The Duncan Black
Macdonald Center is an academic unit within Hartford Seminary dedicated
to scholarly research, teaching, publication and communication with
the public.
The Center is responsible for the Islamic Studies and
Christian-Muslim Relations component of the Seminary’s MA and
PhD programs, and the Muslim Chaplaincy program. Named for one of
the nation’s early, pre-eminent scholars of Islam, the Macdonald
Center is the country’s oldest center for such study.
Academic courses taught through the Macdonald Center cover a range
of topics, including Islamic history, law and theology; study of
the Qur’an, sunnah and hadith; contemporary social and political
movements; Christian-Muslim relations in their historical and current
contexts; Sufism; Arabic; and comparative religion.
Professors Ibraham
Abu-Rabi, Ingrid Mattson, Jane Smith and Steven Blackburn base their
teaching on their on-going research, and have published in a broad
spectrum of subjects.
A major part of the activity of the Macdonald Center is involvement
in interfaith dialogue, with particular emphasis on Christian-Muslim
relations. All Center faculty and personnel are committed to the
importance of better understanding between and among faiths, and
to supporting efforts toward building relationships based on tolerance
and trust.
The Macdonald Center provides resources as well as a
gathering place for its local and international students, and participants
in Center activities find it a “safe place” where they
are free to share their perspectives on a range of issues. While
the Macdonald Center is frequently the locale for conversations
among members of several religious traditions, often focusing specifically
on Christian-Muslim-Jewish interactions, its history and particular
expertise is interaction and dialogue between Muslims and Christians.
A major part of the activity of the Macdonald Center is dedicated
to relationships with the wider community. Faculty regularly speak
and participate in meetings and conferences in the greater Hartford
area, nationally and in the international context, and are available
to provide information for members of the press and other media,
researchers, local churches and institutions, and the public in
general.
