Author, former Director of the Boniuk Center for Religious Tolerance; Founding Director of the Amazing Faiths Project

 

The Challenges of Religious Tolerance

 

 

Dr. Jill Carroll is a recognized expert on issues of religious tolerance, philosophy of religion, American religion, and religion in public life. Her areas of specialty include: the role of religion in world politics, comparative world religions, trends in American religion, the impact of religious diversity in global business, and applied life philosophy.

She directed the Boniuk Center for Religious Tolerance at Rice University until June 2009, where she also was Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Religious Studies.

Dr. Carroll earned her Ph.D. in Religious Studies from Rice University in 1994 with a specialty in philosophy of religion. She is the author of numerous articles and several books. A recent book, A Dialogue of Civilizations: Gulen’s Islamic Ideals and Humanistic Discourse was a Publishers Weekly bestseller in religion, having been in a “Top 10” category on Amazon in May 2007. She is a frequent guest on radio and television programs, and has been interviewed by The New York Times, PBS, MSNBC, and Good Morning America. She writes a featured blog called “Talking Tolerance” for the online religion section of the Houston Chronicle. She also writes a lifestyle blog called “Now That We’re Here…..”.

For two years, she co-produced and co-hosted with Kym King the popular radio program “Peaceful Coexistence” on Houston’s Pacifica station KPFT 90.1 FM. She is the creator and founding director of the Amazing Faiths Project, a national grassroots community initiative that fosters interpersonal relationships between people of all faiths and no faith through dialogue and table fellowship.

She lectures all over the world on the themes related to her books and on issues of religion in public life. She also has taught widely for many years in the Houston area, including at all campuses of the University of Houston system, Rice University, The Women’s Institute of Houston, The Jung Center of Houston, and in the Texas State prison system.