Breakthrough to Dialogue: The Story of Temple University's Department of Religion

Edited by Professor Leonard Swidler “The challenge of religious and political pluralism has become critical in the 21st Century as some warn and others promote a clash of civilization or cultures. Breakthrough to Dialogue, Leonard Swidler (ed.), will be welcomed by scholars, religious leaders, policymakers, and others who seek to train, develop, and implement an agenda for change. This volume chronicles the creation and history of Temple's Department of Religion (TUDOR) in which Bernard Phillips, its founding chair, and Swidler with other "star" professors and their students pioneered, a unique and path-breaking initiative: requiring a one-year introduction to World Religions and that students major in one religion and minor in two others. TUDOR, under Swidler, also introduced the Journal of Ecumenical Studies and later the creation of the Dialogue Institute which promoted inter-religious dialogue globally.” John L. Esposito, University Professor and Professor of Religion & Interna