University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Office of the Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

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Illinois Interfaith Conference

Multicolor watercolor sun. Illinois Interfaith Conference. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Block I Logo in Orange.

February 21 – 22, 2025
With Dr. Allison Briscoe-Smith
Psychologist and Senior Fellow at University of California, Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center

The Illinois Interfaith Conference is a FREE opportunity for University of Illinois students and campus allies- as well as student leaders and professionals from across the Midwest- to join together to engage in critical questions about interfaith engagement on the college campus. All people of religious and non-religious philosophical traditions are welcome! 

If you will need disability-related accommodations in order to participate, please email diversity@illinois.edu. Early requests are strongly encouraged to allow sufficient time for meeting your access needs.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke of the “beloved community,” a place where justice and love come together to overcome hate. Our religious, spiritual and secular identities may call us to act together to care for one another. How can we come together across our differences? Can we use those differences as strengths rather than dividing lines? The Illinois Interfaith Conference on February 21-22, 2025 will explore how we welcome one another into community together, and tools for our many faiths, experiences, and identities to bring us closer together. Registration is free.  

The conference will open on Friday, February 21 with keynote speaker Dr. Allison Briscoe-Smith, child clinical psychologist and Senior Fellow at University of California, Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center. Allison will speak about her work on the science of bridging differences to build a “beloved community.” Prior to the keynote, the Interfaith Conference will host a Friday night shabbat dinner.  

On Saturday, February 22, the conference will continue to explore strategies for building a beloved community through action. Dr. Allison Briscoe-Smith will offer workshops designed to prepare participants for reflective community service while bridging differences. A panel session featuring local religious leaders and student leaders will focus on how they work to build bridges through interfaith collaboration. Participants will have an opportunity to participate in a local service project to apply skills and knowledge from the conference. Lunch will be provided.  

Keynote speaker Dr. Allison Briscoe-Smith combines her love of teaching and advocacy by serving as a professor, by directing mental health programs for children experiencing trauma, homelessness or foster care and developing her own consultancy.  Much of her work has been with schools, higher education, philanthropy and health care organizations, as a clinician, consultant and trainer.  She also provides training and consultation to organizations and systems determined to create spaces of healing and belonging.  She currently serves as the Diversity Lead of Student Life at the University of Washington, as the founder and principal of Soft River Consultation and as a Senior Fellow at the University of California, Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center where she focuses on developing and implementing the science of bridging (connecting across our differences). Allison will also be speaking at the Friday Forum + Conversation Cafe at noon on Friday at the University YMCA.  

The Illinois Interfaith Conference is co-sponsored by the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, Diversity & Social Justice Education, Illini Hillel, Interfaith in Action, the Department of Religion, Interfaith Alliance of Champaign County, Religious Workers Association, and the University YMCA.  

Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, the Chancellor, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, or The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois.