Multi-Faith Panel:
On Wednesday evening we are gathering a group of professionals from different faith backgrounds to discuss a topic that is at the forefront of our task in places of Higher Education.
Formation vs Radicalisation:
Impacting Society through Education, Religion and Spiritual Expression
You are invited to explore the role of religious and spiritual expression in our universities. Does it contribute to the formation of a just citizen or to the radicalisation of disenfranchised youths and adults? Hear the insights from our multi-faith and international panel of experts. Participate in the Q & A.
Formation vs Radicalisation:
Impacting Society through Education, Religion and Spiritual Expression
You are invited to explore the role of religious and spiritual expression in our universities. Does it contribute to the formation of a just citizen or to the radicalisation of disenfranchised youths and adults? Hear the insights from our multi-faith and international panel of experts. Participate in the Q & A.

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Our Multifaith Panelists:

Fr Michael Elligate - Panel Moderator
Fr Michael Elligate has a long involvement in Higher Education, both in chaplaincy and in Human Research Ethics. He has been priest of St Carthage's Catholic Parish since 1987, was Catholic Chaplain to The University of Melbourne for eighteen years and is currently chaplain to St Mary's College, a residential college of the University of Melbourne. He is also a longstanding member and current chair of the Council for Chaplaincies in Tertiary Institutions, the multifaith body that accredits University Chaplains in Victoria, Australia. A graduate in Arts and Education, he currently chairs various Human Research Ethics committees at The University of Melbourne and is Deputy Chair of the Walter & Eliza Hall Institute for Medical Research Ethics Committee.
Fr Michael Elligate has a long involvement in Higher Education, both in chaplaincy and in Human Research Ethics. He has been priest of St Carthage's Catholic Parish since 1987, was Catholic Chaplain to The University of Melbourne for eighteen years and is currently chaplain to St Mary's College, a residential college of the University of Melbourne. He is also a longstanding member and current chair of the Council for Chaplaincies in Tertiary Institutions, the multifaith body that accredits University Chaplains in Victoria, Australia. A graduate in Arts and Education, he currently chairs various Human Research Ethics committees at The University of Melbourne and is Deputy Chair of the Walter & Eliza Hall Institute for Medical Research Ethics Committee.

Rabbi Dr Shimon Cowen
Rabbi Dr Shimon Cowen is the son of former Governor General for Australia, Sir Zelman Cowen. In 1998 he established and continues to direct the Institute for Judaism and Civilization. One of his major concerns is with the universal shared values at the root of the great world religions and cultures, and their application to contemporary issues. This in effect is the eternal moral compass with which the great religions resonate. He recently published The Theory and Practice of Universal Ethics - the Noahide laws. He is also a honorary fellow of Campion College, New South Wales, Australia..
Rabbi Dr Shimon Cowen is the son of former Governor General for Australia, Sir Zelman Cowen. In 1998 he established and continues to direct the Institute for Judaism and Civilization. One of his major concerns is with the universal shared values at the root of the great world religions and cultures, and their application to contemporary issues. This in effect is the eternal moral compass with which the great religions resonate. He recently published The Theory and Practice of Universal Ethics - the Noahide laws. He is also a honorary fellow of Campion College, New South Wales, Australia..

Rev Cassandra Howes
Rev Cassandra Howes, an ordained Methodist Minister, is one of two Coordinating Chaplains at the University of Bedfordshire UK , She has pastoral and spiritual responsibility for campuses in Bedford, Milton Keynes and Aylesbury. With thirty years experience in university chaplaincy, she created the first multi faith chaplaincy in a UK university in 1993 and has recently contributed to a report of the Free Churches Group UK on the contribution of the Free Churches to Higher Education. As an interfaith practitioner of longstanding she created with others an interfaith group in Sheffield UK and a Multi Faith Forum in Bristol UK and is currently Chair of Bedford Council of Faiths and an executive member of Milton Keynes Interfaith group. She has a post graduate diploma in Inter-religious Relations and is an accredited Veriditas labyrinth facilitator. She sits on the University PREVENT ( counter terrorism) steering group and represents university staff on the University Equality and Diversity Commitee. She represents CEUC ( Conference of European Chaplains) on IACHE and is currently the Chair of the International Association of Chaplains in Higher Education.
Rev Cassandra Howes, an ordained Methodist Minister, is one of two Coordinating Chaplains at the University of Bedfordshire UK , She has pastoral and spiritual responsibility for campuses in Bedford, Milton Keynes and Aylesbury. With thirty years experience in university chaplaincy, she created the first multi faith chaplaincy in a UK university in 1993 and has recently contributed to a report of the Free Churches Group UK on the contribution of the Free Churches to Higher Education. As an interfaith practitioner of longstanding she created with others an interfaith group in Sheffield UK and a Multi Faith Forum in Bristol UK and is currently Chair of Bedford Council of Faiths and an executive member of Milton Keynes Interfaith group. She has a post graduate diploma in Inter-religious Relations and is an accredited Veriditas labyrinth facilitator. She sits on the University PREVENT ( counter terrorism) steering group and represents university staff on the University Equality and Diversity Commitee. She represents CEUC ( Conference of European Chaplains) on IACHE and is currently the Chair of the International Association of Chaplains in Higher Education.

Associate Professor Hon. Luamanuvao Winnie Laban QSO
Luamanuvao Winnie Laban is Assistant Vice Chancellor (Pasifika), Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, where she leads initiatives to increase Pasifika student enrolment, retention and achievement and strengthen Pasifika staff success. In 1999 she entered the New Zealand Parliament serving as Minister of Pacific Island Affairs, Minister for the Community and Voluntary Sector, Associate Minister of Social Development, Economic Development and Trade, and Spokesperson on Inter-Faith Issues, leaving in October 2010 to take up her position at Victoria University.
Luamanuvao Winnie Laban is Assistant Vice Chancellor (Pasifika), Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, where she leads initiatives to increase Pasifika student enrolment, retention and achievement and strengthen Pasifika staff success. In 1999 she entered the New Zealand Parliament serving as Minister of Pacific Island Affairs, Minister for the Community and Voluntary Sector, Associate Minister of Social Development, Economic Development and Trade, and Spokesperson on Inter-Faith Issues, leaving in October 2010 to take up her position at Victoria University.

Associate Professor Mehmet Ozalp
Associate Professor Mehmet Ozalp is an Islamic theologian, intellectual and community leader. Mehmet is one of the co-founders of Affinity Intercultural Foundation in 2000, an organisation dedicated to intercultural and interfaith harmony in Australia. Mehmet was a member of Harmony Reference Group established by the NSW Premier Bob Carr in 2003. In 2009, Mehmet founded ISRA Australia – Islamic Sciences and Research Academy of Australia. He established the Centre for Islamic Studies and Civilisation at Charles Sturt University, Australia. Under his leadership the centre pioneered undergraduate and postgraduate Islamic Studies programs.
Mehmet lectures in theology, Islamic history and contemporary issues on Islam and Muslims. He has been serving as the Muslim Chaplain at the University of Sydney and the Macquarie University since 2006. Mehmet is a prolific speaker on Islam and Muslims in Australia. He was awarded Australian Muslim Role Model of the year in 2012. He is the author of three books: 101 Questions You Asked About Islam, Islam in the Modern World and Islam between Tradition and Modernity: An Australian Perspective.
Associate Professor Mehmet Ozalp is an Islamic theologian, intellectual and community leader. Mehmet is one of the co-founders of Affinity Intercultural Foundation in 2000, an organisation dedicated to intercultural and interfaith harmony in Australia. Mehmet was a member of Harmony Reference Group established by the NSW Premier Bob Carr in 2003. In 2009, Mehmet founded ISRA Australia – Islamic Sciences and Research Academy of Australia. He established the Centre for Islamic Studies and Civilisation at Charles Sturt University, Australia. Under his leadership the centre pioneered undergraduate and postgraduate Islamic Studies programs.
Mehmet lectures in theology, Islamic history and contemporary issues on Islam and Muslims. He has been serving as the Muslim Chaplain at the University of Sydney and the Macquarie University since 2006. Mehmet is a prolific speaker on Islam and Muslims in Australia. He was awarded Australian Muslim Role Model of the year in 2012. He is the author of three books: 101 Questions You Asked About Islam, Islam in the Modern World and Islam between Tradition and Modernity: An Australian Perspective.

Ven. Thubten Lhundrup
Ven. Thubten Lhundrup (Chris McGlone) was ordained as a Buddhist monk in 2001 and received full monks vows from His Holiness the Dalai Lama in 2004. Since 2002 Lhundrup has lived at Thubten Shedrup Ling Monastery in Bendigo Australia. During that time Lhundrup was monastery Director for several years, Buddhist chaplain for various jails in Victoria, spent 2005 in Darjeeling India studying Tibetan language and 2014 in Dharamsala pursuing further studies. Lhundrup teaches at Atisha Centre Bendigo and Shen Phen Ling in Wodonga, is Buddhist chaplain for LaTrobe University Bendigo and is the author of Practical Meditation with Buddhist Principles.