The UNESCO Chair in Interreligious and Intercultural Relations – Asia Pacific
The UNESCO Chair In Interreligious And Intercultural Relations - Asia Pacific is an educational, research and policy activity centred in the School of Political and Social Inquiry. UNESCO Chairs in Interreligious and Intercultural Relations have been established by UNESCO since 1995 to provide in-put drawn from an understanding of religious and cultural diversity to UNESCO programs and polices, to conduct research in this area and to engage in policy debates in their region. The UNESCO Chair for the Asia-Pacific was awarded to Monash University in 2004 and was launched by H.E. Abdurrahman Wahid former President of Indonesia.
The Chairholder is Professor Emeritus Gary D Bouma
The Deputy Chairholder is Professor Greg Barton
Associated with this UNESCO Chair are:
New Zealand Associate: Professor Douglas Pratt, U Waikato
UNESCO Post-Doctoral Fellow: Dr Rod Ling
UNESCO researcher: Ms Anna Halafoff
Recent Activities:
UNESCO Chairs in Interreligious and Intercultural Relations have been established to provide in-put drawn from an understanding of religious and cultural diversity to UNESCO programs and polices, to conduct research in this area and to engage in policy debates in their region. The 15 'Religion' Chairs met in Moscow in September to clarify their role in UNESCO and to discuss issues of religious diversity and conflict.
UNESCO Chair activities in 2007 have centred on conducting and reporting research in the area of religious diversity, religious resurgence, and religion and terror in the Asia-Pacific region; establishing academic networks, building bridges between religious communities in Australia, Indonesia and Malaysia. I am completing a volume entitled, The States of Religion: Managing Religious Diversity in the Asia-Pacific, which will provide an overview of religious diversity and issues in managing this diversity in Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands. Other research and policy projects include involvement in the IOM / INTI project to develop induction courses for clergy who have recently arrived in several countries of the European Union; ARC funded research into What Muslims Want in Australia; projects with particular religious groups; and on going research and policy engagement with local, State and Commonwealth governments in Australia and with other governmental and NGO bodies working for interreligious group understanding and harmony in the region and globe.
UNESCO Chair activities included an on-going training involvement with the Attorney General’s Department, conducting a community consultation at Monash University, Caulfield Campus in association with the Australian Intercultural Society in June, participating in an invitational National Security for A Diverse Community Forum in August, contributing to a High Level International Consultation on the ‘Dialogue of Civilisations’ in Auckland, NZ in May, and keynoting the annual meeting of the New Zealand UNESCO National Commission in December. I also serve on the boards of The Centre for Dialogue, The Australian Partnership of Religious Organizations, the Global Terrorism Research Centre, and as Deputy-Chair of the World Conference of Religions for Peace (Australia). Chair Activities also included invited lectures and consultancies with the Anglican Diocese of Perth, The Salvation Army, Edith Cowan University, ACPACS Queensland University, Griffith University, Western Sydney University, Women’s College University of Sydney, among others.
I am now the Chairman of the Board of the Parliament of the World’s Religion 2009 Melbourne. This event is expected to attract over 10,000 attendees from around the world, to generate $75M in business for the state of Victoria and has attracted $4.5M in seed funding from the Commonwealth, State and City governments. It will provide an excellent platform for promoting and pursuing chair activities.
Academic networks are being developed with colleagues in New Zealand, through the Monash Asia Institute with colleagues through out the Asia Pacific, through universities in Malaysia, Indonesia and beyond. Links are also being forged with other UNESCO chairs in Australia in order to strengthen their impact and where relevant coordinate activities and draw on each others strengths.