This report was commissioned by a project on the Current State of Theological Education, co-directed by Heidi Hadsell of Hartford Seminary and Judith Berling of the Graduate Theological Union. In addition to commissioning this report, the project gathered twelve leaders in Christian, Jewish, and Muslim interreligious education for four years of conversation, out of which came a volume: Empathy for our Time: Critical Reflections on Interreligious Education, to be published by Brill.
The research report built on the contributions of project participants, supplementing them with review of published literature in the field and interviews with educators from 24 institutions. Given the differences among theological institutions, it is not surprising that there is no clear consensus on the best model of interreligious education. Each school’s model must reflect its mission and its student populations; models will also vary across the theological disciplines.
The report discusses a range of models, describing their context, their goals, their approaches, and the factors that shaped the model’s development and refinement. A concluding section discusses trends and issues in interreligious education, and the challenges it faces.