UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Various misconceptions exist about specific faiths and religions, even what it means to have faith. Those misconceptions can then lead to serious implications for people. To help address misconceptions and provide space for learning, the Gender Equity Center, in collaboration with Lutheran Campus Ministry, is sponsoring "In Their Own Words: Misconceptions and Faith." The interfaith panel is at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Sept. 18, in 134 HUB-Robeson Center.
Moderated by Jennifer Pencek, programming coordinator of the Gender Equity Center, the panel will consist of Campus Minister Alicia Anderson, assistant director for Hillel Rachel Dingman, and Muslim student Zain Jaffery.
“While not meant to represent every faith or religion, our goal with this interfaith panel is to help people be more comfortable with talking about faith and religion, which seems to still be taboo to discuss,” Pencek said. “So many people have questions that seem big and small so we wanted to organize an event where people get to ask questions they have been considering but have resisted asking.”
Pencek added that the event, which is free and open to all, is an opportunity to share and hear various perspectives and take an important step in fostering dialogue.
The Gender Equity Center, a unit of Student Affairs, offers free and confidential counseling to all students impacted by issues like sexual violence, relationship violence, stalking and other issues. The center also offers extensive educational programming throughout the year and has two peer education groups for students — Men Against Violence (MAV) and Peers Helping Reaffirm, Educate, and Empower (PHREE).
For more information about this and other events sponsored by the Gender Equity Center, please visit studentaffairs.psu.edu/genderequity.