The Carleton Centre for the Study of Islam, in collaboration with the Intercultural Dialogue Institute – Ottawa and the Canadian Council of Muslim Women, was holding a major workshop on AVERTING VIOLENT EXTREMISM on February 4-5, 2016. This unique event, the first of its kind in Canada, evaluated the viability of religious literacy in countering vulnerable youth’s attraction to violent extremism.
A number of Canadians and citizens of other Western countries are fighting for ISIS / Daesh. Governments have spoken about developing non-military approaches to counter-radicalization but have not been able to make much progress towards this end. This interdisciplinary workshop examined the serious social problem of foreign fighter recruitment extremism by mobilizing the research and expertise of academics and practitioners working in the areas of communication, education, migration, multiculturalism, public policy, religion, and security.
The keynote address was delivered on February 5 by Prof. Ali Asani of Harvard University’s Religious Literacy Project. 80 – 90 individuals from universities, government (parliamentarians and public servants), schools and civil society associations participated in this interactive workshop. They deliberated on the possibilities of religious literacy, pluralism and community resilience as ways of averting violent extremism.
The event took place at two separate locations. On Thursday, February 4, 2016, discussions was held at the Intercultural Dialogue Institute – Ottawa at 335 Michael Cowpland Dr., Kanata, from 6 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. On Friday, February 5, 2016, the workshop continued at the 2nd Floor of the River Building, Carleton University, located at 1125 Colonel By Dr., from 7:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
This workshop served as a first step towards contributing to the global effort to avert violent extremism. This was an invitation-only event.
