The Humanities Forum, in collaboration with the Dialogue, Inclusion, and Democracy (DID) Lab, will host Dr. Eboo Patel on Thursday, February 6th at 2:30pm in Ruane 105.
Diversity issues have dominated the headlines for decades, and that’s how it should be. The United States is the world’s first attempt at diverse democracy, and embracing our differences while maintaining our unity should be a top priority in the years ahead. Unfortunately, too much of the discourse is stuck in a binary “victim or villain” frame. In this talk, Founder and President Eboo Patel will trace the intellectual traditions of constructive diversity work, outline how campuses can model a healthy pluralism for the nation and demonstrate to students that they can be leaders for cooperation across differences.
Eboo Patel is a civic leader who believes that religious diversity is an essential and inspiring dimension of American democracy. Named “one of America’s best leaders” by U.S. News and World Report, Eboo is Founder and President of Interfaith America, the leading interfaith organization in the United States. Under his leadership, Interfaith America has worked with governments, universities, private companies, and civic organizations to make faith a bridge of cooperation rather than a barrier of division. Eboo served on President Obama’s Inaugural Faith Council, has given hundreds of keynote addresses, and has written five books, including We Need to Build: Field Notes for Diverse Democracy. He is an Ashoka Fellow and holds a doctorate in the sociology of religion from Oxford University, where he studied on a Rhodes scholarship. Eboo lives in Chicago with his wife, Shehnaz, and their two sons.
