CfP: Graduate Student Conference in Arabic and Islamic studies

Crossing the borders. Interdisciplinary research in Arabic and Islamic studies

Yerevan State University, Yerevan, Armenia, May 2016

The Chair of Arabic Studies at Yerevan State University in cooperation
with Middle Orient project is pleased to invite graduate students (MA
and PhD) and recent post-docs of all fields associated with Arabic and
Islamic Studies (broadly defined) to present their recent research
during the graduate conference entitled Crossing the borders.
Interdisciplinary research in Arabic and Islamic studies, which will
take place in the first week of May 2016 (the exact date of the
conference will be specified later).

Research papers are accepted on all aspects of Arabic and Islamic
studies, including, but not limited to:
–Islamic Studies (History, religion, politics)
–Arabic Literature
–Arabic Linguistics
–The History of Arabic countries
–The Arab world in the framework of international relations
–Intercultural dialogue
–The topical issues of Arab Middle East

Each participant will be expected to speak for no longer than 20
minutes. At the end of each session the discussion will be opened by
the session moderator.

Submission process

For submitting a paper proposal, please send an abstract of proposed
paper (no more than 300 words) and a current CV to
graduateconferenceysu@gmail.com by 15th of February, 2016. Abstracts
should provide a brief description of the work, clearly outlining the
theoretical perspectives and methodology to be applied in the paper.

Notifications of acceptance will be sent until 29th of February, 2016.

All proposals will be subjected to peer-reviews. The selected papers
will be published in the proceeding volume of “Arabic Studies”- the
annually published official journal of the Chair of Arabic Studies,
YSU.

For any enquiries regarding the conference, please contact
info@middleorient.com.

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Conference: African Lived Christianity – Faith, Ritual and Power

African Lived Christianity – Faith, Ritual and Power

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
Lund University, CTR
16 – 18 March 2016

The thematic focus of this conference is on the lived experiences of
African Christianity, on how religion and religious experience are part
of the understanding and explanation of social reality in Africa. By
taking this thematic focus, we wish to overcome the dividing lines in
the study of African Christianity between theology and the social
sciences. We seek to engage with an emerging literature that combines
the analysis of religious experience and faith with an analysis of how
African Christianity feeds into constellations of power hierarchies and
social relationships of dependency, reciprocity and mutuality. One of
the aims is to build interpretative bridges between African enchanted
worldviews and Western academic interpretations and to add to an
emerging dialogue between anthropology and theology.

Within the social science literature the growth of newer African
independent churches (charismatic, Pentecostal, evangelical) has often
been understood as a reaction to changed socio-economic circumstances
such as increased liberalization, modernization, and individualization.
At the same time, scholarly work on African theology or theology in
relation to Christianity in Africa tend to focus merely on ethical and
philosophical issues and hence only in a limited way engaging with
experiences of lived Christianity in Africa.

By focusing on faith, ritual and power, the conference draws attention
to religious experiences and perceptions of faith, to the practices of
religion as well as to the social hierarchies into which religion
enters. African theological interpretations of lived religion are
fertile ground for analyzing and discussing the encounter between
anthropology and theology as well as between African enchanted
worldviews and Western academic interpretations. In other words, we need
this dialogue between anthropology and theology to analyze everyday
experiences and interpretations of Christianity in Africa and to include
the intellectual work and grassroots theology that takes place within
communities.

Confirmed plenary speakers

Elias Bongmba (Rice University)
Naomi Haynes (Edinburgh University)
Isabel Mukonyora (West Kentucky University)
Niels Kastfelt (Copenhagen University)
Galia Sabar (Tel Aviv University)
Päivi Hasu (Helsinki University)
Tomas Sundnes Drønen (Stavanger School of Mission and Theology)
Karen Lauterbach (Copenhagen University)
Mika Vähäkangas (Lund University)

The conference is free of charge but the participants are supposed to
cover for their travel, accommodation and meals.

The conference is funded by:

Lunds missionssällskap
Riksbankens Jubileumsfond
Vitterhetsakademien

For registration please use this link (register on the left side of
conference webpage:
http://www.teol.lu.se/en/forskning/konferenser-och-symposier/alc2016/

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LES MUTATIONS DES SCIENCES SOCIALES DES RELIGIONS ET DES LAÏCITÉS 26-27 novembre 2015, À Paris Site Pouchet CNRS et Sorbonne

Organisé par le Groupe Sociétés, Religions, Laïcités (UMR 8582 / EPHE-CNRS)

Le Groupe Sociétés, Religions, Laïcités a été créé en 1995, au sein de l’École pratique des hautes études et du Centre national de la recherche scientifique, en s’inscrivant dans la continuité du Groupe de Sociologie des Religions. Ses chercheurs travaillent sur les transformations du religieux et les questions relatives à la laïcité dans le monde contemporain. Son champ de compétences englobe de nombreuses aires culturelles. Le but de cet anniversaire est, en un moment bousculé par l’histoire, de présenter un panorama approfondi de la situation religieuse contemporaine, en accordant, à travers le thème de la laïcité, une place centrale à la question de la régulation de la diversité religieuse en France et ailleurs. En rappelant les acquis scientifiques de notre laboratoire, l’événement entend constituer un moment de référence dans la connaissance des phénomènes religieux et de la laïcité. Il marquera aussi la place que l’« école française » peut avoir dans le renouvellement, sur la scène internationale, des objets et des problématiques des sciences sociales des religions et de la laïcité.

http://gsrl.hypotheses.org/478

CFP: “Post-Secular Stories: the Divine in Contemporary World Literature” conference – LCC International University (www.lcc.lt), Klaipeda, Lithuania; 5-6 February 2016

Call for Papers
Post-Secular Stories: the Divine in Contemporary World Literature
A research conference exploring ways in which the Divine / the Holy / God / god / gods /
the Above-Human is thematised is current writing. This includes literature across genres,
geographies and thematics.
Venue, dates, fee:
LCC International University (www.lcc.lt)
Klaipeda, Lithuania
5-6 February 2016
Conference fee: €100 (includes conference dinner)

Context and invitation:
In the unfolding post-secular intellectual climate of our time, the aspect of the religious /
faith / spirituality / theology is recognised for what they are again in song lyrics,
journalism, novels, poetry and other genres of writing. No longer reflexively either
privileged or marginalised as in earlier eras, orientations towards the religious are
increasingly “normalised”, as something that in the public sphere in principle holds no
greater and no lesser prominence than other facets of life. In a more balanced way, faith
can in our time increasingly be spoken, be spoken of and be spoken against.
In this conference, the ways in which this trend plays out in various forms of literature
across the world is investigated. Not intended to provide a definitive overview, but as an
initial attempt to grasp some dimensions of these developments, only 20 papers will be
accepted for presentation at this conference.
To this end, the conference organisers invite, until 15 December 2015, proposals for
research papers on this wide-ranging topic. Specialist academic presentations in English
of 30 minutes (followed by 10 minutes discussion time) that focus deeply on the selected
topic will be welcomed. As wide a range as possible of disciplinary backgrounds,
language and genre specialisations, and international representation will be
accommodated. In typical post-secular mode, participants of all religious orientations
and none are welcomed.
In addition to participants who make formal conference presentations, interested parties
who would like to attend the conference without formal speaking slots would be welcome,
at the same conference fee. Attendees from Klaipeda and surrounding areas who would
like to attend one or more sessions, without attending the conference dinner, are
welcome to do so at a reduced fee (please e-mail JDMininger@lcc.lt in this regard).

Paper proposals should include a presentation title and 150–250 words describing the
intent of the presentation, including the genre/s, language/s and geographical region/s
covered. The name of the author/s, qualifications and institutional affiliation/s (if any)
should be included. Please e-mail proposals to JDMininger@lcc.lt no later than 15
December 2015.

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ESA/ISORECEA revised CfP – deadline extended

CALL FOR PAPERS

12th ISORECEA conference & ESA RN34 mid-term conference

RELIGION AND NON-RELIGION IN CONTEMPORARY SOCIETIES

Theoretical, Empirical and Methodological Challenges for Research in Central and Eastern Europe and Beyond

Zadar, Croatia, April 21-24, 2016

 

The interplay between historical, cultural and political factors and events has contributed to processes where both religion and non-religion are features of contemporary societies. At the same time, religion and non-religion are integral to theories of secularisation and religious change. Faced with different empirical data around the world, secularisation theses have been debated for decades, while theoretical debates about religious change have occupied sociologists of religion. They have sought to better and more accurately understand and explain religious changes in different parts of the globe. Their points of view differ and include: privatization thesis, de-privatization thesis, religious economies thesis, religious bricolage, multiple secularities thesis. One angle, non-religion as religious counterpart, has been neglected in sociological research. Indeed, until the end of the 20th century, it was only Campbell (1971) who gave a comprehensive insight into the sociology of non-religion, while many scholars wrote and published within the strand of the sociology of religion.

Non-religion has started to occupy the attention of sociologists since the beginning of this century, especially in the UK and USA. Its prominence has been influenced by its different appearances in the Western world: the rise of declared non-religious people, the appearance of a so-called New Atheism movement (inspired by books by R. Dawkins,

  1. Harris, D. Dennett, and C. Hitchens), numerous organizations and associations of non-religious people and their enhanced activities as an alternative to religious conservativism, the growing influence of religion in the public sphere and fundamentalist expressions of religion connected to terrorism. Researchers mostly based their work on theories of subcultural identities, identity politics and new social movements; yet, some authors also drew on the theory of religious economies. In spite of these strands, non-religion remains theoretically underdeveloped and under-researched. Interestingly, this refers particularly to former communist countries where atheism was enforced as part of the official ideology; more research would have been expected on non-religiosity and atheism there. Independently of the exact geopolitical context, non-religion and in particular the interplay between religion and non-religion in different dimensions seem to be a key for understanding contemporary religious changes.

This international conference would like to encourage scholars from various parts of the world to share their theoretical, empirical and methodological considerations on religion and non-religion and take part in discussion on different related topics, like:

  • Social theory of religion and non-religion
  • Comparative empirical data on religion and non-religion
  • Methodological challenges of research on religion and non-religion
  • Historical development of religion and non-religion
  • Non/religious minority and majority
  • Human rights, religion and non-religion
  • Religion, non-religion and State
  • Religion, non-religion and social inclusion/exclusion
  • Religion and non-religion in the intersectional perspective (involving gender, age, socio-economic aspects, etc.)
  • Religion and non-religion in everyday life
  • Religious and non-religious activism

Keynote speakers: Dr. Marjan Smrke, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia

  •                                Dr. Lois Lee, University College London, UK

    Please submit a 200-300 words abstract of your presentation by e-mail to: isorecea2016@idi.hr by November 25, 2015.

    If you are interested in a specific topic related to the study of religion and/or non-religion, we encourage you to organize a session/panel. In this case, please submit a 300-400 words proposal with full session details (names and affiliation of contributors, titles of their presentations as well as abstracts) by November 25, 2015 to the same email address.

    Key dates

    Submission of paper and session/panel proposals – November 25, 2015.
    Notification of acceptance and opening of the registration – December 15, 2015.
    The final date of the registration for the conference – January 31, 2016.

    Final program – February 20, 2016.

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Conference on Spiritual-Religious Counseling & Care

The International Congress on Spiritual-Religious Counselling-Care will be held on April 7-10, 2016, in Istanbul, Turkey.  The webpage of the conference, www.mdrk.org displays the event’s programme at the top left corner of the page in Turkish and English).

CONGRESS FRAMEWORK

Religion has contributed to civil society in variety of areas like social, cultural, economic, solidarity/cooperation and humanitarian aids etc. It has been a source of inspiration and motivation to mobilize individuals, communities and institutions in order to cooperate, make solidarity, and social and moral support. However, religion, in the 20th and at the beginning 21st century, has often been related to and identified with extremism, violence and terror in the global world. In this correlation and identification, religion in general and Islam in particular is closely associated and portrayed with these negative stereotypes in question. This has paved the way to negative and unfavourable views and perceptions towards religion in both national and global public spheres. A number of extreme, fundamentalist, and militant religious and political movements have hijacked, captured and used religious beliefs, spiritual and moral values in order to legitimise their ideologies, programmes, perspectives and aims. In other words, they abused religious beliefs and spiritual – moral values. Unfortunately, to bring to light the positive and human side/aspect of religion have usually been neglected. The contributions and services of religious beliefs, and spiritual and moral values and their practices to civil society have largely been ignored at both individual and societal levels and were not given their deserved coverages and credits in politics and media. Certainly, positivist educational policies and strict and authoritarian secularist administrations have played a significant role in various countries.

This international congress on religious-spiritual counselling-care aims to put forward the positive aspects of religious, spiritual and moral values and evaluate their contributions  to as well as to raise awareness of the services they have offered and are still providing to civil society at individual, institutional and societal levels. It intends particularly to focus on, highlight and examine how religious and spiritual-moral values have played/still play a significant role and function in reforming inmates in prisons, being a source of hope and morale for patients in hospitals, providing morale and offering communal spirit and atmosphere for lonely and elderly people in social services, motivating national/civic and patriotic values, and beliefs for military personnel in army, and in relationships and communication in family therapy.

The congress will also address to analyse problems encountered with and policies applied for while offering and providing services in areas in question. Again such a gathering will bring scholars and professionals together who do research on and work in Religious-Spiritual counselling and care in different traditions, religions and political cultures throughout the world as well as to share and exchange their experiences and forge cooperation in shared and common interest areas. Finally, the gathering and cooperation provide an opportunity for official and conventional religious and civil authorities how to improve and enhance their services and programmes in their respective and responsible institutions.

THEMATIC ISSUES

The conference themes will cover the place and function of Religious-Spiritual Counselling and Care in Prison Services, Health Services, Military and Social Services (Nursing Home, Orphanage, Shelters and Family Therapy, etc.)

DEADLINES

  • 21 December 2015 Abstract Submission Deadline
  • 4 January 2016 Announcement for Accepted Papers
  • 20 March 2016 Full text copy submission
  • 7-10 April 2016 Congress Date

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CFP conference “Poverty’s Causes and Consequences in the Urban Developing World”

CFP: Poverty’s Causes and Consequences in the Urban Developing World

August 4–6, 2016
University of Jyväskylä, Finland

Deadline for paper proposals: November 30, 2015.

Conference website:
http://povdev.blog.jyu.fi/p/conference-2016.html

The failure of much of the world to meet the first Millennium Development Goals of eradicating extreme poverty and hunger by 2015 highlights the need for research to go beyond the measuring of poverty and give more attention to its causes and dynamics.
We invite anthropologists, ethnologists, sociologists, socio-economists, political scientists and development researchers, among others, to submit paper proposals for our conference on urban poverty to be held at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland on August 2–4, 2016. Keynote speakers will be James Ferguson, Bipasha Baruah, Harjit Anand, and Dayabati Roy.
This three-day conference will be aimed at both exploring new empirically based findings and developing theories on the causes of poverty, especially urban poverty or poverty at the interface between the urban and rural. We welcome critical perspectives which pay attention to the intersection between micro and macro levels of analysis, including ethnographic methods and local case studies with relevance for larger issues as well as larger-scale studies with theoretical implications for micro-level research.
Possible themes of papers include, but are not limited to, poverty’s links to the following areas in the so-called developing world:
  • Environmental issues: climate change, water and sanitation
  • Economy: micro-credit, capital, livelihoods, income generation
  • Development interventions, education
  • Governance, politics, and grassroots activism: housing, rights to the city, dispossession, land rights and land use, informal structures, rights to the city and urban spaces
  • Health: transactional sex, HIV /AIDS
  • Intersectionality and society: ethnicity, family, kin, gender, women, youth, social cohesion
  • Local knowledge and religion
  • Technology, infrastructure, media
A 300-word abstract, full contact information for paper proposer(s), and a biographical note (up to 75 words) on the paper propose(s) should be submitted by no later than November 30th, 2015. 

Proposers of accepted papers will be notified by December 15th, 2015, unless the proposal deadline is extended. Please send your abstract as an e-mail attachment to the following email address: laura.stark@jyu.fi

On the basis of paper abstract submissions, we will be grouping some papers together into their own thematic sessions. However, we will also have five Special Sessions already proposed and accepted by the conference organizers. These are:

  • Elaine Dorighello Tomás: Poverty Reduction in Brazil 
  • Bratati Dey: Women and Poverty in Urban India 
  • Jeremy Gould and Tiina Konttinen: Poverty, Citizenship and a Rightful Share 
  • Remi Adeyemo: Urban Food Security and Poverty Alleviation 
  • Sirpa Tenhunen: Neoliberalism and Urban Politics in the Global South 
  • Ghefari Elsayed, Abdelrahman Eldagum Bakhtan, and Eiman Omer Osman Suliman: Changing Urban Landscapes in East Africa: Violence, Poverty and Coping Strategies


If you are submitting a paper abstract and you would like your paper to be included in one of the above Special Sessions, please tell us which session when you submit your abstract.

The conference organizers cannot sponsor or fund presenters or delegates, who are expected to pay for their travel, food and stay during the conference. There will be no registration fee for the conference.

The conference is organized by the Finnish Academy-funded project “Urban Renewal and Income-Generating Spaces for Youth and Women in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia” led by Prof. Laura Stark, Dept. of History and Ethnology, University of Jyväskylä. Our co-organizer is the Nordic Africa Institute in Uppsala, Sweden.

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Reminder: Call for papers – BRAIS2016 – Third Annual Conference – 11th & 12th April 2016

This is a reminder that the deadline for submissions for abstracts and panel proposals for BRAIS 2016 is less than a month away. The Third Annual Conference of British Association for Islamic Studies (BRAIS) is taking place in London on 11th and 12th April 2016 and the organisers particularly encourage panel proposals on any aspect or sub-discipline of Islamic Studies.  For full details on how to submit papers or panels please visit our website:

http://www.brais.ac.uk/conferences/brais-conference-2016/brais-2016-call-for-papers

Completed submission forms must be submitted via e-mail attachment to conference2016@brais.ac.uk  by 5pm (UK time) on Monday 30th November 2015.

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CFP: Heritage, Religion and Travel Network Conference

Heritage, Religion and Travel Network Conference
Theoretical and Empirical Journeys

Mersin, Turkey 27th-29th May 2016

www.heritagereligionandtravel.com

Call for Papers

Around the globe and across a wide variety of religious traditions, heritage has become central to our understanding of landscape, space and time. Heritage sites attract hundreds of millions of visitors each year, often as a form of pilgrimage to sacred destinations. Their popularity has provoked a burgeoning interest in both ‘sacred’ and ‘secular pilgrimage’ as a legitimate focus of academic enquiry and on tangible and intangible heritage more broadly.

This unique conference seeks to build on four decades of research on the relationship between Heritage, Religion and Travel and to advance new theoretical and empirical perspectives concerning this relationship. It also offers an interdisciplinary space for debate. Hence, and not coincidentally, the conference will be hosted in the ancient city of Mersin, Turkey  ̶ a country that could be defined as at the crossroads of history, i.e. between east and west. It is a land deeply influenced by religious traditions and heritage of extraordinary variety and richness. It also has been the setting for the rise and fall of many cultures and entire civilizations. Drawing on the work of leading academics, we hope to evoke the depth and breadth of the importance of heritage and its connection to religion and new and old forms of travel and tourism.

The focus of the conference will be on re-assessing old and building new theoretical frameworks for the study of heritage, religion and travel, with particular emphasis on the study of pilgrimage and religious tourism.

Keynote speakers:

Prof. Dr. John Eade – University of Roehampton/University of Toronto
Prof. Dr. Ian Reader – Lancaster University
Dr. Avril Madrell – University of the West of England
Prof. Maria Coroucli – Universite Paris Ouest Nanterre

Publication Opportunities

Heritage, Religion and Travel: Empirical and Theoretical Journeys, is pleased to announce that we will be able to offer authors the potential to publish their work in three separate series published by Ashgate (U.K.), Routledge (U.K.) and Lexington Books (U.S.A.) respectively, on the topic of the conference.

Ashgate Series editors include Dee Dyas (University of York), John Eade (Roehampton University/Toronto), Simon Coleman (University of Toronto) and Jas Elsner (University of Oxford/Chicago). The Routledge Series is edited by John Eade and Ian Reader (Lancaster University). The Lexington Series editors include Michael A. Di Giovine (West Chester University) and Noel B. Salazar (University of Leuven).

Submission is automatic with the acceptance of abstracts. The quality of papers will be the guide for potential publication. This is a great opportunity for new upcoming scholars as well as established authors to showcase their work. We expect wide-spread interest in this conference, so please register ASAP for places are limited
The quality of papers will be the guide to the potential for publication and submission is automatic with the acceptance of the paper’s abstract. This is a great opportunity for new upcoming scholars as well as established authors to showcase their work. We expect wide-spread interest in this conference so please register ASAP for places are very limited! To register go to www.heritagereligionandtravel.com

We are open to the suggestions of thematic panels which may include, but are not limited to the following themes (see www.heritagereligionandtravel.com for further details):

۞ Heritage & Religious Traditions
۞ Religion and Travel
۞ Pilgrimage, Landscape and Heritage
۞ The Sacred & The Secular: Contesting and/or Re-affirming Religion
۞ Theoretical & Methodological Perspectives

Submission details

Abstracts (up to 350 – words in Word doc.), with contact details and affiliation, should be submitted to the following e-mail address: Chemin@cag.edu.tr by Dezember 15, 2015. You will be informed about acceptance or non-acceptance of your proposal by January 15, 2016.

Registration fee

On or before January 15th 2016 (early bird): € 50 (170 TL)
Regular Fee (after early-bird deadline – January 15th 2016): € 75 (250 TL)
Graduate Students presenting papers: € 50 (170 TL)
Co-authors or accompanying person: € 50 (170 TL)

Please note: All bank transaction costs are to be paid by the author

Registration fee covers:
– Conference proceedings (backpack with book of abstracts)
– Welcome reception (drinks and snacks)
– All meals during the conference hours
– Refreshments and snacks during session breaks
– Excursion with Tourist Guide
– Reception and Dinner

Payment Method:

In EURO (€) (for academics from outside of Turkey) to be made to the following account number:

SWIFT CODE: 6070
held with İŞ BANKASI A.Ş.
IBAN: TR380006400000260700032846
Çağ Üniversitesi (Mesep Oti)
Yenice Mahç Cemal Girsel Bul. 142 D
Tarsus/Mersin

In Türk Lirasi (TRY) (for academics from Turkey) to be made to the following account number:
HESAP SUBESI: 6070 (Adana Ticari/Adana)
held with İŞ BANKASI A.Ş.
HESAP NUMERASI: 26603
IBAN: TR510006400000160700026603
Çağ Üniversitesi (Mesep Oti)
Yenice Mahç Cemal Girsel Bul. 142 D
Tarsus/Mersin

WE WELCOME YOU WARMLY TO MERSIN IN 2016!!!!

Program committee:

Dr. Eduardo Chemin (Çağ Üniversitesi, Turkey)
Prof. Dr. John Eade – University of Roehampton (U.K.)/ University of Toronto (Canada)

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Conference: Collective Worship and Religious Observance in Schools – An Evaluation of Law and Policy in the UK

Collective Worship and Religious Observance in Schools:

An Evaluation of Law and Policy in the UK

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE

University of Leicester, 13 November 2015

This conference is on collective worship and religious observance in UK schools. The aim of the conference is to present the conclusions and recommendations of a two-year Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) funded research network project, which has examined the law and policy governing collective worship (England, Northern Ireland, Wales) and religious observance (Scotland) in schools. In examining the issue of collective worship/religious observance, the project has brought together ten scholars from across the UK, with expertise in a number of relevant disciplines (eg., education, philosophy, law, spirituality). More details of the research project can be found at: http://collectiveschoolworship.com/.

The Network, managed by Dr Alison Mawhinney (Bangor University) and Professor Peter Cumper (University of Leicester) has produced a report on collective worship and religious observance, which will made public and circulated at the conference.

In addition to the presentation of the Network’s findings, the conference – which will be chaired by Lord Sutherland of Houndwood – will feature presentations from a number of influential figures from the UK and overseas. Confirmed speakers in this regard include: the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion and Belief, Professor Heiner Bielefeldt; the sociologist of religion, Professor Linda Woodhead (Lancaster University); the Professor of Theology and Education, Mary Elizabeth Moore (Boston University); and the Professor of Education, Geir Skeie (Stockholm University).

The conference will be held in Leicester, at the University of Leicester’s main conference centre, College Court, 10:00-16:00 (http://collegecourt.co.uk/). It is free but, owing to limited places, admittance can only be granted to those who have registered for it beforehand. For registration please contact Ms Teresa Rowe, the Event’s Co-ordinator, at teresa.rowe@le.ac.uk

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