The Tachmindji Event is one of the premier events of the Consortium, made possible by the vision of Diane Tachmindji. View more information about upcoming and past events below. The Event is dedicated to interreligious dialogue, currently focusing on interfaith dialogue and peacemaking.
2018: Interfaith Encounters that Change Us: The Impact of Others’ Faith on Our Own
This year’s Tachmindji Event featured Rabbi Serotta on Community Based Dialogue Peacebuilding in the Metro area. He is Executive Director of the Interfaith Council of Metropolitan Washington. He was the Founder and Chair of Rabbis for Human Rights – North America, and he chaired the Board of Chaplains of George Washington University for many years.
Respondents include Imam Yahya Hendi,
Chaplain at Georgetown University and Dr. Matthew Taylor, Protestant Scholar
at the Institute for Islamic, Christian, and Jewish Studies will also respond
This remarkable evening features young peacebuilders from the “Seeds of Peace” organization, which inspires and cultivates new generations of global leaders in communities divided by conflict. Seeds of Peace encompasses 6,558 alumni throughout the Middle East, South Asia, Europe, and the United States. They equip exceptional youth and educators with the skills and relationships they need to accelerate social, economic, and political changes essential for peace. This event includes presentations, moderator’s response, discussion, and a reception. (Free parking beneath SIS building.)
2017: Seeds of Peace: Young Peacebuilders Across the Globe
This remarkable evening featured young peacebuilders from the “Seeds of Peace” organization, which inspires and cultivates new generations of global leaders in communities divided by conflict. Seeds of Peace encompasses 6,558 alumni throughout the Middle East, South Asia, Europe, and the United States. They equip exceptional youth and educators with the skills and relationships they need to accelerate social, economic, and political changes essential for peace.
(no video available for this event)
Panelists: Mr. Jabari, a Palestinian Seed from Hebron, attended the Seeds of Peace Camp in 2007. He is a Graduate Student at the Fletcher School at Tufts University where his focus is on International Business Relations and Political Economy.
Mr. Shapir, an Israeli Seed from Haifa, attended the Seeds of Peace Camp in 2008. He is a student in International and Global Studies and Business at Brandeis University, where he received the Malkin Scholarship that fosters greater tolerance, understanding and co-existence in Israel and the United States.
Moderator: Aaron David Miller is Vice-President for New Initiatives and a Distinguished Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in DC. For two decades he served in the Department of State as an analyst, negotiator and adviser on Middle Eastern issues to Republican and Democratic Secretaries of State. From 2003-06 he served as president of Seeds of Peace.
2016: Alternative Responses to Violent Extremism:
Islamic Approaches to Peacebuilding
Speaker: Dr. Mohammed Abu-Nimer
Professor in the School of International Service at American University, Founder and President of the Salam Institute for Peace and Justice
Response from Honored Guest, Mr. Khizr Khan
Speaker at Democratic National Convention, Lawyer, Community leader, andGold Star father of American military hero, Captain Humayun Khan
2015: Refugees, Religious Communities and their Security:The Importance of Intercommunal Co-existence in the Middle East
Speaker: Ms. Hind Kabawat
Director of Interfaith Peacebuilding, Center for World Religions, Diplomacy, and Conflict Resolution (CRDC), George Mason University
Response by Dr. Marc Gopin
Director of the CRDC and the James H. Laue Professor of World Religions, Diplomacy, and Conflict Resolution, George Mason University
2014: Christian-Jewish Reconciliation: The Unfinished Business
Dr. Joseph Montville of George Mason University reflected on this important and timely topic at American University in October 2014.
In October 2013, Dr. Lisa Schirch, from the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding of Eastern Mennonite University addressed “Where Religion and Peacebuilding Meet National Security” through her story as a Mennonite and her experiences in the Middle East and Afghanistan. The audience included diplomats, policy makers, church leaders, educators and students in diplomacy and theological studies.
Dr. Marc Gopin addressed a diverse crowd of students, religious leaders,faculty, and public-minded laity on this topic in October 2012 at American University. Dr. Gopin spoke of “on the ground” peacemaking that keeps hope and progress alive.
Dr. Leonard Swidler addressed a diverse audience at Virginia Theological Seminary on this engaging topic.