Saint Rose Lecture Series to Shine a Light on Religious Intolerance and Hate

The College of Saint Rose will host the Sidney & Beatrice Albert Interfaith Lecture April 17 at 7 p.m. at the Hubbard Interfaith Sanctuary. The event will highlight an important and timely topic: “The Rise of Anti-Semitism and Islamophobia: Solutions and Challenges,” and is open and free to the public.

Dr. Mehnaz M. Afridi will join the Saint Rose community as the event’s guest speaker. Afridi is an associate professor of Religious Studies and director of the Holocaust, Genocide, and Interfaith Education Center at Manhattan College. Much of her coursework revolves around issues of religion, theology, and politics.

The New York Times recently reported that anti-Semitic incidents in the U.S. increased 57 percent in 2017. This increase is the largest in a year since the Audit of Anti-Semitic Incidents began tracking in 1979. Additionally, in 2016, anti-Muslim hate crimes surged 67 percent, almost matching a level of violence since the 9/11 attacks, according to CNN.

Members of the Sidney & Beatrice Albert Interfaith Lecture Committee first heard Afridi speak at another college in the Capital District and was blown away by her intelligence and authority on the topic, and hopes the event will help the community gain a better perspective on how intolerance and hate can lead to unbelievable atrocities.

About the program:

The Sidney and Beatrice Albert Inter-Faith Lectureship Program was founded at The College of Saint Rose to preserve and develop the qualities of compassion and religious tolerance embodied by the late Sidney and Beatrice Albert. The program, which brings notable speakers to the Saint Rose campus each year, is designed to encourage understanding and dialogue among people of different religious backgrounds and faiths.

Event Details:

 

WHEN: Tuesday, April 17, 2018, at 7 p.m.

LOCATION: Hubbard Interfaith Sanctuary, 959 Madison Avenue, The College of Saint Rose, Albany, NY

For more information call the Office of Spiritual Life at 454-5250