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September 24, 2015 News, Press Releases

Humanists and Religious Leaders to Gather at Rutgers for Interfaith Conference for Social Progress

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September 24, 2015 News, Press Releases

MEDIA ADVISORY

Thursday, September 24, 2015

Contact:

Merrill Miller, 202-238-9088 ext. 105, merrillmiller@americanhumanist.org

Jessica Xiao, 202-238-9088 ext. 112, jxiao@americanhumanist.org

The American Humanist Association, the Xaverian Missionaries and the Department of Off-Campus Living and Community Partnerships at Rutgers University, with planning assistance from the Humanist Community at Rutgers and the American Ethical Union, are collaborating to hold Common Ground, a free conference bringing together religious believers, secular humanists, and nonbelievers for social progress and the common good. This event is free and open to the general public. Students are encouraged to attend.

WHEN: Thursday, October 8, 2015.Registration beings at 8:00am ET, and the conference will be held from 8:54 am-6:00pm ET.

WHERE: Rutgers Student Center and Multipurpose Room, 126 College Ave, New Brunswick, NJ 08901

WHO: Speakers include: Rev. Dr. C Welton Gaddy, President Emeritus of Interfaith Alliance and Senior Pastor of Northminster Church; Arun Gandhi, fifth grandson of Mohandas K. “Mahatma” Gandhi; Nadia Hassan, program coordinator at the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA)’s Office for Interfaith and Community Alliances (IOICA); Rabbi Nancy Fuchs Kreimer, PhD, founder of the multifaith department at Reconstructionist Rabbinical College; Dr. Julien Musolino, a Franco-American associate professor at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, in the Psychology Department and the Center for Cognitive Science; Anthony Pinn, Harvard PhD, author of thirty books on religion and race; Chris Stedman, executive director of the Yale Humanist Community; Roy Speckhardt, executive director of the American Humanist Association; and Gretta Vosper, an atheist and leader of West Hill United, a United Church of Canada congregation located in Toronto. A full list of speakers is available here.

WHY: The 2015 Common Ground conference aims to promote collaboration by giving religious and nonreligious individuals’ perspectives on each other’s ways of seeing the world while embracing commonalities in shared human experience that can bring people together for social change. Leaders from national and local organizations representing humanist, Christian, Muslim, Jewish and other religious and ethical perspectives will present talks on the meaning of life, ethics, and values, and lead a workshop on collaborating for social action. The vision and hope for the conference is that attendees will be spurred to continue interfaith cooperation in activism and social justice.

MORE INFORMATION: More information about the conference and speakers can be found at http://www.commonground2015.org/.  Those interested in attending, including members of the press, must pre-register here.

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Founded in 1941 and headquartered in Washington, D.C., the American Humanist Association works to protect the rights of humanists, atheists and other nontheistic Americans. The AHA advances the ethical and life-affirming philosophy of humanism, which—without beliefs in any gods or other supernatural forces—encourages individuals to live informed and meaningful lives that aspire to the greater good of humanity.

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