DAYTON DEANERY — Sister of St. Joseph Judith Martin, associate professor of religious studies at the University of Dayton (UD), is the recipient of an annual award from the Islamic Council of Ohio (ICO), American Muslim Council of Southwest Ohio and the Council of American Islamic Relations of Ohio. Sister Judith received the award Oct. 11 at a luncheon at the Muslim Community Center in Beavercreek, part of a celebration of the 16th annual Islamic Day of Ohio.
"We appreciate her dedication and commitment to interfaith dialogue and peace," said Bashir G. Ahmed, member of the board of trustees for the Islamic Council of Ohio.
"The theme for this Islamic Day celebration was ‘Toward Reconciliation and Peace,'" said Sister Judith. "The award is especially meaningful to me because the mission of my religious community, the Sisters of St. Joseph of Buffalo, N.Y., is to promote ‘unity and reconciliation.'
"Looking back over the last 15 years, I am very thankful for the interfaith encounters I have had," she said. "They have enriched my life with new friendships and deepened my conviction that religious communities are meant, not to compete, but to collaborate in building a better world for us all."
Sister Judith said her commitment to a just peace in the Middle East was triggered by "my first study tour of the region in 1989 and expanded in the wake of the first Gulf War and continued thereafter."
During the past 15 years, she has offered adult education sessions on "Understanding Islam" throughout Ohio and Michigan. "For the last two years, I have worked with members of the local Muslim community to offer workshops on Islam and the needs of Muslim students for Centerville teachers. I have also offered formal courses on Islam and Muslim-Christian Dialogue at UD and the Athenaeum."
Sister Judith has been a spokesperson on Middle East religion and politics and she had worked with the Dayton Arab American Forum and the Islamic Community to provide sessions for the media, as a way to encourage balanced reporting and correct stereotypes of Muslims and Arabs in news accounts.
Following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Sister Judith organized an outreach program called "Building Bridges" coordinated by the American Friends Society, which encourages church and civic groups to meet with members of the Muslim community.
Sister Judith and Amed were also co-presenters on Islam at the interfaith lecture series sponsored by Normandy United Methodist Church, on this year's anniversary of the 9/11 attack.
She has also worked with colleagues to bring notable speakers on the Middle East to the Dayton area; led two fact-finding tours to Occupied Palestinian Territories; has been active in the Jewish-Christian Dialogue since 1967, the Muslim ChristianDialogue since 1980; and has been a guest speaker for many ethnic communities.
In 1993, at a conference in New Delhi, India, she presented a paper on "En-gendering the Dialogue." And, on the weekend of the award luncheon, she hosted 10 Tibetan Buddhist monks who were in Dayton to create a sand mandala of the Medicine Buddha in the UD library.