The King Hamad Chair in Inter-Faith Dialogue and Peaceful Coexistence is a new Academic discipline and the first of its kind in the World. Designed to enlighten and engage young people from around the world as a means to combat terrorism, extremism and radicalisation, by studying the visionary leadership philosophy of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, King of The Kingdom of Bahrain.

His Majesty's philosophy is based on His Majesty's belief that Religious Freedom is the foundation for Peaceful Coexistence with Inter-Faith Dialogue at its heart.

"Ignorance Is The Enemy of Peace" and so education is the perfect tool for success. Founded in 1303, Sapienza University in Rome is one of Europe's most prestigious seats of learning and its multi-site campus is home to around 120,000 students. With the launch of The King Hamad Chair we aim to reach the hearts and minds of young people all over the world, providing them with the knowledge and inspiration to invoke peaceful coexistence and love on a global basis.

After a public competition, Sapienza selected for this Chair Prof. Alessandro Saggioro, full Professor in History of Religions. Prof. Saggioro has a large amount of activities: Former director of a PhD in Religious Studies, he is now director of the PhD in History of Europe, of a Master in Religions and Cultural Mediation, and is Founder and Director of the High Level Courses of Sapienza University of Rome in “History of Religions: from education to research”.

Professor Saggioro was PI of a research project about Religious Pluralism and participate to a Spanish and international research project called “The Rise of Intolerance in the Mediterranean: In Search of the Origins of Religious Conflict (II-VI centuries AD)” (Mar Marcos, University of Santander). One of the main topics of his research and didactics during the last 30 years is the education about religions in Italy and Europe.

Prof. Saggioro has also a large activity as editor: in particular, he is the Director of the most prestigious and ancient Journal in the field of the History of Religions in Italy – founded in 1924 by Raffaele Pettazzoni, «Studi e Materiali di Storia delle Religioni

The activities of the Chair will be presented on four different levels :

• Bachelor’s degree in History, Anthropology and Religions
• First level Master’s Degree in Religions and cultural mediation
• MA in Religious Studies
• PhD in History, Anthropology, Religion - and PhD in History of Europe.

The King Hamad Chair will also apply for funding in Italy and Europe, to create and lead a group of young researchers, training them in the following fields:

• History and present-day relationships between religions
• Religious pluralism, and religious Super-diversity
• History, life, and practices of religious minorities

The focus of this teaching, training and research group will be the Peaceful Coexistence, both for the meanings in the past and in the present.