INDIANA UNIVERSITY SOUTHEAST LIBRARY

October 12, 2021 | 0 COMMENTS | by admin

We live with an abundance of information available to learn about other cultures, religions, and peoples, however, our challenge becomes filtering through all that comes at us—some of it ill-informed, some of it quality journalism—so that we may learn and grow to become a more compassionate community and world. The Salaam Network, composed of excellent scholars and community religious and lay leaders, in Louisville, Kentucky, is creatively working to share open, honest, and accurate information about Islam and our Muslim neighbors to create friendships and partnerships to overcome the problem of Islamophobia.

There are 25 mosques in Louisville and five synagogues, and hundreds of churches. It is vital for there to be events to meet and mix with peoples of Abrahamic and other faith traditions. The Salaam Network creates pop-up spaces for cultural understanding and dialogue at universities, public libraries, and varied religious institutions. These events bring us together in an intentional, proactive way.

As a college educator, I want quality resources, and experiences about different cultures and religions to exist in our community for student and lifelong learning. As a spiritual person, I am interested in building understanding and creating connections between different religions, in a step towards world peace. The Salaam Network has given me, and hundreds of others in our community, opportunities to for both. In 2018, I represented the Jewish faith for Women in Four Spiritual Traditions: Further Along the Journey to Wholeness, where our panel engaged one another and our audience in authentic dialogue about our respective faiths and cultures.

As Louisville strives to become known as a compassionate city, the work of the Salaam Network is essential. I urge your Committee to select the Salaam Network as the recipient of the 2020 Atlantic Renewal Award to continue their excellent work promoting peace and understanding.

Melanie E. Hughes, Library Liaison to the School of Education and Center for Cultural Resources

Indiana University Southeast Library

December 1, 2019