The Department of Philosophy and Religion invite the UTC community and
general public to our second lecture in our department series TODAY, Monday,
November 3, 2008.
"Interreligious and Interethnic Dialogue in Postwar Bosnia and Herzegovina:
Prospects and Challenges"
Presented by Aid Smajiæ
Monday, November 3, 2008
UTC's University Center
Signal Mountain Room
3:00 pm
Biography:
Aid Smajiæ is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Psychology and a
member of the Faculty of Islamic Studies at the University of Sarajevo. He
received his BAs in Islamic studies and psychology, and his MA in Islamic
Civilization at the IIU Malaysia and diplomas in Arabic at both the
University of Zaytuna and the Burghiba Institute in Tunisia. This year Aid
is Fulbright Visiting Researcher at UTC working with Professor Ralph Hood
from the Department of Psychology on his PhD research on religiosity and
ethnic tolerance in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In his PhD research, Aid is
dealing with psycho-social dimensions of public religiosity pertaining to
the ambivalent relation of the latter with ethnic tolerance in post war
Bosnian society. He has taught and published in the areas of the psychology
of religion, Islamic psychology, developmental psychology, religion and law,
and Islam.
Abstract:
For good part of its long history Bosnia and Herzegovina has been
multireligious and multiethnic society in real sense of the word, in which
different ethno-religious traditions relatively peacefully lived side by
side for centuries. For this reason, the capital of this South-Eastern
European country has been usually referred to as "European Jerusalem".
However, the unique image of Bosnian country has been seriously damaged by
the 1992-1995 war and aggression, which was largely fought along the lines
of ethno-religious identities. The role of religion and religious
institutions in the war events and, today more importantly, in
peace-building process of tolerant and democratic Bosnian society is both
crucial and highly disputable. Bosnian religious organizations have strong
cultural and motivational power, specific social location and organizational
configuration. Accordingly, they enjoy considerable ability to motivate and
mobilize their respective followers and congregations in favor or against
peaceful and mutually respecting religious dialogue and coexistence at all
levels of societal life. The extent to which Bosnian religious
representatives are aware of this fact and are ready to employ their power
of public influence in rebuilding interethnic trust among Bosnians might
prove to be decisive factor in healing of the war wounds and establishing of
prosperous Bosnian state. The prospects and challenges of such an
initiative, however, are best represented by the words of Scott Appleby in
his "Ambivalence of the Sacred", when he said: "Religion is indeed powerful
medicine; it should be administered prudently, selectively, and
deliberately."
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