Leonard Swidler, a professor of Catholic thought and interreligious dialogue at Temple, is the first Christian scholar to have been invited to exchange views with faculty at Al Imam Muhammed bin Saud Islamic University in Riyadh — the citadel of Saudi Arabia's ultraconservative brand of Islam. The visit in late June underscored a shift toward greater openness in some official Saudi religious institutions, which previously had been leery of contact with outsiders of different faiths. "I would say that we are experiencing a tipping point right now in relations in the field of religion between the West…and Islam," said Swidler.