Annual Scholarly Convening

Building on previous convenings, the Boniuk Institute gathered global experts at Rice University in Houston, Texas to shape a new, interdisciplinary agenda around issues of religious violence and pluralism, and to strategize practical, public-facing outputs.

The Boniuk Institute gathered scholars representing nearly a dozen different nations in Paris to discuss new directions for global research on religious violence and pluralism.

In May 2024, the Boniuk Institute for the Study and Advancement of Religious Tolerance hosted its inaugural convening of global scholars on the subject of religious pluralism and violence at Rice University.

The Communities of the Qur’an conference brings together eminent scholars and practitioners of various Islamic traditions to discuss and deliberate each traditions' respective interpretations of Qur'anic verses. It comes in the wake of increased sectarian violence in the Middle East, renewed military intervention in the region and a rise in Islamophobia. This conference-–the first of its kind-– places rich, diverse and at times opposing interpretations of the Qur’an, in direct conversation with one another.

German philosopher and author Rainer Forst discussed the intersections of religious and racial tolerance and democracy at Rice University’s Boniuk Institute for the Study and Advancement of Religious Tolerance.