McGill University has become the first Canadian university to partner with the Tony Blair Faith Foundation’s Faith and Globalisation Initiative, a global network of universities exploring the complex interrelationship of faith and globalisation.
Presbyterian College, Montreal, through its affiliation with McGill, will be involved in this new venture. Students will have access to the new courses and the resources being offered. One of the McGill courses required of PC students, Christianity in a Global Perspective, will be revised in light of participation in the new program.
“As we educate and equip church leaders for the 21st century, this new program will expand the exposure of our theological students to Christianity as a global phenomenon,” PC principal Rev. Dr. John Vissers told the Record, “and introduce them to the best minds thinking about the public dimensions of religion today.”
McGill will develop a new, multi-disciplinary course for 120 students, and will host conferences, public lectures, events and campus activities.
The Montreal university joins Yale University, the National University of Singapore and Durham University in the UK. Discussions are underway with universities in China, India, Australia and Latin America to ensure the network includes numerous geographies and cultural traditions. McGill’s program will focus particularly on the Canadian perspective, from the origin of human rights to indigenous peoples.
“As globalisation pushes people closer together we need to understand how the relations between people of different religious faiths can shape societies for good or ill,” said former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, patron of the foundation, in a McGill press release. “Our next generation of leaders needs access to the insights of renowned thinkers such as those at McGill. Canada is known around the world as a nation that welcomes and celebrates diversity, it is a testament to the fact that cultural variety can be a great source of strength.”
