Centre for Dialogue
Sayed Mohammed Khatami speaks to 1,500 people on the Bundoora campus.
Former Premier of Victoria, Mr Steve Bracks, has been appointed to the Chair of La Trobe University’s Centre for Dialogue. He takes over from Ms Elizabeth Proust who held the post since the Centre began more than two years ago.
Mr Bracks said Ms Proust, a leading public figure and company director, had given extraordinary service to the people of Victoria.
He said his Government had supported setting up the Centre which specialises in the theory and practice of dialogue across all cultures, religions and civilisations to deal with problems of national and international coexistence.
At a time of economic downturn, Mr Bracks said he expected the Centre to play a more important role in community debate of how we react to domestic issues such as immigration levels and social cohesion, as well as how we see ourselves internationally.
At the end of March, the Centre hosted its first public event for the year – an address by former Iranian president Sayed Mohammed Khatami. Centre Director Professor Joseph Camilleri described Mr Khatami as a ‘scholar-politician (who) presents a striking contrast to the hard-line and populist incumbent president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.’
He said Mr Khatami ‘advanced instead the idea that all the world’s cultures, religions and civilisations have much to learn from each other, and that humanity’s capacity to meet the challenges of the 21st century will depend largely on such mutual learning.’
The Centre also runs a successful leadership training program for young Muslim men and women. Vice-Chancellor Professor Paul Johnson said the program, now in its third year, was the first of its kind in Australia. Of the many challenges Australia faced as a nation, Professor Johnson said none was more important than ‘making this a society which values and nurtures its rich cultural and religious diversity’.