Rupture and Repair: Leading across divides in a polarizing world

Catalog description

How do we move from rupture to reconciliation - within ourselves, our communities, and our world? This course explores conflict not only as a site of pain but as a possibility for transformation. Rooted in lived experience, it examines reconciliation as both personal journey and communal practice, with attention to story, memory, power, and identity. Students consider: What does it mean to repair? What practices allow us to restore relationships across deep divides? Drawing from interfaith dialogue, conflict transformation, and trauma-informed practice, the course blends classroom learning with embodied experiences: dialogue groups, fieldwork, and creative expression, and reflective writing. Students engage in community-based exercises in Abu Dhabi using tools like the PIN Tool and Photovoice, visit the Abrahamic Family House and other faith partners, and participate in encounters across divided communities, focusing on what makes us different rather than only on shared commonalities. For their final project, students design and present a collaborative action project specific to their cultural and religious context. This course will be offered in January-Term 2026. This course is taught by Canon Sarah Snyder.