Visiting professor has worked for dialogues, development in Turkey, Israel, Palestinian Territories, Iraq, Chad, Niger, Kenya, Guatemala, Iran and Saudi Arabia, among others
Rachel Overby
Antelope Staff

S. Ayse Kadayifci-Orellana spoke to students and staff about the importance of conflict resolution and how she works to bring people of different faiths together to hold dialogues in order to resolve issues at the International Studies program and the Women’s and Gender Studies program event April 6.

“Building Bridges Between Religious Communities: Muslim Women and Interfaith Dialogue.” was led by Kadayifci-Orellana, from the Georgetown University Master of Arts program. Orellana is a visiting assistant professor and associate director in conflict resolution. She is also an author of several books and journal articles on topics related to women’s studies, conflict resolution, peace building and interfaith dialogs, among other topics.
 
Kadayifci-Orellana says she works to teach as many people as she can about these issues. She has started many discussions, written curriculum and held training sessions to help teach others about these issues. She works closely with conflict resolution curriculum development in many Middle Eastern countries like Turkey, Israel and Iraq.

Kadayifci-Orellana’s dialogue on Thursday covered the issue of breaking down barriers and misconceptions of Muslim women and other religious groups. She discussed many topics, including how to properly hold a dialogue between opposing people or groups.

Orellana spends most of her time doing this work and training others to be the mediators of these dialogues. She shared factual information, as well as many anecdotes of her work, telling how she was able to see many different people come together and recover relationships after useful dialogue.
The event was held in Copeland Hall and was free and open to the public with many students and faculty members attending.