On Friday, August 15, Program Coordinator Talia Ivry received word from Augsburg University that the Center for Interfaith Dialogue staff and student leaders were selected as a recipient of Augsburg’s Emerging Muslim Bridgebuilding Leaders Engaging the Midwest (EMBLEM) Grant to underwrite an interfaith bioethics conference in spring of 2026. The conference, set for February, will address topics such as navigating patient observances in healthcare settings, approaching biotechnology such as reproductive healthcare and IVF from an interfaith lens, and more.
Administered through the Interfaith at Augsburg initiative, the EMBLEM grant is designed to support “Muslim student leaders and their allies to build bridges across difference, grow as interfaith leaders, and design projects that support community cooperation…. [as well as] engage multiple religious communities in building meaningful relationships.”
Khadijah Dhoondia ’26, Interfaith Fellow, founder of the RSO Islamic STEM Association and student lead on the project, imagines the conference as a way to “bring together students of diverse belief systems and philosophical frameworks and encourage them to critically reflect on the ethical dimensions of healthcare.”
Talia Ivry says she is “so excited to support the conference….[and] could not be prouder of Khadijah and the rest of the amazing students for taking the initiative to be interfaith leaders on UW’s campus.”