New interfaith e-learning courses from the Woolf Institute

This January the Woolf Institute is launching two exciting new e-learning courses:

• Muslims and Jews: the historical and contemporary encounter
• Jews, Christians and Muslims in Europe: modern challenges

The Woolf Insitute, Cambridge, is one of the world's leading institutes in the study and teaching of all aspects of the encounter between Christians and Jews and Muslim and Jews throughout the ages. Comprising two centres, the Centre for the Study of Jewish-Christian Relations and the Centre for the Study of Muslim-Jewish relations CMJR, the institute offers a wide range of courses which includes a Cambridge University Masters Degree, e-learning courses as well as individually tailored programmes for faith groups and public sector workers

Our e-learning approach gives participants the freedom to study whenever they want from anywhere in the world but with the knowledge that Woolf Institute tutors will be there to support them throughout their studies. 

Never has there been a greater need for an understanding of other faiths and relations between faiths. Our courses will appeal to those interested in history as well as in how faith is impacting on society today, particularly people working in and with faith communities. Past participants have included police officers, educators, human rights officers, lawyers, religious and community leaders, film directors and journalists.

Muslims and Jews: the historical and contemporary encounter

Relations between Muslims and Jews are often overshadowed by the conflict in the Middle East and by an increasing sense of insecurity felt by each community. But there is more to Muslim-Jewish relations than a history of discord.

This pioneering 12 week course will study the historical periods of fruitful co-existence and tolerance, the encounters which brought Muslims and Jews together, and the shared rituals that are part of the fabric of everyday life. We will also ask difficult questions related to how perceptions of the ‘other’ are formed in the context of sacred narratives. And whether Islamophobia and Antisemitism are on the rise and how we should deal with them. The course will also address modern complexities, including the rise of modern Zionism and the place of Palestine in Muslim consciousness.

Click here to find out more about this programme.

Jews, Christians and Muslims in Europe: modern challenges
This three-part course starting in January focuses on the relationship and impact of Jews, Christians and Muslims in Europe today, their history, culture and issues of citizenship.

Is there more to Jewish history in Europe than the Holocaust? Is the presence of Muslims in Europe a new phenomenon spanning only the last few decades? How have Jews, Christians and Muslims influenced European culture? Is constructive coexistence possible? Within this course students will be encouraged to address challenging questions, some easier to answer than others, through case studies and set reading.

This 12 week course is taught at a final-year undergraduate level and the e-learning approach allows you to study wherever and whenever you choose via the internet. You will work with Woolf Institute tutors who will support you through the course and alongside fellow students with whom you will be able to discuss ideas on our online forum.

Click here to find out more about this programme.

Applications are now being accepted for both programmes which begin in January 2011