Activites for the week long celebrations will be observed in Zamboanga City and other areas in Mindanao initiated by the National Ulama Conference of the Philippines (NUCP) in partnership with Silsilah Dialogue Movement and other local groups and institutions.

The US Chapter of the International Assocation for Religious Freedom will hold a conference from February 3-5 at the Hilton Oceanfront Resort in Hilton Head, South Carolina. The three plenary speakers are Kay Lindahl, Founder, Center for Sacred Listening, Long Beach, California; Waleed El-Ansary, Chaired Professor, Loyola University, Cincinnati, and Peter Morales, President, The Unitarian/Universalist Asociation in Boston. For program and registration information, contact Hal W. French, Chair, U.S. Chapter,IARF, Dept. of Religious Studies, University of South Carolina, 803-777-2178, [email protected].

Under the Olive Tree Concert for Unity by The Yuval Ron Ensemble Special guests include vocalist David Jordan Harris, dancer Judith Brin Ingber, and several choirs of the Trinity Lutheran Church Sunday, January 22, 7:00 p.m. Trinity Lutheran Church, Worship Center 115 North 4th Street, Stillwater, Minnesota Admission: $5.00 at the door for adults; free for children and youth The Yuval Ron Ensemble (www.yuvalronmusic.com) endeavors to overcome national, racial, religious, and cultural divides by uniting the music and dance of the diverse peoples of the Middle East into a unique and inspiring mystical musical celebration. The ensemble includes Christian, Jewish, and Muslim musicians who have been actively involved in creating musical bridges between people of various faiths and ethnic groups worldwide. Led by Oscar winning Israeli composer Yuval Ron (music for “West Bank Story”), the ensemble has been featured in two PBS “Holiday Celebration” specials and has received the Los Angeles Treasures Award. At the invitation of the King of Morocco, The Yuval Ron Ensemble appeared at the International Sacred Music Festival of Fez. It also headlined the benefit concert for the Dalai Lama's initiative "Seeds of Compassion," promoting compassion in education, business, and community. The ensemble has been featured three times at the World Festival of Sacred Music in Los Angeles and was chosen by the Mid-Atlantic Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts to represent the United States and its cultural diversity at the International Folk Music Festival in Lublin, Poland. At the invitation of the Intercultural forum of the Association of Writers and Journalists of Turkey, the ensemble also gave a concert for peace in Istanbul and conducted a peace mission tour throughout Turkey. The ensemble has been featured on National Public Radio’s “Echoes” and “Hearts of Space” programs and has had residencies at numerous schools, including Yale University, John Hopkins University, UCLA, Seattle University, and Middlebury College. It also has performed numerous benefit concerts to support organizations that promote peace and help the disadvantaged and its compact discs “Under the Olive Tree,” "Tree of Life," and "Seeker of Truth" have become international favorites with world music lovers. Jointly sponsored by the Jay Phillips Center for Interfaith Learning, Trinity Lutheran Church, and the Faith Inkubators Foundation

Interfaith dialogue and celebration at the City Hall (Camara Municipal)

In the occasions of the Interfaith Harmony Week URI MENA office and MENA leadership team encourage all CCs to organize an activity to celebrate the first week of February 2012 , we encourage you to take the initiative and organize an activity at your country . We suggest to light peace candles together , let’s compose a peace prayer and pray it together in a particular hour and special day . We invite you all on Wednesday 1 February at 6.00 pm Jordan time at URI MENA office to join us in this special time to pray with us .. We invite all MENA CCs members to do it the same moment each on at his/her country. Take the initiative and don’t miss this spiritual moment for our region.

To be announced soon

Presentation by Amir Hussain O’Shaughnessy Educational Center Auditorium University of St. Thomas, St. Paul Campus Christians and Muslims together make up over half of the world's population. Their relationship has included periods of violence, but also of cooperation and coexistence. Professor Hussain will discuss Muslim-Christian dialogue both historically and in our contemporary world. Amir Hussain, Ph.D., is professor of theological studies at Loyola Marymount University, a Jesuit university in Los Angeles, where he teaches courses on world religions. A Canadian Muslim who specializes in the study of Islam, his academic degrees are from the University of Toronto, where he received a number of awards, including the university’s highest alumni award for outstanding service. He is the author of Oil and Water: Two Faiths, One God, an introduction to Islam and Muslim-Christian dialogue, and more than two dozen book chapters and scholarly articles about Islam and Muslims. He is also the editor of the Journal of the American Academy of Religion, the premier scholarly journal for the study of religion. An appointed fellow of the Los Angeles Institute for the Humanities, he has appeared on the History Channel and has given interviews to numerous newspapers and magazines, including Beliefnet.com, The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, The Toronto Star, and The Washington Post. Jointly sponsored by the Jay Phillips Center for Interfaith Learning and the Muslim-Christian Dialogue Center at the University of St. Thomas Free and open to the public

The Architecture of Faith: Rediscovering the Roots of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam Lecture Series by Steven L. Derfler Mondays, February 13, 20, and 27, 7:00 p.m. Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, 700 S. Snelling Ave. St. Paul February 13: Synagogues February 20: Churches February 27: Mosques In this series, Dr. Derfler will explore the common traits and the distinctive styles of religious architecture in the early centuries of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam and what this architecture reveals about the three religions. Steven L. Derfler, Ph.D., is executive director of Educational Resources, Inc., a nonprofit organization whose mission is to promote understanding and tolerance among different ethnic and religious groups. An archeologist and historian who has been uncovering the histories of ancient civilizations for over 35 years, he has directed and supervised numerous archeological field trips and study tours in the Middle East and Northern Africa. Among other things, he specializes in tracing the development of western religions from their roots in the Middle East and Eastern Mediterranean region to their diverse expressions in today’s world. Sponsored by the Jay Phillips Center for Interfaith Learning at the University of Saint Thomas in collaboration with Gloria Dei Lutheran Church and Mount Zion Temple Free and open to the public

As the last of the Abrahamic religions, Islam comes into a world that knows Christianity and Judaism. This means that Muslims have to have a theological understanding of both Jews and Christians in their relationship to God, and of God in relationship to the people of all three monotheistic faiths. As Islam expands out of Arabia and into Asia, it also has to make sense of Buddhism and Hinduism. Professor Hussain will discuss how Muslims understand their relationship to God given the fact of religious diversity and how they might think of religious diversity in relation to God's will. Amir Hussain, Ph.D., is professor of theological studies at Loyola Marymount University, a Jesuit university in Los Angeles, where he teaches courses on world religions. A Canadian Muslim who specializes in the study of Islam, his academic degrees are from the University of Toronto, where he received a number of awards, including the university's highest alumni award for outstanding service. He is the author of Oil and Water: Two Faiths, One God, an introduction to Islam and Muslim-Christian dialogue, and more than two dozen book chapters and scholarly articles about Islam and Muslims. He is also the editor of the Journal of the American Academy of Religion, the premier scholarly journal for the study of religion. An appointed fellow of the Los Angeles Institute for the Humanities, he has appeared on the History Channel and has given interviews to numerous newspapers and magazines, including Beliefnet.com, The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, The Toronto Star, and The Washington Post. Free and open to the public

Peace House cordially invites you to celebrate World Interfaith Harmony Week at an informal breakfast at Panera, 4519 N. High St., Columbus, Ohio. from 9-10:30 a.m. on Thursday, February, 2, 2012. The world theme for 2012 is, “we are all connected.” We’ll each bring or purchase our own breakfast and eat together in Panera’s community room. There will be time for silence and for sharing. Please spread the word: all are welcome!