People
The Guru Nanak Prize
Nominations are now being invited for the Guru Nanak Interfaith Prize, a US $50,000 award for a living individual or organization who has contributed to the promotion of constructive dialogue between faith communities.
The Prize will be awarded biannually, beginning in 2008. The winner will be chosen by a distinguished panel of judges composed of religious leaders, academics and individuals known for their commitment to interfaith dialogue. Award recipients will have demonstrated extraordinary leadership, courage and a capacity for inspiring in others a willingness to embrace the vulnerability that is the key to true religious dialogue.
The deadline for nominations for the 2008 Prize is July 1, 2007.
The goal of this international award is to bring greater visibility to the critical role that religious dialogue plays in the pursuit of peace, and to provide direct support for the furtherance of such activities. Guru Nanak, the 15th Century founder of Sikhism, taught that we locate our oneness with humanity by exploring the differences that separate us.
The prize was funded by a generous gift from the family of Sardar Ishar Singh Bindra and will be awarded by Hofstra University in collaboration with the Sardarni Kuljit Kaur Bindra Charitable Foundation.
The honorary committee for the Prize includes Nobel Peace Prize winner, Archbishop Desmond Tutu; I.K. Gujral, former Prime Minister of India; U. S. Senators Charles Schumer and Norm Coleman; noted Historian/Writer Sardar Khushwant Singh; Rabbi David Rosen; Dr. Martin Marty; and Sardar Tarlochan Singh, Member of Parliament, India.
The Prize
As the founder of Sikhism, Guru Nanak taught that we discover our oneness with humanity by exploring the differences that separate us. The Guru Nanak Interfaith Prize recognizes and supports the efforts of those individuals and organizations who work to advance that vision.
According to Guru Nanak, religions are paradoxical. They help us to discover and cultivate what is best and most hopeful about one another and the world that sustains us. And yet, they often spark conflict and violence. The Guru Nanak Interfaith Prize is based on the conviction that religious dialogue helps to minimize religious conflict by cultivating awareness that we each view the world from the limitations of our own traditions, and we have much to learn from the traditions of others.
The Guru Nanak Interfaith Prize was established with a gift from the family of Sardar Ishar Singh Bindra and Sardarni Kuljit Kaur Bindra, prominent Sikh-Americans living in Brookville, New York. In September 2000, the Bindra family endowed the Sardarni Kuljit Kaur Bindra Chair in Sikh Studies at Hofstra University in honor of the family's matriarch.
The family's company, Jeetish Imports, based in New York City, is a major distributor of apparel, and the family has substantial interests in real estate as well. The Bindras are deeply involved in philanthropic activities that benefit both the Sikh and non-Sikh communities. The Guru Nanak Interfaith Prize is an expression of Sardar Ishar Singh Bindra's longstanding dedication to interfaith harmony.
Hofstra University is a dynamic private institution located 25 miles east of New York City where students find their edge to succeed in more than 140 undergraduate and 155 graduate programs in liberal arts and sciences, business, communication, education and allied human services, honor studies, and a School of Law.
Nominations
Nominators should provide a brief description of themselves (no more than 100 words) and a two-page letter describing the individual or organization being nominated and the activities the nominator believes qualify the nominee for consideration. Nominations may be submitted electronically to www.hofstra.edu/gurunanak , in writing to Dean Bernard J. Firestone, Hofstra College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, 200A Heger Hall, 115 Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY 11549-1115, or by e-mail to GuruNanakPrize@Hofstra.edu
Web site: http://www.hofstra.edu/gurunanak
Contact person: Stuart Vincent, Hofstra University, 1.516.463.6493
[Images: Top and Thumbnail - Details from painting of Guru Nanak by Sobha Singh. Bottom - Historical fresco from a wall of the Baoli in Goindwal Sahib (Punjab), depicting Guru Nanak. Courtesy: Sandeep Singh Brar.]