Patrick Mason is associate director of research for Contending
Modernities, Notre Dame’s new global research project, and research
associate professor at the Kroc Institute. We asked him to explain the
goals of the project and what academics and researchers can contribute
to resolving world problems.
Why is the Kroc Institute taking the lead on this project?
On one level, it fits squarely within Kroc’s expertise in religion, conflict, and peacebuilding. In a deeper sense, it falls within our signature approach of strategic peacebuilding. We argue that the most pressing dilemmas of the 21st century – from mass violence to environmental degradation, gender inequality to economic development – demand that religious and secular forces collaborate, rather than compete. We want to use the most sophisticated forms of academic research to advance peace and justice, among religions and between religious and non-religious people and organizations.
Why start with Catholics and Muslims?
Because we modestly only wanted to study 40 percent of all humanity. More seriously, Islam and Catholicism are not only the world’s two largest religious bodies, they are truly global in scope. They also both have histories that predate the onset of modernity and give them distinctive perspectives on the social, political, cultural, economic, intellectual, and religious changes of the past three centuries. We anticipate expanding the project in the next few years to include other forms of Christianity as well as Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and perhaps others.
How is this different from other studies that have proliferated since 9/11?
The centers, institutes, and programs that have mushroomed in the U.S. and Europe to study Islam or improve Muslim-Christian understanding are all valuable, but our unique contribution is to put Islam and Catholicism in sustained scholarly conversation not only with one another but also with secularism. Rather than treating religious communities in isolation, we seek to understand how Catholicism, Islam, and secularism have engaged in a complex and intricate dance that has fundamentally shaped modernity, even as each tradition has responded to the world’s radical transformations.
Patrick Mason’s comments can be used whole or in part.
Related links
Contending Modernities at a glance »
Contending Modernities blog »
