Interfaith Engagement

Learn Across Differences. Build Community.

At Tufts, interfaith engagement is about more than understanding different religious and philosophical traditions. It's about building relationships, deepening curiosity, strengthening leadership, and learning how to live and work alongside people with different experiences, beliefs, and worldviews. 

Through dialogue, friendship, service, reflection, and shared action, the Office of Religious and Philosophical Life creates opportunities for Jumbos to connect across difference and discover what we can learn from one another. 

Why Interfaith Engagement Matters 

Religious, spiritual, ethical, and philosophical diversity is part of everyday life at Tufts and beyond. Interfaith engagement encourages us to listen deeply, ask thoughtful questions, explore our own values, and work together for the common good. 

Our programs and initiatives help participants develop the skills and relationships needed to navigate a diverse world with empathy, respect, and curiosity. 

Lead. Learn. Build Bridges. Our Interfaith Ambassadors program brings undergraduate students together to explore religious diversity, foster belonging, and create opportunities for dialogue and engagement across campus. 

Ambassadors participate in leadership development, help shape signature campus programs, and work collaboratively to address questions of justice, civic life, and community in a pluralistic world. They also help lead initiatives such as Pax et Lux and the MLK Day of Community Action. 

Lead and Collaborate. The Interfaith Student Council (ISC) serves as Religious and Philosophical Life's primary undergraduate student advisory and programming board. Composed of representatives from Tufts' religious and philosophical communities, the council brings student leaders together to build relationships, share perspectives, and help shape interfaith programming across campus. 

The ISC meets regularly throughout the academic year and provides a forum for collaboration across traditions and worldviews. In addition to community representatives, a limited number of at-large members may participate. 

If you’re interested in broader interfaith engagement, you are also encouraged to participate in COFFEE (Community of Faith Exploration and Engagement), an interfaith student collective focused on dialogue, learning, and relationship-building. 

Conversation. Friendship. Connection. Be-Friend is an interfaith friendship experience designed to help participants engage in deeper conversations about values, purpose, identity, and life's big questions. Participants are paired with another member of the Tufts community and guided through shared reflection, active listening, and practices drawn from a variety of religious and philosophical traditions.