Kusumita Pedersen is chair of the Department of Religion at St. Francis College in Brooklyn, New York. Dr. Pedersen has been involved for more than 25 years with the international interfaith movement. Her academic interests include interreligious dialogue and cooperation, global ethics, and human rights.
Previously, executive director of the Project on Religion and Human Rights, a group that provides a forum for study and advocacy, collaborating with academic resources and public policy centers to ensure that religion is included in the promotion of human rights. She has been joint secretary for Religious Affairs of the Global Forum of Spiritual and Parliamentary Leaders on Human Survival and executive director of the Temple of Understanding which is involved with interfaith education and supporting the U.N.
Currently, she is co-chair of the Interfaith Center of New York which seeks to create understanding and respect between the different religious groups that can be found in New York City. She is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Council for a Parliament of the World’s Religions which hopes to establish harmony and engagement between the world’s religions.
Dr. Pedersen has concentrated for much of her life to promoting interfaith dialogue and understanding and wrote for The World’s Religions After September 11 (2008) which highlights the changes in the relationships between the faiths that are occurring into the 21st century.