Below are details of a unique course offering for the upcoming Summer Session at our member school, Virginia Theological Seminary. Applications are due by April 8, 2026.
Dialogue of Abrahamic Faiths: Understanding and Partnership
May 14-19, 2026
Virginia Theological Seminary * Alexandria, VA
This unique offering is an intensive, residential course that focuses on the academic study of sacred texts and practices in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam for seminarians and religious education students from each of these traditions. The focus will be on comparing and contrasting these great traditions toward greater understanding and areas of partnership. It also includes sessions about the shared challenges of being a faith leader, and visits to each other’s houses of worship.
The five nights and days of this in-person course allow students to build interfaith friendships that can last for many years.
There is no cost for the program, or for room or board, and a travel stipend will be offered (up to $500). Depending on the student’s school’s policies, students can take the course for between 1.5 to 3 credits, with tuition paid to their school. Applications should be made by to your Academic Dean for their endorsement. Details on the dates and topics of the course are available via this downloadable flyer.
The core faculty is featured here:
Dr. Sandra Collins is the Professor of Sacred Scripture and acting Academic Dean at the Byzantine Catholic Seminary in Pittsburgh. She has taught at the Church Divinity School of the Pacific and Carnegie Mellon University. She earned a PhD in Religious Studies, an MLS from the University of Pittsburgh, and an MA from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. Dr. Collins has written numerous articles on Eastern Christianity, the Hebrew Scriptures, and the New Testament. She is deeply committed to ecumenical and interfaith dialogue for all religious leaders.
Dr. Gulsum Kuchuksari is a professor of Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies who teaches in the Department of Critical Race, Gender and Culture at American University. She teaches at theological schools throughout the US, including Virginia Theological Seminary and Wesley Theological Seminary. She earned her PhD in Middle Eastern Studies from the University of Arizona and an MA in Islamic Studies and Christian-Muslim Relations from Hartford Seminary. She has also served as a Muslim and interfaith chaplain at college campuses and hospitals.
Dr. Ori Z. Soltes is Professor of Jewish Studies at the Center for Jewish Civilization at Georgetown University. He is the former Director of the B’nai B’rith Klutznick National Jewish Museum. As co-founding Director of the Holocaust Art Restitution Project he spent 20 years investigating Nazi-plundered art. Dr. Soltes is author or editor of 28 books and scores of articles. Recent volumes include Our Sacred Signs on Jewish, Christian, and Muslim art, The Ashen Rainbow: Essays on the Arts and the Holocaust; Christianity and Islam: Searching for Oneness, and Tradition and Transformation regarding Jewish art.
For more information contact Dr. Larry Golemon at [email protected]
Limited to 24 students. Applications due by April 8, 2026.
To view additional summer and fall 2026 courses, visit the course search page.