Do you want to learn about different faiths and how they relate to your own? Do you want to connect with people of different religious and secular backgrounds and grow together through interfaith conversations, shared study, and contemplative practice? Visit religious sites and engage works of art? Advocate for interfaith issues on campus? Develop self-awareness and dialogue skills for campus and life after college?
If so, apply to be selected as a Center for Religion and Global Citizenry Interfaith Fellow by 8:00 PM on Sunday, May 2nd. Students chosen for the program will be notified by Dr. Rosenhagen by noon on Friday, May 14th.
While late in the application process, you are welcome to find out more about the CRGC Fellowship by joining us for this year’s Fellows final presentations on Tuesday, April 27th at 6 PM on Zoom. For more information about this event, please click here.
If you have any questions about the Center or about the application process, please email crgc@wisc.edu.
About the Center
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For Applicants
In order to be considered for the program, you must be:
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- an undergraduate student in good standing at UW-Madison
- Registered for the entire academic year 2021-22
- Enrolled in at least six credits each semester.
Furthermore, you must commit to five hours of engagement, which includes attending the CRGC Interfaith Fellows’ weekly meetings on Tuesday evenings from 6:00-7:15 PM. These meetings are led by CRGC Director Dr. Ulrich Rosenhagen and Program Coordinator David Schulz.
Our Fellows will be highly motivated, independent and capable of engaging people of different (or no) religious backgrounds with both candor and sensitivity. You need not belong to any formally established religious institution or hold any particular beliefs in order to apply.
The Interfaith Fellows program includes weekly dialogues on interfaith matters, exploring spiritual traditions and religious sites, leading interfaith events and activism on campus, and authoring regular short writings which reflect publicly on their CRGC experience.
All CRGC Fellows will receive a $750 stipend for the year.
Mission
The Center for Religion and Global Citizenry increases UW-Madison students’ religious literacy and their facility for communicating across boundaries of faith so that they may function effectively as citizens of a religiously diverse world.
History
The Center was established in August of 2017 after the closing of the Lubar Institute for the Study of Abrahamic Religions in June of 2016. We hope to grow to become the hub for discussion of religious pluralism on the UW-Madison Campus and in the greater Madison community. With several different programs functioning in cooperation, the Center serves the undergraduate and graduate student population as well as faculty, staff, and community members.
The CRGC collaborates with the University Religious Workers on selected projects and is a founding partner of the LOKA Initiative at UW-Madison.
About the Interfaith Fellows Program
The Interfaith Fellows Program trains up to 25 undergraduate students to become more knowledgeable about different religious traditions and more skilled at communicating with people from other religious backgrounds. We want to equip our fellows so that they can play an important part in working out the mechanics of religious pluralism and interfaith discourse within civil society. We see our fellows becoming an interfaith avant-garde who might serve as leaders in an ever increasingly interconnected global world. We seek to provide them, and the other students whom they involve in campus interfaith events and programming, with the knowledge and skills to surmount the barriers of religious difference and to become interfaith leaders in whatever career trajectories the future might hold for them.
Testimonials
“The CRGC fellowship helped me see the world from the viewpoint of someone other than myself—from the viewpoint of a Muslim, an atheist, a Jew, an agnostic, and so on. I was able to understand not only modern issues but day-to-day life as seen by other people and I think that’s really valuable in our world today, where many people are increasingly intolerant of others’ views.”
— Chloe Hattenhauer (2019-20)
“Growing up and learning about religion through textbooks, this experience has taught me that it truly is the people, families, and unique faces that make up the religions we read so much about. The fellowship has helped me realize we are so much more alike than different and has shown me firsthand the power of interfaith dialogue.”
— Hannah Silver (2019-20)
“This fellowship has helped me learn and reflect on myself immensely. I was able to make connections and have conversations with people of differing faith backgrounds that I probably wouldn’t have gotten to have in any other setting. Regardless of your faith background, this fellowship has a lot to give.”
– Ali Qureshi (2019-20)
“I am very grateful for being an interfaith fellow this year. I learnt many things like understanding how people my age view the world and how we share many values. The experience also opened my eyes to the many opportunities there are for interfaith collaborations that may have a positive impact on the world we live in.”
– Hassnaa Mohammed (2019-20)