Global Citizenship Immersion for
High School Students

Building Skills and Knowledge for a Diverse World

When: August 5-9, 2024, 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. (Monday-Friday)

Where: Nazareth University, Golisano Academic Center Room 375, with visits to various local houses of worship, cultural sites, and restaurants for supper

Each year, the Hickey Center and the IIIT Chair for Interfaith Studies and Dialogue invite high school students to a week-long summer workshop at Nazareth University to explore our diverse world and learn methods and techniques of interfaith dialogue as future leaders of our country.

The interfaith encounter include lectures by experts from Nazareth University faculty and community leaders on different aspects of a variety of world religions, including Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, and Judaism. Students expand the depth of their understanding of these religious traditions, learn from an insider’s perspective, and have the opportunity to directly engage our speakers and ask the questions that most intrigue them.

Workshop sessions address skill-building needs and instruct students in the proper language and methods of dialogue. Community interfaith leaders provide models for respectful engagement of those outside one’s own tradition, and the ways in which such contact can enrich communities and foster greater peace and cooperation. Guiding principles for interfaith dialogue are shared, as well as for conflict transformation and resolution. After this instruction, students in groups formed with an eye toward diversity experience interfaith dialogue firsthand, thoughtfully reflecting upon and discussing their own experiences of faith, intolerance, and acceptance in today’s pluralistic world.

Visits to local centers of worship allow students to see these religious traditions as they are lived. A member of that tradition guides the group through an exploration of the site, providing explanations for the building structure, the symbols used, and the way in which religious services are conducted. In this way, learning goes beyond the classroom, providing the unique opportunity of an inside look at the sacred spaces of these religions.

Carrying forward the themes of interfaith cooperation in the community, participants spend one afternoon of the program in a group community service activity. Previously, students have visited Mary’s Place Outreach, a refugee outreach center in Rochester, New York. Students worked in the gardens, helped prepare and serve a community meal, and organized play activities and games for the refugee children. This is a hands-on experience of people working together with those in need across faith boundaries to better our shared world.

Registration Fee: $165, which includes dinner and visits to cultural and spiritual sites

Online registration form

Printable registration form