Building Interfaith Dialogue through Peace Education: Petra Christian University Experiences

In Indonesian context with diverse religions, cultures, and ethnicities, interactions are unavoidable. If these differences are not managed properly, conflicts will happen susceptibly. Problems usually arise when people begin to believe that their own religion is the only right and superior one. Conflicts are almost inevitable when each of them put forward their argument to negate others from different religion. Therefore, it is essential to build mutual understanding, especially interreligious understanding and peacebuilding from this reality. One recommendation is to develop understanding through education that builds peace. In Petra Christian University, the majority of both students and faculty members are Christian and Chinese descent. Socially, PCU is a homogeneous society. It is crucial to design meeting point with other ethnicities and religions. Petra Christian University (PCU) has been involved in promoting peace education since 1993. Since 2012 PCU General Studies Department has offered Peace-building course as an elective course. It was started from a research conducted by the Center for Chinese-Indonesian Studies (CCIS) in PCU. The research tried to map out the potential problems that could lead to ethno-religious conflicts. Students who join this course come from various religions and ethnicities.