PATRONS AND PARTNERS OF THE ACADEMY
IN THE OCCASION OF THE EX NIHILO ZERO CONFERENCE
PATRONS AND MENTORS OF THE ACADEMY
IN THE OCCASION OF THE LAUNCH EVENT
PATRONS
European Parliament
European Commission
Commissione Nazionale Italiana per l'UNESCO
Assemblée parlementaire de la Méditerranée
Camera dei deputati
Italian Ministry for Education, University and Research
Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation
Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche
Consiglio Nazionale Forense
Bologna Municipality
Emilia Romagna Region
Assemblea legislativa dell'Emilia Romagna
PATRONS
European Parliament
Unesco UniTwin
Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation
Italian Ministry for Education, University and Research
Bologna Municipality
Emilia Romagna Region
PARTICIPANTS TO THE LAUNCH EVENT
KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
Francesco Ubertini, Rector of the University of Bologna, Italy
Giuseppe Versaldi, Prefect of the Congregation for Catholic Education, State of Vatican City
Patrizio Bianchi, Regione Emilia Romagna, Italy
Massimo Inguscio, President of the CNR, Italy
Carlos Moedas, European Commisioner for Innovation and Research
Jan Figel’, Special Envoy of the European Commission for Religious Freedom
Stefano Manservisi, DG Devco, European Commission
Annette Schavan, Former Federal Minister of Education and Research, Germany
Igor Kitaev, UNESCO Regional Bureau for Science and Culture in Europe
Kishan Manocha, OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights
Martina Larkin, World Economic Forum, Geneva
Alberto Melloni, Secretary of FSCIRE, Italy
PARTICIPANTS TO THE LAUNCH EVENT
KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
Francesco Ubertini, Rector of the University of Bologna, Italy
Giuseppe Versaldi, Prefect of the Congregation for Catholic Education, State of Vatican City
Patrizio Bianchi, Regione Emilia Romagna, Italy
Massimo Inguscio, President of the CNR, Italy
Carlos Moedas, European Commisioner for Innovation and Research
Jan Figel’, Special Envoy of the European Commission for Religious Freedom
Stefano Manservisi, DG Devco, European Commission
Annette Schavan, Former Federal Minister of Education and Research, Germany
Igor Kitaev, UNESCO Regional Bureau for Science and Culture in Europe
Kishan Manocha, OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights
Martina Larkin, World Economic Forum, Geneva
Alberto Melloni, Secretary of FSCIRE, Italy
OUR LATEST NEWS
Giuseppe Alberigo Award 2019
March 4, 2019
Fscire and Emilia-Romagna Region, together with the European Academy of Religion, are glad to announce the second edition of the Alberigo Award.
Giuseppe Alberigo (1926-2007) was an historian of great magnitude who was able to combine exceptional, exemplary rigour in research and a unique timeliness in the intellectual and theological debate of his time, thereby offering a precious contribution to sowing the seeds of criticism in generations of scholars internationally.
In memory of his fervour and wealth of critical studies, the Region of Emilia-Romagna and the Fondazione per le scienze religiose Giovanni XXIII, to which Alberigo dedicated 54 years of his life, will confere a sum of € 30,000 (Senior Award, € 20,000; Junior Award € 10,000), which will reward scholars engaged in a field of religious science, whether historical, exegetical, theological or other, without any form of limitation concerning the type of study.
Candidacies must be presented by the authors themselves and/or third parties – scholars, centres, journals, editors, associations, academies or departments – provided that they be registered members of the European Academy of Religion (EuARe), by sending a paper or digital copy of their books published within the last three years, or works that have yet to be published, in any field of religious science. Every candidacy must be accompanied by a brief presentation of the particular aspects of the volume or paper, the curriculum vitae of its author(s) and the indication of the category of the Award applied for. Candidacies will be received by July 31st, 2019.
The three finalists in each category will be invited to present a lecture at the annual convention of the European Academy of Religion in 2020, when the President of the Emilia-Romagna Region or his delegate will confer the awards in a special ceremony.
Establishment of the network of European Centers on Religion and Politics
June 16, 2019
Over the past three decades, a significant number of centers for "religion and public life" have emerged in European universities. During the third congress of the European Academy of Religion on March 4 2019, the leaders of some of these centers launched the network of European Centers on Religion and Politics.
This new initiative has two major goals. The first one is to improve communication and to foster inter-disciplinary and comparative approaches on the topic of religion and politics across religious traditions political contexts and historical periods among academic institutions in Europe and beyond. The second one is be a platform to disseminate research findings and projects in order to create a fruitful interactions with media and policy-makers working at the interface of religion and politics.
Belief. An essay by Jocelyne Cesari
February 6, 2020
The Immanent Frame publishes interdisciplinary perspectives on religion, secularism, and the public sphere. Founded in October 2007 in conjunction with the Social Science Research Council’s program on Religion and the Public Sphere, The Immanent Frame features invited contributions and original essays and serves as a forum for ongoing exchanges among leading thinkers from the social sciences and humanities.
We are pleased to share the link to one of the latest contributions: an essay on Belief, by Professor Jocelyne Cesari: https://tif.ssrc.org/2020/01/31/belief-cesari/.
EUROPEAN ACADEMY OF RELIGION EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
EUROPEAN ACADEMY OF RELIGION EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
EUROPEAN ACADEMY OF RELIGION STATUTE
AS APPROVED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY ON JUNE 21, 2017
EUROPEAN ACADEMY OF RELIGION STATUTE
AS APPROVED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY ON JUNE 21, 2017
PARTICIPANTS TO THE LAUNCH EVENT
KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
Francesco Ubertini, Rector of the University of Bologna, Italy
Giuseppe Versaldi, Prefect of the Congregation for Catholic Education, State of Vatican City
Patrizio Bianchi, Regione Emilia Romagna, Italy
Massimo Inguscio, President of the CNR, Italy
Carlos Moedas, European Commisioner for Innovation and Research
Jan Figel’, Special Envoy of the European Commission for Religious Freedom
Stefano Manservisi, DG Devco, European Commission
Annette Schavan, Former Federal Minister of Education and Research, Germany
Igor Kitaev, UNESCO Regional Bureau for Science and Culture in Europe
Kishan Manocha, OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights
Martina Larkin, World Economic Forum, Geneva
Alberto Melloni, Secretary of FSCIRE, Italy
PARTICIPANTS TO THE LAUNCH EVENT
KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
Francesco Ubertini, Rector of the University of Bologna, Italy
Giuseppe Versaldi, Prefect of the Congregation for Catholic Education, State of Vatican City
Patrizio Bianchi, Regione Emilia Romagna, Italy
Massimo Inguscio, President of the CNR, Italy
Carlos Moedas, European Commisioner for Innovation and Research
Jan Figel’, Special Envoy of the European Commission for Religious Freedom
Stefano Manservisi, DG Devco, European Commission
Annette Schavan, Former Federal Minister of Education and Research, Germany
Igor Kitaev, UNESCO Regional Bureau for Science and Culture in Europe
Kishan Manocha, OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights
Martina Larkin, World Economic Forum, Geneva
Alberto Melloni, Secretary of FSCIRE, Italy
KEYNOTE LECTURES 2021
RELIGION AND CHANGE
For some people, religions are the only stable element in a world of permanent change as they relate them to which is transcendent to this world and therefore untouched by changes. But is this really true? Is the transcendent really beyond and without change? And are the religions, even if they relate people to an unchangeable transcendence, then also unchangeable or not rather themselves subject to changes as everybody else in the world? In most religions, traditions with their practices and holy texts are very important and faithfulness to these traditions seem to give the religions the character of unchangeability. But at the same time, all religions have a rich practice of interpretation of the texts in holy books and ritual practices and also of the activities within the religious practices. Often is the emphasis on traditions or on the original meaning of texts the basis for change. How can these hermeneutical processes be described and how are they related to changes within religions and changes in society caused by religions?
The Münster conference of the European Academy of Religion will discuss these and many more questions which are raised when studying the relation of religion and change. Besides the many panels and discussions on all possible topics and problems in the diverse field of the study of religion and research on religion within the EuARe conference, some core lectures and discussions will be dedicated to the discussion of the relation of religion and change. These lectures and discussions will contribute to a clarification of this relation into two main directions. One direction will be the change and transformation of religion itself; another direction will be the changes and transformations caused by religion.
Within these two directions, a whole bouquet of diverse issues and questions will be discussed.
1. Change and transformation of Religion (in the history of religion). Has there been a development of religion within history? Do religions stand for a solid and substantial metaphysical order of natural and moral reality amidst a world which is permanently changing, or are religions themselves in a process of inner (essential) change, reform and transformation? How do religions integrate the concepts of change, reform and transformation in their own doctrines? How is religion related to history and change? How does the differentiation of religious symbol systems proceed?
2. Evolution and Religion. In what sense do we have to understand religion as being part of the evolution of humankind (of evolutionary history)? What follows from such an analysis of the origin of religion? What kind of critique of religion emerges from this understanding (for example, a genetic critique of religion)? What is the significance of such a critique for a contemporary concept of religion?
3. Hermeneutics and Religious Traditions, Texts and Practices. Is Interpretation the key to understand the relation between religion and change? Is there a specific hermeneutics in respect to the holy texts and practices of religions? What models of relating the holy texts and practices of a religious tradition to the present day and its challenges in diverse contexts are available and used in the religions?
4. Dynamics of change. How can religions contribute to transformations, development and progress in societies? Does religion restrain or promote transformation, development and progress in societies? Can and do religions include a dynamic of their own transformation and development?
Hans Peter Grosshans, President of the European Academy of Religion
WWU Münster
Complimenting the Divine: the Multi-Religious as the Poetics of Resilience
Azza Karam (Religions for Peace)
Dr. Azza Karam is Secretary General of Religions for Peace International and Professor of Religion and Development at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Previously, she served as a senior advisor on culture at the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA); coordinator/chair of the United Nations Inter-Agency Task Force on Religion and Development; senior policy research advisor at the United Nations Development Program in the Regional Bureau for Arab States; and president of the Committee of Religious NGOs at the United Nations. She is the lead facilitator for the United Nations’ Strategic Learning Exchanges on Religion, Development and Diplomacy, building on a legacy of serving as a trainer cum facilitator of intercultural leadership and management in the Arab region as well as Europe and Central Asia.
Sameness though claiming adaptation or change by pretending continuity? A psychology of religion perspective
Vassilis Saroglou (UCLouvain)
Vassilis Saroglou is professor of psychology of religion, personality psychology, and cross-cultural psychology at the Université Catholique de Louvain. He has studied theology (Univ. of Athens), religious sciences, philosophy, and psychology (UCLouvain), and has been visiting scholar in the US (William & Mary-Virginia, Arizona State Univ., New York Univ.). He has extensive research and publications on the psychology of religion, spirituality, fundamentalism, and atheism and their respective cognitive, emotional, moral, social, and cultural characteristics. He has served as Associate Editor and Co-Editor of the International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, President of the International Association for the Psychology of Religion, and (vice)-President of the International Academy of Religious Sciences. For his work, he received several scientific distinctions from American and International/European associations (APA, APS, SPSP, IAPR, EAPP) and in 2020 he was awarded the Quinquennial Solvay Excellence Prize in human and social sciences (FNRS, Belgium). He most recently published The Psychology of Religion (Routledge, 2021).
The Study of Religion and the Spirit of Orientalism: Cultural Transformations and Scholarly Shifts
Guy Stroumsa (Hebrew University of Jerusalem)
Guy G. Stroumsa is Martin Buber Professor Emeritus of Comparative Religion, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Professor Emeritus of the Study of the Abrahamic Religions, and Emeritus Fellow of Lady Margaret Hall, University of Oxford. He is a Member of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities and holds an honorary doctorate from the University of Zurich. He received the Humboldt Research Award, the Leopold-Lucas Prize, and the Rothschild Prize. He is a Chevalier de l’Ordre du Mérite.
Author of eighteen books and one hundred and fifty articles, editor or co-editor of twenty-one books. Among his recent publications: The Idea of Semitic Monotheism: The Rise and Fall of a Scholarly Myth (Oxford, 2021); The Crucible of Religion in Late Antiquity (Tübingen, 2021); Religion as Intellectual Challenge in the Long Twentieth Century (Tübingen, 2021); Religions d’Abraham: histoires croisées (Geneva, 2017), The Scriptural Universe of Ancient Christianity (Cambridge, Mass, 2016), The Making of the Abrahamic Religions in Late Antiquity (Oxford, 2015), A New Science: the Discovery of Religion in the Age of Reason (Cambridge, Mass., 2010), and The End of Sacrifice: Religious Transformations of Late Antiquity (Chicago, 2009; paperback 2012; Original French edition, 2005; also Italian, German and Hebrew translations).
Tradition, traditionalism and culture wars
Rowan Williams (University of Cambridge)
Rowan Williams has recently retired as Master of Magdalene College, Cambridge, and was previously Archbishop of Canterbury. Prior to that, he taught theology in Oxford, Cambridge, Bristol and Yale, and has written widely in theology, spirituality and contemporary issues. His original research focus was on Russian religious thought.
His most recent works include: Justice and Love: A Philosophical Dialogue (with Mary Zournazi), and Looking East in Winter.
Reading the Signs of the Times: Theology and the Question of Progress
Judith Wolfe (University of St. Andrews)
Judith Wolfe is Professor of Philosophical Theology at the University of St Andrews in Scotland, and is a highly sought after speaker, teacher, and writer. She directs an international research network entitled 'Widening Horizons in Philosophical Theology', and an interdisciplinary research project on psychological, theological and philosophical approaches to aesthetic and religious perception.
Judith's past publications include the Oxford Handbook of Nineteenth-Century Christian Thought (ed. with J. Rasmussen and J. Zachhuber, OUP, 2017), C. S. Lewis and His Circle (ed. with R. White and B. Wolfe, OUP, 2015), Heidegger and his Theology (T&T Clark, 2014), and Heidegger’s Eschatology (OUP, 2013). She serves as a Senior Editor of the St Andrews Encyclopaedia of Theology and as co-editor of the three-volume Oxford History of Modern German Theology. With OUP, she is also publishing a monograph is on eschatology and modern European thought, and in Cambridge, she is delivering the 2022 Hulsean Lectures on the theological imagination.