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educational background to encourage dialogue, cooperation and understanding between faiths. The core of her studies, and what has become one of her hallmark contributions to the Madison community, focused on the insti- tute's mission of bringing together members of these faith com- munities to learn about each other's traditions. To meet this mis- sion, Nayan launched a new interfaith program in 2011 name the Courage Project. Bringing together high school youth in grades 10-12, the proj- ect's curriculum allows students to share meals, host others at their places of worship, and discuss courage and challenges they face in religion, school and life. "By breaking bread with someone, you learn so much more about small events—simply asking a lonely student to join a lunch table. Their messages echo a similar idea: They never knew they had ex- hibited courage in their lives, until now. "I have never pulled someone out of a burning building or leaped into a river to save a child, but I still believe I have courage," writes one student. "I face people everyday knowing I'm different and that we will never be the same." The lessons they've taken away show how they've built a foun- dation for understanding others, themselves and the world around them. "When I think of courage, I think of it as persevering outside them than in a classroom," she explains, pointing to hard data and research showing that when individuals sit and talk or share a meal together, hostility is lessened. The far-reaching goal is lofty: To increase understanding of other faiths, learn about diverse perspectives, cultivate more peaceful re- lations and eventually develop stronger foundations to strengthen the bonds of a community, together. While Nayan has also directed the successful Community Forum, an interfaith program for adults, the focus of the Courage Project is on youth for a reason, she says. Children don't have the accumula- tion of misinformation and prejudice that life heaps upon adults. It's a chance to build understanding and awareness early. Yet in her first initiative prior to the Courage Project, a program between the students from the Madinah Academy and the Jewish Day School, she first had to convince the parents of both faiths that this was a worthwhile exercise. Fear of how each religion would be discussed, and how this would affect their children, had the parents doubtful. Nayan used the questions as a chance to share her belief that interfaith dialogues aren't about changing beliefs, but about finding the common ground. "The purpose of interfaith interaction isn't conversion," she ex- of us, waiting to be called upon when needed most," a student writes as a final message. Nayan smiles wide. These messages sound so simple, but to her your comfort zone," another writes. "And your comfort zone changes shape and size." "I think that there is a reserve of courage, deep inside every one they are the building blocks for a generation more accepting, kind and tolerant than the last. "We are all related—all a part of each other's world," she says. "It makes us better people when we learn to embrace each other rather than to isolate or pull away." In the fall of 2010, through her work at LISAR, Nayan collaborated with Kjell Magne Bondevik, the former prime minister of Norway and founder of the Oslo Center for Peace and Human Rights. Nayan also worked with her team members at LISAR in organizing a panel for the theme "Jerusalem's Sacred Esplanade"—a space regarded as sacred for about three millennia of Jews, Christians and Muslims. The next year, she attended a ceremony at the White House, as a representative of UW-Madison for the inauguration of President Barack Obama's White House Initiative for the President's Inter- faith and Community Service Campus Challenge. While she's remained steadfast in her work, rubbing elbows with plains. "It is about getting to know one another, sharing informa- tion, learning from each other, and working toward pooling this knowledge to become a stronger community as a whole. That is what it's all about." For the students involved, it didn't take long for the idea to catch on. school children of seemingly disparate faiths began sharing sto- ries, food, languages and games. As the day wound down, no one wanted it to end. Neither did Nayan. She took the idea, culled from a book she had read titled "Muslim "It was amazing," she says, describing how the elementary presidents and prime ministers is not something Nayan ever ex- pected. "The last three years have just been unbelievable. I'm still pinch- ing myself," she says. "Here I am, the seventh child of Zauyah, this illiterate orphan who never had a chance to attend school, and I'm doing all these things. I have met and worked closely with the twice-elected Kjell Magne Bondevik, the former Prime Minister of Norway on a peace initiative." Her voice falters a bit, as if to take it all in herself. But where her pride really bubbles over is when she talks about Voices in Schools: A Narrative or Identity and Pluralism" to LISAR. Working within LISAR and with leaders at Temple Beth El, The Islamic Center of Madison and Westminster Presbyterian Church, the Courage Project was born. The semester-long initiative began by recruiting participants from religious communities of the Abrahamic tradition in January. The program then culminates in final artistic presentations that include students' performances based on their own experiences with courage for participating families and the general public. Comb through the Courage Project's newsletter, in which pho- tos of the students' activities are coupled with their personal essays on courage, and you see the impact. While the initial focus on building bridges and supporting re- ligious tolerance was ever present, it's clear that for the students involved, the project has been about much more. The teens write about both big steps in their lives—moving to new countries, traveling abroad, facing hatred or bigotry—and the 44 BRAVA Magazine August 2012 eyes sparkle at a question about how she manages to balance it all— the work, the family, the stress. "My magic word is 'next,'" she says. Fittingly, Nayan is embarking on what she refers to as her next her 23-year marriage, her husband, her children—and the future that lays ahead for them all. As she begins to pack her things to head back to work, Nayan's chapter. On July 16, she successfully defended her dissertation. Next, she'll start a teaching job at St. John's University in New York where she will be teaching courses related to literacy. It's a bittersweet move, she says. Her relationships with the vari- ous faith and academic communities are something she will miss greatly, but the next adventure in her life awaits and she can't help but be eager to see what it brings. Her only hope is that the bonds that have been created personally and professionally can continue, no matter what happens in the world today. "I truly have hope for peace in the world. I can never give up on that," she says firmly. With a warm hug, she's off to what's next. •••