May 18, 2013 09:21 AM EDT By Staff Reporter, UniversityHerald Reporter

Rice University will establish an institute to promote religious tolerance after receiving a $28.5 million donation from Houston philanthropists, Dr. Milton and Laurie Boniuk.

The gift will be used to build a 3,000 square feet Boniuk Institute for the Study and Advancement of Religious Tolerance, which will conduct research, public outreach and educational programming.

Its mission is to encourage multidisciplinary research that results in understanding and achieving tolerance. Research will be done in religious studies, humanities, social sciences, natural sciences and engineering.

The institute is an expansion of the Boniuk Center created in 2004 with a $5 million gift again from the Boniuks.

 "Drawing from its home in the nation's most ethnically diverse city, the institute will seek to provide a deeper understanding of the nature of religious tolerance and the pathways that lead to more interreligious understanding," Rice President David Leebron said.

-        Through the state-of-the-art information technology, the institute will analyze and provide the hate speech and other indicators of religious intolerance by analyzing websites and newswire databases.

-        The researchers will try to determine the neurological, psychological and sociological causes of religious intolerance and violence.

-        Scientists will study policies and programs that affect religious tolerance by individuals and within societies and suggest policy recommendations in accordance with promotion of tolerance.

-        They will also examine the codes of conduct for interfaith dialogues and tolerance and study their effectiveness.

-        In collaboration with the Rice University Kinder Institute for Urban Research's Houston Area Survey, the Institute will develop an inclusive survey to find out the current and evolving attitudes toward religious coexistence within and among faith communities.

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