooklyn
245 Clinton Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11205
REGISTER Tuesday, April 5, 2016 • 7 p.m.
McGann Conference Center
SJC Long Island
155 West Roe Boulevard
Patchogue, NY 11772
REGISTER
Tuohy Hall Auditorium
SJC Brooklyn
245 Clinton Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11205
REGISTER Tuesday, April 5, 2016 • 7 p.m.
McGann Conference Center
SJC Long Island
155 West Roe Boulevard
Patchogue, NY 11772
REGISTER
“Hinduism and the Universality in Religion” is the theme of the eighth annual Dr. Reza Khatib and Georgianna Clifford Khatib Chair in Comparative Religion lecture.
This year’s speaker is Dr. Kusumita P. Pedersen, chair of the Department of Religion at St. Francis College.
“Dr. Pedersen is a highly respected Hindu scholar who is currently teaching a course on ‘The Hindu World’ at St. Joseph’s College as this year’s Khatib Chair in Comparative Religion,” said Dr. Thomas Petriano, chair of the Department of Religious Studies at St. Joseph’s College (SJC). “She is a recognized scholar of the work of Swami Vivekananda and the poetry of Sri Chinimoy, and the SJC community is looking forward to her whi lectures on both campuses.”
Dr. Pedersen has been involved with the international interfaith movement for more than 25 years. Previously, she was executive director of the Project on Religion and Human Rights, joint secretary for religious affairs of the Global Forum of Spiritual and Parliamentary Leaders on Human Survival, and executive director of the Temple of Understanding.
Currently, Pedersen co-chairs the Interfaith Center of New York and is a member of the Council for a Parliament of the World’s Religions. Pedersen wrote for “The World’s Religions After September 11” (Praeger, 2008), which highlights the modern changes in the relationships between faiths.
According to materials provided by St. Francis College, the faculty of which she joined in 1995, Pedersen’s interests include global ethics, interreligious dialogue and cooperation, human rights and the relevance of asceticism to ethics, especially environmental ethics. She edited a special issue of CrossCurrents on Asceticism Today. She is also co-editor of “Earth and Faith: A Book of Reflection for Action.” She has written articles on environmental ethics, interreligious questions and Buddhism.
Dr. Reza Khatib and Mrs. Georgianna Clifford Khatib, ’52, founded the Chair in Comparative Religion, whose purpose is to promote interfaith dialogue, with the study of Islam being an integral part of the initiative. Each spring, through the generosity of Dr. and Mrs. Khatib, St. Joseph’s College hosts a noted scholar who lectures, leads faculty discussions and teaches a course to students from both campuses.
