In providing a platform for intellectually rigorous engagement with dialogue, undertaken from starting points in a wide range of academic disciplines and in relation to a wide variety of contexts, the Journal of Dialogue Studies presents editions that seek to focus on particular aspects of dialogue and its conduct. Bearing in mind a phrase from the journal’s overall working proposition that at the heart of dialogue is a ‘meaningful interaction and exchange between people’, because of its involvement with people, dialogue almost inevitably entails ethical dimensions. Therefore this edition of the journal seeks to open up and critically explore some of the ethical dimensions of dialogue, from various disciplinary perspectives and with reference to various contexts. In addressing this, contributions are made by writers with backgrounds in various national contexts including Israel, Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States of America.
Research Fellow in Religion and Society at Regent’s Park College, University of Oxford, where he is an Associate Member of the Faculty of Theology and Religion; and a Visiting Professor in the Centre for Peace and Security at Coventry University
Paul Weller lives in both Germany and the UK. He originally read undergraduate Theology at Regent’s Park College, Oxford in 1974-77. He holds an Oxford University MA; an MPhil in Social and Pastoral Theology (University of Manchester); a PhD in Religious Studies (University of Leeds); and a DLitt on the basis of published works in relation to “a distinguished contribution to inter-religious dialogue and pluralism in the changing religious landscape of the United Kingdom” (University of Derby). On his retirement from full-time employment at the University of Derby he was conferred as an Emeritus Professor, following a career there during which, among other roles, he was variously Director of the Religious Resource and Research Centre; Head of Religious Studies; Head of the Humanities and Social Sciences Subject Group; Head of Research and Commercial Development in the Faculty of Education, Health and Sciences; Reader in Religious Studies; Professor of Inter-Religious Relations; and University Acting Head of Research. He is now also a Research Fellow in Religion and Society at Regent’s Park College, University of Oxford, where he is an Associate Member of the Faculty of Theology and Religion; and a Visiting Professor in the Centre for Peace and Security at Coventry University.
