La Convivencia: A Perspective on How Spain\u27s Diverse Religious Past Influences the Present

While studying abroad in Spain this semester, and as a participant in the Jay Phillips Center’s Student Interfaith Research and Leadership Program, Maddie Anderson has been conducting a deep exploration of existing interfaith relationships and how they have evolved since a period often referred to as La Convivencia in Medieval Spain. Personal experiences, observations, and research have helped to guide Maddie\u27s understanding as she has discovered the many ways in which Spain\u27s interreligious history continues to shape the values, experiences, and dialogue between Muslims, Christians, and Jews in present day Spain.Maddie Anderson is a senior and a member of the CSB/SJU honors program completing a Hispanic studies major while on a pre-medicine track. She is from Cambridge, Minnesota, and graduated from Totino-Grace High School in Fridley, Minnesota, in 2018. Maddie worked for CSB/SJU’s Fine Arts Programming as a box office assistant and ticket coordinator and worked for CSB Group Exercise as a Zumba instructor. She has also been working as a certified nursing assistant at Prairie Senior Cottages, a memory care facility, for more than four years and has recently started working as a home health aide as well. Maddie volunteers with UpChieve as a virtual tutor and advisor for low-income students in the United States and went to Honduras in 2019 to volunteer with Global Medical Brigades. She was also an executive board member of CSBeats, the all-female a capella group at CSB, for three years and the vice president of the Global Health Affairs club in the fall of 2021. Maddie is currently studying abroad in Spain where she is conducting her interfaith research. “I find inspiration in interfaith dialogue because it allows for greater understanding of others as well as a greater understanding of ourselves, which can change the lens through which we experience our reality to be more centered, grounded, and connected,” writes Maddie. “I appreciate this interfaith research opportunity because it allows me to continue seeking ways in which I can benefit from the unique perspectives of others by listening with intention, sharing with honesty, and conversing with an open mind.