JES Staff

Consultants

Dr. Swidler retired as a Professor of Catholic Thought and Interreligious Dialogue in the Religion Department of Temple University, where he taught since 1966. At Temple, and as a visiting professor at universities around the world – including Graz, Austria; Tübingen, Germany; Fudan University, Shanghai; and the University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur – he has mentored a generation of U.S. and international scholars in the work of interreligious dialogue. He has a Licentiate in Sacred Theology from the University of Tübingen and received his Ph.D. in History from the University of Wisconsin; he also holds honorary doctorates from St. Norbert’s College and LaSalle University. Dr. Swidler continues to teach in retirement at the University of Sulaimani in Iraqi Kurdistan.

Leonard has published/edited more than 200 articles and 75 books, including:   Jewish‑Christian‑Muslim Dialogue (1978); Religious Liberty and Human Rights (1986); After the Absolute: The Dialogical Future of Religious Reflection (1990); A Bridge to Buddhist-Christian Dialogue (1990); Muslims in Dialogue: The Evolution of a Dialogue over a Generation (1992); Jesus Was a Feminist (2007). View Dr. Swidler’s Curriculum Vitae (updated July 2022) HERE.

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David M. Krueger is a scholar, author, and educator who is passionate about public history, religious literacy, and dialogue. His areas of academic expertise include American religious history, religious pluralism, race, and ethnicity. Dr. Krueger is a sought-after lecturer and speaker and has frequently served as a narrator and scholarly contributor on the Science Channel. He received an M.Div from Palmer Theological Seminary, a ThM from Princeton Theological Seminary, and a PhD in religious studies from Temple University. His book, Myths of the Rune Stone: Viking Martyrs and the Birthplace of America, was published by the University of Minnesota Press. Dr. Krueger is a versatile and seasoned educator who has taught at several area colleges, universities, and community-based settings. He also served as a faculty trainer and education consultant for the Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program based at Temple University. Although he grew up as a farm kid in Minnesota, he has come to love Philadelphia and its fascinating history since moving there in 1995. His articles and essays have appeared in several publications, including Religion Dispatches and The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia. He enjoys offering tours of diverse religious and historical sites in the city.

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Rebecca Mays is the Co-Editor and Managing Editor for the Journal of Ecumenical Studies. Rebecca brings professional publishing expertise and strong teaching experience as a Quaker educator to her role. She has taught internationally and served on the Christian and Interfaith committee of the Friends General Conference, and has represented interfaith work at the 1998 Assembly of the World Council of Churches. She presently serves as a representative on the administrative group of the Philadelphia Religious Leaders’ Council.

Prior to coming to Temple in 2008, Rebecca served as the director of a Master's program in English and Publishing at Rosemont College. She holds a B.A. in English from Earlham College and an M.A. in Folklore and Folklife from the University of Pennsylvania. She completed her M.A. in Religious Studies at Temple University and focused on the Muslim, Jewish, and Christian traditions. She started at the DI as a graduate fellow and later served as the interim executive director and director of education, helping to design and implement the SUSI program on religious pluralism for select international students. Rebecca has also taught a synoptic gospels class at Pendle Hill and served for 20 years as the pamphlet series editor. During her time at Pendle Hill, she helped to found the book publishing program and, with other Quakers, founded Quakers Uniting in Publications, still a professional, international consortium.

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Andi Laudisio is the Program and Administrative Director at the Dialogue Institute and a scholar on themes such as Sectarianism, Islam, Dialogue, Nationalism, Democracy, and Pluralism. She curates, executes, and manages our Dialogue Institute programs for High School, College, and adult educators. Andi also creates custom programming for community groups, members of international agencies, manages DI conferences and contracts locally and abroad.

Andi earned her PhD in Religion from Temple University exploring sectarian violence in Iraq post 2005, received her MA in Religious Studies from Arizona State University with a focus on the Bremer Period of Iraq, and earned her BA in Cultural Anthropology and Linguistics at SUNY University at Buffalo. Andi began her work with the Dialogue Institute in 2016 as a Program Associate for the Study of the US Institute (SUSI) student and scholars programs on Democracy and Religious Pluralism. Andi has worked with international groups for over a decade and taught ESL to adult refugees for years in Buffalo and Philadelphia while helping them prepare for the United States Citizenship exam. Andi loves helping others bridge a cultural gap through dialogue and education. 

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Miriam Fisher, CPA, has more than 40 years’ experience in the non-profit world, serving as Chief Financial Officer of Friends Central School, The Chemical Heritage Foundation, and the American Friends Service Committee, as well as Board Treasurer for a variety of non-profits including Historic Fairhill, Intercultural Journeys and Germantown Friends School. She recently retired and is enjoying working part time as both an accountant and a gardener.

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Sayge attended Albright College and graduated with an interdisciplinary degree of Video Game Design/Simulation and Digital Media, as well as a minor Religious Studies. She specializes in software management, social media management, marketing, and web development and management. By evaluating the unique ways her interests intersect, Sayge hopes to contribute to the growth of digital learning initiatives in the Humanities.

At the Dialogue Institute, Sayge manages all media, marketing, and digital learning platforms. She supports our community by producing content for our social media accounts, as well as designing and implementing a consistent brand for promotions, appeals, reports, and other correspondence. Since starting with the DI, her work has been a vital part of our organization's communications process.

In addition to social media and marketing management, Sayge provides computer/technical support for virtual and in-person program logistics. She assists with troubleshooting problems, as well as orienting staff to new software and digital tools.

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Copy Editor, J.E.S

Nancy E. Krody was born in 1939 in Cincinnati, Ohio.  She received a B.A. in political science and sociology from Ohio State University in 1960, followed by two years of course work toward an M.A. degree in sociology but not a thesis. During this time, she was active in the Baptist-Disciples Student Fellowship and in a statewide ecumenical student group. In 1962, she enrolled in Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, PA. Though at the top of her second-year class, she was unable to complete the academic program at Crozer because she had come out as a lesbian, which in 1964 the faculty could not handle.

Moving to Philadelphia, she spent nine years working as a secretary in the national setting of the United Church of Christ and joined a local UCC congregation in the mid-'60's because of its justice and ecumenical stances, leaving the American Baptist Church of her birth. She was the first woman elder and consistory president of the congregation and has been involved with the UCC at regional and national levels subsequently. From 1973 through 2018, she was on the staff of the Journal of Ecumenical Studies at Temple University, now serving pro bono as copy editor of J.E.S. She currently serves on the Board of the North American Academy of Ecumenists, the Advisory Board of the LGBTQ Religious Archives Network, and as treasurer and registrar of the Philadelphia Association of the UCC.

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Dialogue Associate

John Bright is a scholar of religion who has worked for years as a public historian at sites associated with Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia, including a church that is likely the single most historic religious congregation in the U.S. John has broad experience in communications in both the nonprofit and for-profit worlds. His current role with the DI focuses on the development and funding of new programs connecting the historical sites of colonial and Revolutionary Philadelphia to the unique religious congregations of the era. John has an undergraduate degree in anthropology and religion studies from Lehigh University, and a Master’s degree in religion from United Lutheran Seminary, located in Philadelphia’s historic Germantown. He has done doctoral work in religion at both The General Seminary of the Episcopal Church in Manhattan and at Temple University.

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Sean is the Administrative Assistant Director at the Dialogue Institute and a scholar on themes such as School Administration, Student-centered Pedagogy, Scholastic Journalism, Civic Dialogue, Religion and African American Culture. He assists in the curation, execution, and management of the Dialogue Institute’s Study of the US Institute (SUSI) summer programs on Democracy and Religious Pluralism.

Sean is also a PhD student at Va. Tech in ASPECT (The Alliance for Social, Political, Ethical & Cultural Thought) focusing on friendship formation and cultural expression among urban Baptist Black men. He earned his MA and MFA in Creative Writing from Manhattanville College, and earned his BA in English Language & Literature from the University of Virginia.

Sean supports pro-social causes outside of academia. In 2022-23 he hosted “Men on the Main Line,” a talk show on public access channel MLTV 21 in Radnor, PA, and served as VP of the interfaith dialogue and community education group CommUNITY Breakfast Collaborative in Villanova, PA. Sean also was a 2023 poet in residence at the Open Door in Door County, WI, and serves on the residency selection board of directors. His residency workshop theme was “Putting a Funk Ethos in Your Poetry Process.”

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Dialogue Consultant

Effiong Joseph Udo, Ph.D, currently teaches New Testament Literature, Hermeneutics, and Dialogue at the Department of Religious and Cultural Studies, Faculty of Arts, University of Uyo, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. He is a Director at the Centre for Deep Dialogue and Critical Thinking of the same University and The Pan-African Dialogue Institute. His doctoral thesis on St Luke’s Soteria (salvation) concept grounded his understanding of the ministry of Jesus as a spirit-filled campaign for a prioritization of justice and human wellbeing in the society of his days. This inspired Dr. Udo’s research interests in biblical exegesis to promote social justice, human rights, peacebuilding, interfaith relations and well as ecumenism. Dr. Udo became an associate of Dialogue Institute after his study visit to DI/Temple University in 2016. He, along with colleagues in Dialogue Institute and University of Uyo, worked assiduously to establish a thriving Center – Centre for Deep Dialogue and Critical Thinking – at his University in May 2017. He is an Ambassador for Peace of the Universal Peace Federation, New York, a member of Professors World Peace Academy, as well as a postdoctoral International dialogue fellow of King Abdullah Abdulaziz International Centre for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue (KAICIID), Vienna, Austria. He is the founder/CEO of a youth-based interfaith hub called RELIGIONNEXT FOUNDATION FOR YOUTH AND PEACEBUILDING, dedicated to interreligious literacy and activism. This platform enables young people who belong to different religions in university and college campuses and religious houses to build bridges of understanding, respect, tolerance, friendship and cooperation to foster religious harmony, social cohesion and sustainable peace and development in African countries and the world at large. Prior to joining the academia in 2013, Dr. Udo had served the Presbyterian Church of Nigeria as an ordained minister for twenty-five years occupying several leadership positions. He belongs to learned professional bodies, nationally and internationally; and now serves Dialogue Institute as a Consultant for African Region.

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NEH and Tours Associate

Gabriel Raeburn is a Senior Research Fellow at the Harvard and the Legacy Slavery Initiative at Harvard University. He previously served as a Senior Fellow in the Religious Studies department at the University of Pennsylvania and a Dean's Fellow for Teaching Excellence. He works at the intersection of American religion and politics and researches the histories of race, inequality, and evangelicalism. Gabriel is in the process of turning his dissertation into a book manuscript that explores Pentecostal movement building and political activism across the twentieth century.

Gabriel gained his Ph.D. in Religious Studies and History from the University of Pennsylvania. Originally from England, he earned a B.A. in American Studies and Politics from the University of Sussex and a M.St. in U.S. History from the University of Oxford.

Alongside historical research and writing, Gabriel has taught several Religious Studies and History courses. These include “Religion and Politics in America,” “God and Money,” and “American Jesus.” In his spare time, he can be found getting thoroughly outclassed on Philadelphia’s amateur soccer fields.

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Intern

Che Pieper is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Religion and a graduate certificate in Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies from Temple University. Their scholarly interests lie at the intersection of the studies of religion, gender, popular culture, childhood, and mass media. Outside of academia, Che works as a freelance game designer interested in immersive experience, TTRPGs, and LARP. 

Che graduated from Kenyon College in 2021 with a BA in Religious Studies and has since worked in a motley assortment of educational roles from public schools to public libraries.

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SUSI Program Associate

Armin Firouzi is currently pursuing an interdisciplinary PhD in Alliance for Social, Political, Ethical, and Cultural Thought at Virginia Tech. His scholarly interest lay at the intersection of historical preservation in religious cultural settings and politics of identity. Before moving to the United States, Armin finished his master’s in Cultural Heritage Studies in Cyprus, where he also collaborated in heritage documentation and urban regeneration projects. His master’s thesis questions politics of everyday life regarding Zoroastrian heritage community in context of Yazd, a UNESCO World Heritage City. Armin is currently transforming his thesis into a book chapter in the book series of the

DFG Research Training Group. In this chapter, he delves into the intricate dynamics influenced by politics regarding the representation of Zoroastrian cultural identity and the impact of religion-led dominant perspectives on their socio-cultural rights. The research establishes an analytical framework for evaluating the current status of Zoroastrians' Right to the City in Yazd. He contends that despite the legal protection of such rights, the practical measures within Iran's Islamic theocratic power structure reveal the marginalization and erosion of their cultural identity.

Affiliation: Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech), College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences, Department of Religion and Culture, PhD student in Alliance for Social, Political, Ethical, and Cultural Thought

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SUSI Program Associate

Caitlin Zielinski is a rising junior at Temple University pursuing a degree in Global Studies with a minor in Political Science. Within her major she has a concentration in global cultures, with particular scholarly interest in the intersection of religion, politics, feminism, and queerness.

She is an active member of Temple’s Global Studies Society and will be joining the organization’s executive board as the club Secretary next semester. In this organization, Caitlin and other like-minded students discuss current global affairs as well as provide professional development support for those entering the global studies field. Caitlin also participates in Temple’s chapter of the American Marketing Association, where she is a student consultant for the organization’s student-led marketing firm, Cherry Consulting.

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