Haifa Laboratory for Religious Studies
The Haifa Laboratory for Religious Studies is capitalizing on the unique strengths of the city of Haifa as one of the most multi-religious settings in the world to advance our understanding of the role that religions can play in promoting social cohesion in an increasingly diverse society.
The Laboratory’s mission is to facilitate a community of scholars whose interdisciplinary research promotes dialogue between religious leaderships and collaborations with local and international religious communities and institutions.
Project Contact
Project Links
The Project
Humanity has been profoundly influenced by religion throughout history. With an emphasis on the promotion of religious studies through interdisciplinary collaborations, the University of Haifa strives to create a community of scholars whose research stand in affinity to religious studies. The Haifa Laboratory for Religious Studies will aim to promote an interdisciplinary dialogue regarding key issues of interest to the field, and encourage research collaborations within the local academic community and with other institutions in Israel and abroad.
The Haifa Laboratory for Religious Studies will capitalize on the unique characteristics of the city of Haifa as a model of religious tolerance and a meeting place for people of many faiths and cultures. Researchers associated with the Haifa Laboratory will conduct of original interdisciplinary research that will contribute to mutual understanding among religions; facilitate ongoing, constructive dialogue among religious groups; host international conferences with leading scholars of religion, and provide a critical platform for educating thousands of Israeli and foreign students about the role of religion in states and societies. The Haifa Laboratory will offer a graduate studies program and competitive fellowships for visiting fellows.
The Haifa Laboratory for Religious Studies will facilitate interdisciplinary projects with public outreach such as:
- Social scientists interested in the implementation of policies in religiously mixed urban settings will work with cultural studies scholars and analyze case studies from both a political and cultural perspective.
- In collaboration with local educators, Faculty of Education researchers will test the suitability and effectiveness of current educational programs in religiously diverse neighborhoods.
- Researchers from the Faculty of Law and the Department of Anthropology will review court cases involving family disputes between members of different religious affiliations to better understand the interplay between communal and familial attachments, and the convergence of different legal traditions in religiously shared social spaces.
Heading this unique initiative is Dr. Uriel Simonsohn of the Department of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies. His research focuses on the social history of Middle Eastern Muslim, Christian, and Jewish communities from the Christianization of the Roman Empire to the high Middle Ages.
Credit: University of Haifa Archives