Description

RECOMMENDATION:  Discretionary grant of $25,000 to Reset Dialogues (USA) for the Casablanca Seminars on religious pluralism and political liberties.
Reset Dialogues on Civilizations (DOC) is an international organization based in Italy, committed to research, publishing and networking on cross-cultural and international relations, pluralism, human rights and democracy.  Founded in 2004 in the midst of global debate about the “clash of civilizations,” it organizes academic conferences and summer schools with internationally recognized faculty, and disseminates research through its website, social media and other forums.  Reset Dialogues (USA) is the organization’s sister association in the U.S.
In the Middle East and North Africa, Reset contends, debates on the role of religion in public life are hindered by rigid interpretations of Islam that deny the legitimacy of alternative perspectives, and stifle the nuances and transformations of Islam has undergone in different communities, times, and places.
To counter this rigidity and to foster respectful dialogues, Reset will launch the Casablanca Seminars in July 2018.  The program will take place in Casablanca, Morocco, and will include an international academic conference in conjunction with a six-day summer school.  This is conceived as a pilot for what Reset would like to establish as a sustainable and more ambitious effort in the coming years. 
The conference and school will draw on leading academics from the region as well as Europe and the U.S.  HRLI support would be used primarily to cover the U.S. participation, and to reach U.S. audiences through English-language materials on Reset DOC’s website.  Other supporters including the Carnegie Corporation.  For HRLI, this effort is well-aligned with growing interest we have seen in more robust engagement with scholars in the Middle East and Europe.
 
www.resetdoc.org