“I started to think more open-mindedly…”: Promoting interfaith harmony with a joint music-making approach.
Liebkind, Jenny (2022)
2022
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2022120526350
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2022120526350
Tiivistelmä
Prejudice and hate crimes towards people from different religious and ethnic minorities are increasing almost all over the world. In this study, I am exploring how engaging in interfaith music-making may reduce prejudice and transform beliefs among people from different cultural or religious backgrounds. The aim of my research is to examine the potential of joint music-making for interfaith dialogue and to promote interfaith harmony.
A diverse group of participants from different religions and cultures participated in two 90-minute musical workshops in May 2022, where interfaith music was taught by musicians from the Middle East Music Company. The study mainly focused on presenting the music of Jews, Muslims and Christians. The teachers, as well as the participants, also represented these religions. After the sessions, four of the participants were interviewed face-to-face in a semi-structured interview, and others answered a questionnaire describing their experiences of the interfaith music-making workshops. The research is a qualitative empirical data-driven case study, and a thematical analysis method was used to analyze the data.
The findings explicate that the interfaith music-making experience strengthened the participants’ sense of belonging, transformed beliefs as well as enhanced their overall wellbeing. A longer intervention and a wider sampling would be needed to effectively examine reduction of prejudice. However, the participants’ experiences showed the potential interfaith music-making has in transforming beliefs and strengthening sense of belonging. In conclusion, in an increasingly diverse society, interfaith music-making should be implemented in the Finnish schools to enhance social inclusion and reduce prejudice.
A diverse group of participants from different religions and cultures participated in two 90-minute musical workshops in May 2022, where interfaith music was taught by musicians from the Middle East Music Company. The study mainly focused on presenting the music of Jews, Muslims and Christians. The teachers, as well as the participants, also represented these religions. After the sessions, four of the participants were interviewed face-to-face in a semi-structured interview, and others answered a questionnaire describing their experiences of the interfaith music-making workshops. The research is a qualitative empirical data-driven case study, and a thematical analysis method was used to analyze the data.
The findings explicate that the interfaith music-making experience strengthened the participants’ sense of belonging, transformed beliefs as well as enhanced their overall wellbeing. A longer intervention and a wider sampling would be needed to effectively examine reduction of prejudice. However, the participants’ experiences showed the potential interfaith music-making has in transforming beliefs and strengthening sense of belonging. In conclusion, in an increasingly diverse society, interfaith music-making should be implemented in the Finnish schools to enhance social inclusion and reduce prejudice.