Center for Democracy, Toleration, and Religion

Center for Democracy, Toleration, and Religion (CDTR)‘s mission is to develop further a social scientific approach to the study of religion and to engage the topics of religious pluralism, religion and democracy and the study of religion and education. In each
of these defined areas, CDTR has had tremendous successes organizing conferences, workshops and publishing books.

CDTR is an affiliated center with Social Science Matrix at UC Berkeley, and is also affiliated with the Othering and Belonging Institute and the Berkeley Center for the Study of Religion.

Karen Barkey is the Director of CDTR. Initially as Co-Director starting in 2009 when CDTR was at Columbia University, she was instrumental in the relocation of the Center to UC Berkeley in 2016. She is the Haas Distinguished Chair of Religious Diversity and Professor of Sociology at University of California, Berkeley with expertise in Comparative Historical Sociology, Political Sociology and Religion.  She is also Co-Director of the Berkeley Center for the Study of Religion.

Simon Brown is a PhD candidate in history at UC Berkeley, specializing in religion in early modern Europe. His research focuses on the relationship between religion and political economy in Britain between the Reformation and the Enlightenment. He has a primary role in helping to coordinate this conference including working with the panelists as well as assembling relevant materials.

Rachel Park is a Research Associate at CDTR. She is also a freelance translator, film critic, and researcher. She received her B.A. in Comparative Literature from UC Berkeley and her M.A. in Korean Studies from Korea University. Her translations have appeared in Korean Literature Now and the Verso blog, and her film criticism can be found at Koreanfilm.org. Broadly speaking, her research interests include modern Korean literature and film, gender and social movements, and critiques of racial capitalism.

Eva Seto is an Associate Director of Social Science Matrix at UC Berkeley. Social Science Matrix is a social science research institute supporting cross-disciplinary research at UC Berkeley. Her portfolio includes assisting and coordinating with Matrix affiliated centers such as CDTR. Her primary duties at CDTR are financial management, administrative services, conference coordination and outreach. She is an Economist by training with B.A and M.A. degrees in Economics from UC Berkeley.

Reset Dialogues on Civilizations

Reset Dialogues on Civilizations  (www.resetdoc.org) is an international association committed to convening, researching and publishing on cross-cultural and international relations, cultural and religious pluralism, human rights, and the promotion of the rule of law and liberal democracy. 
 
Giancarlo Bosetti is the Executive Chair and one of the founders of Reset DOC and Reset, a cultural magazine he founded in 1993. He was vice-editor-in-chief of the Italian daily L’Unità. He is the editor-in-chief of the web-magazine of Resetdoc.org. He is currently contributing to the Italian daily La Repubblica and he has taught sociology of communication at University La Sapienza and University Roma Tre. He published La lezione di questo secolo, a book-interview with Karl Popper; Cattiva maestra televisione (ed.), writings by Karl Popper and others. Among his other books: Spin. Trucchi e Tele-imbrogli della Politica, Marsilio, 2007; Il fallimento dei laici furiosi (2009); La verità degli altri. La scoperta del pluralismo in dieci storie, Bollati Boringhieri, 2020.

Jonathan Laurence is a Professor of Political Science at Boston College and Executive Director of Reset Dialogues US. He is the author of Coping with Defeat: Sunni Islam, Roman Catholicism and the Modern State (2021), The Emancipation of Europe’s Muslims (2012) and Integrating Islam: Political and Religious Challenges in Contemporary France (with Justin Vaïsse, 2006). 

We would like to recognize the generosity of our supporters.

Nomis Foundation (Zurich). NOMIS supports and enables insight-driven science across all disciplines, focusing on researchers who put forth bold new ideas, exhibit a pioneering spirit and seek to inspire the world around them. Our vision is to “create a spark” in the world of science by enabling pioneering research in the natural sciences, social sciences and the humanities that benefits humankind and our planet. The foundation serves as a catalyst for scientific and human progress by supporting interdisciplinary research, establishing collaborative research networks and developing strategic partnerships.

Caroline Gerry is an artist who has exhibited in galleries such as Tibor de Nagy and Sundaram Tagore in New York City as well as others across the USA (www.carolinevgerry.com). She has served as a Director on the Board of The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children for 14 years and she is a founding treasurer and current board member of Reset Dialogues US. Ms. Gerry is a graduate of Sarah Lawrence College.

Nina zu Fürstenberg is an entrepreneur and journalist. From 2000 to 2013 she focused on the study of Islam and immigration. To promote intercultural dialogue, she founded ‘Reset-Dialogues on Civilizations’ and the Istanbul Seminars in 2004 together with Giancarlo Bosetti. For Reset DoC she made a series of video interviews with intellectuals: “Ideas in Capsules”. Amongst her edited books: Lumi dell’Islam. Nove intellettuali musulmani parlano di libertà, 2004 (ed.), Testo sacro e liberta’. Per una lettura critica del Corano di Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd. (ed. by NzF and Federica Fedeli, 2012). Author of Chi ha paura di Tariq Ramadan. L’Europa di fronte al riformismo islamico, 2007, (German version by Herder in 2008). All were published by ‘i libri di Reset’, Marsilio.  

Glyn Vincent is a journalist, author and playwright. A finalist for the National Magazine Award, he has contributed to The New York Times Book Review, The New York Observer, The Paris Review, Huffington Post and other publications.He is the the author of several plays and “The Unknown Night,” a biography of the American painter, Ralph A. Blakelock. He was educated at Harvard and Columbia and lives in New York City.