2026-02-21T12:02:00
The NorcalMLK Foundation’s 2026 International Colloquium Series in Europe (ICS-Europe) builds on a growing global initiative dedicated to connecting African American religious thought with international scholarly communities.
Rooted in the Foundation’s broader mission to advance justice, community, and cross-cultural understanding, the ICS was developed to create sustained exchange around the most pressing moral and social questions of our time. In 2026, that vision comes to life across leading European institutions, including The Catholic University of Leuven (KU Leuven), The Catholic University of Lyon (UCLy), and the University of Geneva (UNIGE), alongside a public-facing Jazz Vespers gathering in Geneva, Switzerland that blends sacred experience, culture, and community.
At its core, ICS-Europe brings scholars together to explore what “community” means in an age shaped by uncertainty. Through interdisciplinary dialogue across ethics, philosophy, systematic theology, and epistemology, the series invites both academic and public audiences into deeper reflection and shared learning.
The 2026 cohort of scholars includes Dwight N. Hopkins, Ph.D., Ph.D., The Laura Spelman Rockefeller Professor at the University of Chicago; Raymond Carr, Ph.D., President of the Society for the Study of Black Religion and curator of the Codex Charles H. Long Papers at Harvard University; Valerie Miles-Tribble, D.Min., Ph.D., Professor of Ministerial Leadership and Practical Theology at Berkeley School of Theology; and Aaron Grizzell, Ph.D., Co-Founder and Convener of ICS and Executive Director of the NorcalMLK Foundation. Together, they anchor a transatlantic dialogue designed to expand knowledge, deepen relationships, and cultivate new frameworks for understanding community, faith, and human belonging in a rapidly changing world.
