Renee Hattar
Renee Hattar has been the director of the Royal Institute for Inter-Faith Studies in Jordan since 2021. As a specialist in interfaith relations, particularly between Christianity and Islam, she conducts research on the role of music in interfaith dialogue and peacebuilding in the Middle East.
She holds a PhD in Peace Studies from the University of Granada (2016), with her thesis focusing on peace in Arab Christian religious songs. She also has a degree in Modern Languages from the University of Jordan (2000).
She worked as a consultant for the Spanish Episcopal Conference (2012-2016) and as coordinator of the Middle East department at the International Center for Christian Orient Studies in Spain (2006-2016). She taught Arabic language and culture at the “”Lumen Gentium”” Institute of Theology in Madrid (2008-2016).
Her current research focuses on music as a diplomatic tool for peace in the Middle East. She founded and directs the “”Peace & Arts”” program at the Royal Institute for Inter-Faith Studies. As the author of numerous publications, she is particularly interested in Eastern sacred music and its role in preserving the identity of Middle Eastern Christians.
Multilingual, Renee Hattar is fluent in Arabic, Spanish, English, French, German, and Italian. Her work contributes to the understanding of religious and cultural dynamics in the Middle East, emphasizing the potential of music as a vector for peace and dialogue between communities.
Resources related to
Arts and Culture
videos
Dance(s), spirituality(ies) and religions: stakes and challenges for developing interreligious dialogue practices in contemporary Africa
Paper presented at the fifth international congress of the University Platform for Research on Islam (Pluriel), held in Cordoba from 10 to 14 February 2026 on the theme "Ethics and Aesthetics in Is...
videos
Political and religious anarchism in the musical forms of rebel Islam: from rap to taqwacore
Paper presented at the fifth international congress of the University Platform for Research on Islam (Pluriel), held in Cordoba from 10 to 14 February 2026 on the theme "Ethics and Aesthetics in Is...
videos
The Carnival of the Malês: signs of an ethics of Muslim resistance
Paper presented at the fifth international congress of the University Platform for Research on Islam (Pluriel), held in Cordoba from 10 to 14 February 2026 on the theme "Ethics and Aesthetics in Is...
videos
The gnostic constitution of aesthetic values in Ibn ʿArabī
Paper presented at the 5th international congress of the University Platform for Research on Islam (Pluriel), held in Cordoba from 10 to 14 February 2026 on the theme "Ethics and Aesthetics in Isla...
videos
Poetics and aesthetics of transgression in The Forty Rules of Love: the body, music and the figure of the Sufi poet
Paper presented at the 5th international congress of the University Platform for Research on Islam (Pluriel), held in Cordoba from 10 to 14 February 2026 on the theme "Ethics and Aesthetics in Isla...
videos
The “new veils”: articulating ethics and aesthetics in Tunisian society
Paper presented at the 5th international congress of the University Platform for Research on Islam (Pluriel), held in Cordoba from 10 to 14 February 2026 on the theme "Ethics and Aesthetics in Isla...
videos
Ethics and aesthetics in the art galleries of Zamalek
Paper presented at the fifth international congress of the University Platform for Research on Islam (Pluriel), held in Cordoba from 10 to 14 February 2026 on the theme "Ethics and Aesthetics in Is...
videos
Art in the face of authoritarian discourse: the contribution of Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd
Paper presented at the 5th international congress of the University Platform for Research on Islam (Pluriel), held in Cordoba from 10 to 14 February 2026 on the theme "Ethics and Aesthetics in Isla...