About Us

The Academy for Judaic, Christian, and Islamic Studies was founded in 1977 to promote greater understanding of the interrelations and commonality among the three monotheistic religions stemming from a common religious heritage. Its mission is to advance dialogue among Jews, Christians and Muslims, to conduct research and publish the results, and to teach what has been found and experienced in both academic and other public settings. As a key focus, the Academy developed a college course entitled ‘Judaism, Christianity and Islam: Interrelated Religious Traditions.’ The course has been taught at the University of California, Los Angeles, Bayan Islamic Graduate School, and the New Theological Seminary of the West.

The Academy is inviting individuals and organizations to financially support our mission of building bridges of increased inter-religious understanding and cooperation. We also welcome inquiries from colleges, religious congregations, and community organizations about hosting a college course or one of our other programs. 

A Muslim crescent, Jewish star, and Christian cross outlines created with colored holiday lights. The shapes and colors reflect in the water below.
Photo by Sara D, Unsplash

Our History

A long suspension bridge disappears into the distance over an an expanse of dense forest.
By Georg Krause, Unsplash
 
By Remi Walle, Unsplash
 
By Igor Ovsyannykov, Unsplash

The founding

The Academy for Jewish, Christian, and Islamic Studies was established in 1977 under the leadership of the Reverend Dr. George Grose. With financial support of the Lilly Endowment and the Rockefeller Foundation, the Academy created “trialogues” to explore the commonalities as well as the differences among the three traditions. Their goal is to promote an environment of understanding and respect for their adherents.

Over time, the work of the Academy expanded to a college course taught jointly by Dr. Grose, Dr. Muzammil Siddiqi, Rabbi Henri Front, and Rabbi David Gordis at CSU Fullerton, a series of trialogues at various houses of worship, and a book that they co-wrote entitled The Abraham Connection.

The move to Los Angeles

In 1994, at the invitation of Dr. Scott Bartchy, Director of the Center for Religion at UCLA, the Academy moved to Los Angeles and, with the support of Dr. Charles Doak and Dr. Sana Khan, became a member organization of the University Religious Conference at UCLA.

Until his retirement in 2007, Dr. Grose continued to teach a course on Judaism, Christianity and Islam as interrelated religious traditions at UCLA. 

In 2008, Dr. Reinhard Krauss was appointed as a Lecturer at the UCLA Center for the Study of Religion, where he continued to teach the course with support from the Academy. The curriculum included lectures by board members Dr. Siddiqi and Rabbi Dr. Elliot Dorff on Islam and Judaism, respectively, and a trialogue at the end of each term on a topic of significant import to each of the three religious traditions. From 2008 to 2019, over 40 different scholars and recognized religious leaders participated in the course.

Bringing AFJCIS to other locations

In addition to UCLA, the Academy also presented public interreligious trialogues at Loyola Marymount University, the American Jewish University, the VA West Los Angeles Medical Center, and houses of worship in the Greater Los Angeles area. Lectures have also been given at the Vatican, the World Council of Churches, major American universities, the University of Haran in Ur, the birthplace of Abraham, and in the cities of Cairo, Egypt, Jerusalem, Israel, and Istanbul, Turkey.

Adding professional staff

In 2017, due to its expanding work, the Academy recognized the need for professional staff. An endowment by the late board member Nathan Krems, a visionary advocate for interfaith understanding, served as seed funding to hire Dr. Reinhard Krauss as Executive Director of the Academy. 

This addition of professional staff has enabled the Academy to significantly expand its educational programs at colleges in Southern California and for religious and civic communities in the larger Los Angeles metropolitan area. In addition to UCLA, the Academy also was able to expand its educational work to Bayan Islamic Graduate School and the New Theological Seminary of the West, where Dr. Krauss taught the Abrahamic Religions course in 2016, 2018 and 2021 and in 2015 and 2019, respectively.

Working with other organizations

In keeping with it foundational vision to build bridges of understanding, the Academy works collaboratively with an extensive network of other interreligious organizations. It actively participates in the activities and receives financial support from the University Religious Conference, the association of student chaplaincies at UCLA. 

Other partners include American Jewish University, the Jewish Collaborative of Orange County, the South Coast Interfaith Council, the Dawn Unity Group, and IslamiCity. The newest example of this growing network is the Oxford Interfaith Forum with which the Academy enjoyed a formal partnership from 2022 – 2024.

Looking back on nearly half a century of building bridges of understanding and collaboration between Jews, Christians, and Muslims, the Academy is poised to move into the future with energy, passion, and hope. As an expression of these values, the Academy, in 2021, entrusted its leadership to a team of student-age Co-Presidents, thereby combining scholarly wisdom with passionate engagement for shaping the world of tomorrow.