For many, civil society initiatives are seen as crucial to all democratization processes; whether in the former communist countries, the Middle East, South-east Asia or Latin America. They are understood as central to the workings of democracy in the USA as well. Often, however, religious groups and themes are seen as existing in an uneasy tension with these initiatives, though in fact religious institutions and social actors stand at the core of civil society initiatives here and abroad, and have done so for hundreds of years. In this year’s school we explored the role of religion in shaping civil society institutions. We also devoted ourselves to the study of those fault lines of civil society (and of religion) in two very different societies.

In Stolac, fellows joined an international group of approximately 90 young people engaged in rebuilding religious edifices destroyed in the war of 1992-1995. They spent a few days with this group, participating in the physical work of reconstruction as well as the learning periods and recreational activities of the group. On 11 August, at the end of the international camp, the ISSRPL fellows traveled to Boston and the campuses of Hebrew College and Andover Newton Theological School to reflect on the experiences of the work camp through the lens provided by the American experience of religion and civil society.

Both Hebrew College and Andover Newton Theological School are institutions that train religious leaders and which share a campus. Their own efforts and successes in cooperation and joint programming point to the possibilities to cross boundaries and develop new modes of civil discourse and action that possible in the USA. They thus provided an ideal venue from which to reflect on the international project in Bosnia, which was jointly hosted by the International Forum Bosnia and the Scouts organization of Luxembourg; that effort points to a different model, in a different part of the world, facing different types of challenges in the intersection of religion and public life. Our aim this summer was to maximize the knowledge that can be gained from bringing both experiences into a single focus. In so doing, we facilitated the provision of crucial insights to young and emerging civic and religious leaders from the Balkans, Middle East, Central Asia, Europe and the USA that will enrich their own efforts in their home countries.

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1-17 August 2006

1 August (Tuesday): ARRIVE Bosnia / Sarajevo

• Arrival in Sarajevo – stay Holiday Inn
• 19:00 Gather for evening
• 20.00 Dinner at “Park Princeva” restaurant
• 22.00 Walk to Old Town and hotel

2 August (Wednesday):  Sarajevo / Stolac

• 12:00 Depart for Stolac
• 13:30 Lunch on road, restaurant “Kod Gojka”
• 16.30 Arrival to Stolac
• 16.30-17.00 Coffee and dispersal to families
• 18.30 Get together in Uzinovićki mekteb
• 19:30-20:30 Dinner at Behar
• 20:45-22:30 Walk in Stolac and Orientation

3 August (Thursday):  Stolac
** [All ISSRPL public events in Stolac, lectures, discussions, movies, etc will take place at the Mektab of the Uzinovićka mosque.]

• 07:30-08:30 – Breakfast
• 09:00-10:30 – Introduction to Stolac / Course 2: Nationalism in SE Europe (Banac)
• 10:30-11:00 Break
• 11:00-12:30 Project Stolac 2006: Why’s and Wherefores (Mahmutcehajic)
• 13:15-14:00 Lunch
• 14:30-16:00 Evaluation (Wasserfall)
• 16:30-19:00 Workshop: Tolerance (Hadzimuhamedovic / Seligman) in YH camp
• 19:30-20:30 Dinner at Behar
• 20:45-22:30 Poetry evening with Youth & Heritage in YH camp

4 August (Friday): Stolac

• 06:30-07:30 Breakfast
• 07:30-12:45 Course 3(1): Ćuprija 2006
• Muslim prayers
• 13:30-14:30 Lunch with camp
• 14:30-19:00 Course 3(1): Ćuprija 2006
• Jewish prayers (observant Jews leave early for Kotor)
• 19:30-20:15 Dinner
• 20:45-22:30 Dance evening in Stolac

5 August (Saturday): Dubrovnik / Kotor

• 06:30-07:30 Breakfast
• 08:00 8.00 – Meeting in front of Behar / Departure Stolac
• 11:00 Arrival Dubrovnik / Walk into Old town
• 11:30 guided City visit
• 13:00 Lunch-package
• 14:00 Walk on City walls
• 15:00-15:30 Meeting and departure
• 16:00 Montenegro border
• 17:15 Ferry (bus)
• 18:00 Arrival in Kotor and disperse to hotels
• 19:30-20:15 Dinner in Kotor at Hotel Mimoza ad Tivat
• 20:45-22:30 Night in the Bay of Kotor

6 August (Sunday): Kotor / Stolac

• 06:30-07:30 Breakfast
• 08:00-10:00 Catholic & Orthodox services in Kotor
• 10:00-12:00 Kotor sightseeing
• 12:00 Meeting ISCYH group
• 12:30 Hike to old fortress in mountains
• 13:30 Lunch-package
• 14:30 Swim / Carnival of Kotor
• 16:00 Return to Stolac (via Herzeg Novi – Urbanje – Trebinje)
• 17:30 Coffee in Trebinje (Arslanagića most)
• 19:30-20:15 Dinner in Stolac
• 20:30 Group Meeting

7 August (Monday): Stolac

• 07:30-08:30 Breakfast
• 09:00-10:30 Course 1: Religion and Civil Society: A Theoretical Framing (Seligman)
• 10:30-11:00 Break
• 11:00-12:30 Course 2: Religion and Public Life: Religious Communities in the Public Sphere (Ferrari)
• 12:30-13:30 Lunch
• 14:00-15:30 Course 3: Bosnian Jews in Stolac at the Jewish Cemetary (Finci)
• 16:00-17:30 Course 3: Discussion on Stolac and War (Gullan)
• 19:00-20:00 dinner
• 20:30-22:00 Movie – “Hiding and Seeking” and discussion (Schoffman)

8 August (Tuesday): Stolac / Mostar

• 07:30-08:30 Breakfast
• 09:00-10:30 Course 1: Religion and Civil Society: A Theoretical Framing (Seligman)
• 10:30-11:00 Break
• 11:00-12:30 Course 2: Religion and Public Life: Religious Communities in the Public Sphere (Ferrari)
• 12:30-13:30 Lunch
• 13:30-15:00 Course 3: Tolerance: Between Theological Resources and Religious Political Culture (Fischer)
• 15:15-16:00 Course 3: Tolerance and law (Stone)
• 16:30-18:30 visit Blagjai tekke
• 18:30-19:30 dinner
• 19:45 depart Mostar
• 21:00-22:30 Official movie premiere “The Other of Me”

9 August (Wednesday): Mostar

• 07:30-08:30 Breakfast
• 09:00-09:20 Opening of International Conference on Unity and Plurality in Europe: Religion and Public Life – Mostar
• 09:20-13:20 First Panel – (Seligman / Brujan / Mahmutcehajic / Muratovic / Tatta / Westin)
• 13:20-15:00 Lunch
• 15:00-20:00 Second Panel (Abid / Banac / Ceric / Fischer / Lichtmann / Okten / Otterbeck / Rettig / Stoyanov)
• 20:30-22:00 Public lecture: Stolac and Mostar in the History of Bosnian Cinema (Kosanovic)

10 August (Thursday): Mostar / Sarajevo

• 07:30-08:30 Breakfast
• 09:00-13:00 International Conference on Unity and Plurality in Europe: Religion and Public Life – Mostar – Third Panel – (Mujkic / Nishimura / Richardson / Schneider / Schoffman / Stone)
• 13:00-15:00 Lunch
• 15:00-16:00 Closing remarks
• 16:30-18:00 Public lecture: Anti-Muslim Phantasmagorias (Lange)
• 19:00 depart Mostar for Sarajevo
• 21:00 Dinner in Sarajevo

11 August (Friday): DEPART Sarajevo / ARRIVE Boston

• Depart for airport; most flights between 06:30 and 07:45

• 15:00-17:00 Settle in and welcome to Boston (most flights arrive before 14:00)
• 18:00-19:00 basic orientation – Walker Center
• 19:30-20:30 Dinner – Walker Center

12 August (Saturday): Boston

• 8:30-9:30 Breakfast – Walker Center
• 9:30-10:30 – T to Newton Centre
• 10:30-12:00 Newton Centre Minyan at Hebrew College
• 12:15-14:30 Lunch with people from Minyan
• 14:45 – reconvene at Newton Centre T-station
• 15:00-18:00 Walking tour of Boston
• 18:00-19:30 Dinner in Boston (North End)
• 20:30 Reflection / facilitation at the Walker Center

13 August (Sunday): Boston

• 7:30-8:30 Breakfast
• 08:30-09:00 bus to Union Baptist Church (Cambridge)
• 09:00-11:30 – Course 3(2): Union Baptist Church (Brown)
• 11:45 – bus to Islamic Society of Boston (ISB)
• 12:00-13:00 – lunch with ISB
• 13:00 – Muslim prayers
• 13:30-14:30 Course 3(2): meeting with ISB board and members of Islamic community in Cambridge (Kazmi)
• 15:00 – bus to Copley Square (Boston)
• 16:30-17:45 – Course 3(2): meeting with Trinity Episcopal Church outreach / mission [tentative]
• 18:00-19:00 – Course 3(2): Trinity Episcopal Church
• 19:30-21:00 Dinner in Boston (Back Bay)
• 21:00 T back to Walker Center

14 August (Monday): Boston

• 06:10 depart for Sha’arei Tefilla (car pool)
• 06:30-08:00 Sha’arei Tefilla
• 8:00-9:00 Breakfast at Newton Centre
• 9:30-11:00 Course 1: Religion and Civil Society: A Theoretical Framing (Seligman)
• 11:00-11:30 Break
• 11:30-13:00 Course 3(2): 10 Point Coalition (Brown)
• 13:00-14:00 Lunch
• 14:30-16:00 Course 2: Religion and Public Space in the U.S. (Mann)
• 16:00-16:30 Break at ANTS
• 16:30-18:15 Facilitation at ANTS, Green Room
• 18:15-19:15 Dinner on the Hill
• 19:30-21:30 Public event
• 21:30 – T to Walker Center

15 August (Tuesday): Boston

• 7:30-8:30 Breakfast at Walker Center
• 9:15-10:45 Course 1: Religion and Civil Society: A Theoretical Framing (Seligman)
• 10:45-11:00 Break
• 11:00-12:30 Course 2: Religion and Public Space: outsider perspective; Muslims in U.S.; Roxbury mosque (DeWann / Cesari)
• 12:30-13:15 Lunch
• 13:15 – Bus to Boston Police Headquarters
• 14:00-16:00 Course 3(2): Boston City Police (Joyce / Winship)
• 16:00 – Bus to Roxbury Mosque
• 16:30-18:00 Field trip to Roxbury Mosque / meeting with community leaders
• 19:00-20:00 Dinner on the Hill
• 20:00-22:00 Evening movie in Berenson Hall – “Bosnia: We Are All Neighbors”
• 10:00 – T to Walker Center

16 August (Wednesday): Boston

• 7:30-8:30 Breakfast at Walker Center
• 9:15-10:45 Course 1: Religion and Civil Society: A Theoretical Framing (Seligman)
• 10:45-11:00 Break
• 11:00-12:30 Course 3(2): 10 Point Coalition (Winship / general meeting)
• 12:30-13:30 Lunch
• 14:00-15:30 Course 2: Muslim Communities in America (Jones / et. al.)
• 15:30-15:45 Break
• 15:45-17:30 Facilitation at ANTS, Green Room
• 18:00-19:30 Dinner in Newton
• 20:00-21:30 meeting at Islamic Center of Boston, Wayland, MA
• 21:30 – Bus back to Walker Center and packing

17 August (Thursday): Boston / DEPART Boston

• 7:30-8:30 Breakfast
• 08:45 T to Hebrew College (van and cars transport luggage)
• 9:15-10:45 Evaluation, ANTS Green Room
• 10:45-11:00 Break
• 11:00-12:00 Closing ceremony, ANTS Green Room
• 12:00-13:00 Lunch
• Depart – taxis to airport

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Diya Agha (USA / Pakistan)
Gulnara Aitpaeva (Kyrgyz Republic)
Bojan Arula (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Brita Gill-Austern (USA)
Evaldo Xavier Gomes (Brazil)
Slavica Jakelić (Croatia / USA)
Abdujabbor Kayumov (Tajikistan)
Darina Kokona (Albania)
Virgjil Kule (Albania)
Alma Mrgan-Slipičević (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Radko Popov (Bulgaria)
Edward Queen (USA)
Haifa Sabbagh (Palestine / Israel)
Aida Šunje (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Deborah Weissman (Israel)

Gulnara Aitpaeva (Kyrgyz Republic) Dr. Gulnara Aitpaeva is Director of Aigine Cultural Research Center, in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Her initial research interest was Kyrgyz folklore and Kyrgyz historical novel. She defended two dissertations, wrote a monograph and taught a variety of folklore and literature courses. In 1999 she created the Kyrgyz Ethnology Department at American University in Kyrgyzstan, with the mission of developing a new social anthropology and facilitating connections and collaborations among social scientists of Central Asia. In 2002 she took the initiative of transforming this department into the Department of Cultural Anthropology and Archeology to expand its scope and mission. From 2001 to early 2004, she was Vice-President for Academic Affairs at American University Central Asia and in spring 2004 she, along with two colleagues, founded the Aigine Cultural Research Center with the missions of expanding research into lesser known aspects of the cultural and natural heritage of Kyrgyzstan, integrating local, esoteric and scholar epistemologies relating to cultural, biological and ethnic diversities. With the support of major grants from the Christensen Foundation, Aigine has been conducting an extensive collaborative research project involving local healers, ritual specialists, the epic tellers, other spiritual practitioners in studies of sacred sites (mazars) of Kyrgyzstan. This project has been innovative for the fieldwork, conferences and workshops in which practitioners, scholars, and local university students have all participated. We have published extensive documentation and made a detailed map of the sacred sites. Concentrating on cultural and biological dimensions of mazars, studying and supporting the processes connected with them including rituals, life stories of the guardians, herb healing, and various forms of traditional mediations, Aigine works on the processes that promoted and continue to promote the recovery and stabilization of many people and possibly the building and maintenance of a healthy and dynamic society.

Bojan Arula (Bosnia and Herzegovina) I worked as volunteer during my studies in different organizations such as: Save the Children UK, Youth Communicative Center, Humanitarian organization “Partner”, International Forum of Bosnia, Association of psychologists of Republic of Srpska and others. I still have great cooperation with mentioned organizations. I was a cofounder and the first president (from 2002 till 2004) of Union of students of social work Banja Luka University. Today I am the president of NGO “New generation” (confounded in 2004) that is the association of social workers and others in the field of social work. Also, I am an active participant of reforms of social sector in Republic of Srpska and Bosnia and Herzegovina through different commissions, projects, and seminars and around tables. I am author of a manual for education of children without parental care for substation life in local community (2005), coauthor of books Education and Culture in Bosnia and Herzegovina (2006), Children and Youth Issues in Human Rights Context in Bosnia and Herzegovina (2007), and several articles about youth and children.

Brita Gill-Austern (USA) Brita L. Gill-Austern is the Austin Philip Guiles Professor of Psychology and Pastoral Care at Andover Newton Theological School. She is an ordained United Church of Christ minister and has served congregations in Pennsylvania and California. She is co-editor of Feminist Womanist Pastoral Theology and the authors of many chapters and articles in the field of pastoral theology. She serves on the Board of the Interreligious Center for Public Life and has been committed to Jewish-Christian dialogue and dialogues on the Middle East for many years in various capacities. In more recent years she has been actively involved in Jewish-Christian and Muslim relations and has taught at Hartford Seminary in their Abrahamic Partnerships program during the summer.

Evaldo Xavier Gomes (Brazil) Fr. Evaldo Xavier Gomes (know as Padre during the 2006 ISSPRL) is a Carmelite priest, born in Brazil and living in Rome since 2001. He has a degree in law from the Faculty of Law at the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Brazil. In 2004 he obtained a license in Utroque Iure (Canon and Civil Law) from the Lateran University in Rome. Since 2004, he has been a doctoral candidate in Utroque Iure at Lateran University, with his research subject on the freedom of religion and international law. He has written articles on Canon Law and Church and State relations and is a member of the editorial board of the Brazilian Canon Law Review. Currently he is the Director of the printing house of the Carmelite Order in Rome. Evaldo focused his studies on Catholic theology and law, as well as philosophy and freedom of religion.

Slavica Jakelić (Croatia / USA) Slavica Jakelić is Research Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Virginia and Co-Director of the Program on Religion, Culture, and Democracy at the UVA’s Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture. Her work explores the importance of religion for people’s collective identities. She has written specialized and non-specialized essays on the theories of religion, public role of religions in modern societies, secularization and secularism, religion and violence, and religious dialogue. She is presently working on a book entitled Religion as Identity: The Challenge of Collectivistic Religion in the Contemporary World.

Abdujabbor Kayumov (Tajikistan) Abdujabbor is currently the Program Manager of the NGO “Fariza”. During past few years Mr. Kayumov has been working in organization whose mission was development of the civil society and prevention or resolution of conflicts at the territory covering three states of Central Asia: Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. Abdujabbor received his B.A and M.A. in International Economic Relations from State University of Khujand. Personal interests are interethnic and religious conflicts and its resolution methods. Abdujabbor is working on resolving and prevention of conflicts and tensions between different ethnic groups in Fergana Valley already about 4 last years, he facilitated the process of community negotiations on water and land issues in frontier areas of Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan and reached consensus on them. Also he has participated in several seminars, trainings and conferences in deferent countries including Poland, Japan, Bosnia & Herzegovina and USA. Few years ago he has made a field research on Religious radicalization: compeering the cases of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan and also wrote a short paper on Identity issue in Central Asia.

Darina Kokona (Albania) Darina Kokona holds the position of Project Manager at Co-PLAN (Institute for Habitat Development), Tirana, Albania. She is responsible for the project: “Steps towards an inclusive society, integration of minorities in the urban development” with a special focus on the Roma and Egyptian minority in Albania. She is also involved in other projects of the organization for issues regarding community development especially extralegal communities in informal area as well as capacity strengthening for the local authorities throughout the process of new trends in Albania regarding social urbanization developments throughout the country. Her works focus on both theoretical and practical approach to better address the cultural, religious, social differences of these communities in the local and regional social and economic policies that will enable their integration in the new post-communist society/system. She holds a BA in Social Work (major social work and psychology) from the State University of Tirana, Albania followed by a series of trainings and on the job qualifications with a strong profile in social sciences, gender issues, child education, psycho-social assistance to victims of human trafficking, marginalized groups and minorities. She is also very familiar and posses long experience and knowledge on the non-profit sector in Albania, and non-Profit capacities and institutions, giving expertise to NPOs as a certified trainer in project writing, administration and management, project implementation, evaluation and monitoring skills. “To be one, to be united is a great thing. But to respect the right to be different is maybe even greater.” Bono

Virgjil Kule (Albania) Virgjil Kule is former director of the World Vision Project on Religious Harmony and currently working on a documentary of life in various regions of Albania.

Alma Mrgan-Slipičević (Bosnia and Herzegovina) She graduated from the Džemal Bijedić University of Mostar, with major in English Language and Literature. She is currently enrolled at the English department of Postgraduate Studies at the Faculty of Philosophy in Sarajevo. She works as a program manager for the International Forum Bosnia, a non-governmental organization in Sarajevo, which is committed to the creation of a future for Bosnia and Herzegovina as a harmonious and united society, based on dialogue, trust and respect, and on optimum practice in the fields of human rights protection, the rule of law, and democracy.

Radko Popov (Bulgaria) Radko Popov is Bulgarian Orthodox Christian. He is theologian very much interested in Christian-Muslim dialogue. The publication of his book Jesus Christ in the Qur’an is forthcoming. It will be the first book on the subject in the Bulgarian language. At the moment he is doing research for a PhD. The provisional title of his research is Aspects of Christian-Muslim Dialogue in the Second Half of the XX Century. Radko is also coordinator of the project Centre of Interreligious and Intercultural Studies in Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria. He has produced a great number of programs for the BBC World service and written several articles on Islam and Christian-Muslim relations for Bulgarian and international publications.

Edward Queen (USA) Edward Queen directs the D. Abbott Turner Program in Ethics and Servant Leadership at Emory University’s Center for Ethics. He received his B.A. from Birmingham-Southern College, his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from the Divinity School of the University of Chicago, and his J.D. from the Indiana University School of Law-Indianapolis. Prior to joining the Center for Ethics, Queen served as Faculty and Curriculum Development Advisor to the Faculty of Law of South East European University, Macedonia where he taught courses on the transition to democracy. Among the human rights organizations with which he has worked are the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights of the Republic of Macedonia and the Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring Group. Queen also served as administrator of the International Human Rights Internship Program at the Indiana University School of Law, Indianapolis. The founding director of both the Religion and Philanthropy Project at the Indiana University Center on Philanthropy and of the Islamic Society of North America's Fellowship Program in Nonprofit Management and Governance and a former program officer at Lilly Endowment, Inc., Queen has consulted with numerous nonprofit, governmental, and educational organizations, including the, the Pew Charitable Trusts, Independent Sector, USAID, and the Corporation for National and Community Service. A specialist in issues related to religion and culture as well as democratization, human rights, and civil society, Queen has written, coauthored, or edited numerous books, including Serving Those In Need: A Handbook for Managing Faith-Based Human Services Organizations (2000), Philanthropy in the World's Traditions (1998), and The Encyclopedia of American Religious History (1992, rev. ed. 2002).

Haifa Sabbagh (Palestine / Israel) Haifa Sabbagh is the director of educational programs at the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute in Israel.

Aida Šunje (Bosnia and Herzegovina) Aida Šunje was born in 1983 in Mostar, Bosnia. She is currently finishing her studies at the Faculty of political affairs at the University of Sarajevo. Besides studying, she has been working at the International Forum Bosnia, a leading Bosnian NGO, since 2002. Her main interests are reporting on war crimes and human rights.

Deborah Weissman (Israel) Dr. Deborah Weissman, born in New York, settled in Jerusalem in 1972. She holds a BA from Barnard College and an MA from New York University, both in sociology, and a Ph.D. in Jewish education from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Her main field of academic research is the social history of Jewish women’s education. Debbie has had extensive experience in both formal and informal Jewish education, both with Israelis and with Diaspora youth and adults. For nine years, she was the director of a teacher training institute for Israeli high school teachers. Prior to that, Debbie worked for 12 years at the Hebrew University, primarily in the Melton Centre for Jewish Education and the School for Overseas Students. Other affiliations in the past have included the Pardes Institute, the Hartman Institute, the Institute for Training Jewish Youth Leaders from Abroad, and the education branch of the Israel Defense Forces. Outside of the professional realm, Debbie was one of the founders and is still an active member of Kehillat Yedidya in Bak’a, a modern Orthodox synagogue that has excellent neighborly relations with its Reform and Conservative neighbors. Other interests include religious feminism and interfaith dialogue, both locally and internationally. She is currently Co-Chair of the Inter-Religious Coordinating Council in Israel.

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