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
2020 NEWS ARCHIVE
Save the Dates: RESILIENCE Webinars in 2021
December 14, 2020
The European Research Infrastructure on Religious Studies RESILIENCE is preparing a series of webinars related to Religious Studies which you are welcome to join.
The webinars aim at presenting a specificity of the RESILIENCE partners and the added value of a Research Infrastructure for all Religious Studies, at the same time at collecting feedback from users: what are their needs in this respect? The presentations will deal with a variety of topics and will be of interest for a wide audience, including researchers, librarians, employees of NGOs etc.
The first webinars are scheduled January 14 and 26, 2021, organised by the University of Sofia (EU Enlargement and Linguistic Challenges in the Balkans, January 14, 2021, 9:30 CET | 10:30 EET) and IEG/EPHE (eScriptorium for Handwritten Text Recognition in Humanities Research, January 26, 2021, 14.00-15.00 CET).
More specific information is expected but you can already subscribe to the Sofia University Open Webinar January 14, 2021, here.
Discover the topics of the forthcoming webinars, save the dates and remember: if you want us to keep you posted, you can subscribe at any moment to the RESILIENCE newsletter: http://resilience-ri.eu/newsletter/.
Research news from Münster
December 7, 2020
Find out the latest research news from the Cluster of Excellence “Religion and Politics” at the University of Münster:
“Corona pandemic is obviously influencing religiosity” | Initial results of a survey by the Cluster of Excellence on corona and faith
Initial results of a survey conducted by the Cluster of Excellence “Religion and Politics” at the University of Münster on the link between the corona pandemic and religiosity are now available. They show that the COVID 19 crisis is having an impact on people’s faith, explains political scientist Carolin Hillenbrand of the Cluster of Excellence.
Read the full article here.
Corona pandemic: wide-ranging research in the humanities and social sciences on epidemics
Since the beginnings of the corona pandemic, members of the Cluster of Excellence “Religion and Politics” have conducted wide-ranging research in the humanities and social sciences on epidemics in the past and present.
Read the full article here.
“We are seeing serious conflicts across the world over belonging and demarcation”
First thematic year of the Cluster of Excellence “Religion and Politics” sheds light on the social challenges of “belonging and demarcation” – science and politics discuss dynamics and tensions between political, cultural, and religious groups – case studies from antiquity to the present – public annual programme 2020/21 comprises a wide range of event and media formats.
Read the full article here.
“Repercussions of colonial pasts still causing problems for populations today”
An interdisciplinary lecture series organized by the Cluster of Excellence examines the influence of imperial legacies on social, cultural and religious affiliations – examples ranging from the Jews in Ancient Rome, to the multi-confessional Fatimid dynasty in the Middle Ages, and to West Africans soldiers employed in the French army – with lectures by Herfried Münkler, Brigitte Reinwald, Lora Wildenthal, Wolfgang Reinhard – as a prelude to the first thematic year “Belonging and Demarcation”.
Read the full article here.
New research projects expand the range of themes at the Cluster of Excellence
The Cluster of Excellence “Religion and Politics” is expanding its research programme with five projects from the fields of the sociology of religion and political science, as well as from classical studies and history. The new projects deal with themes ranging from “Religious conservatism and the support for right-wing populist parties” and “Localism and religion in ancient Greece”, to “Divination and politics in the early-modern period” and “Ephesus and its cult spaces: projections of political and religious practice”, to “Cross-organizational and cross-national differences in religious accommodation”.
Read the full article here.
International comparison of religious diversity | NRW graduate school on the regulation of religious diversity enters its second funding phase
The NRW graduate school “Religious Plurality” at the universities of Münster and Bochum is to be extended and will in future examine regional religious diversity in comparison with different countries. This was announced by the University of Münster’s Centre for Religion and Modernity (CRM) and the University of Bochum’s Centre for Religious Studies (CERES) on Tuesday.
Read the full article here.
#EuARe2021. Call for proposals
December 4, 2020
It is with great pleasure that the European Academy of Religion announces its fourth Annual Conference, which will take place in Münster (Germany) between Monday, August 30th and Thursday, September 2nd. Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster will be the organizing institution.
As in previous years, the scientific program will be composed of working sessions (panels and book presentations) and keynote lectures that will focus on the overarching topic Religion and Change.
The call for proposals is open: proponents will be able to submit their panels and AMC sessions until Monday, March 1st, 2021 (23:59, GMT+1).
Due to the COVID-19 related emergency, the conference will be moved online in case the sanitary measures should not allow to host it in presence. Conference cancellation will be announced in due time, with further information on how to run the sessions online.
FSCIRE to host the G20 Interfaith Forum in 2021
December 2, 2020
Call for Papers. Righteousness in Early Modern Christianity: Extended Deadline
October 26, 2020
In 2021, Italy will host the G20 Summit. In the run-up to the Summit, the Presidency will host several meetings featuring ministers, senior government officials as well as civil society representatives. We are glad to announce that FSCIRE will cooperate with the Italian Presidency in organising and convening the G20 Interfaith Forum (IF20) in Bologna.
The G20 Interfaith Forum is the annual platform that, since 2014, seeks global solutions by collaborating with religious thought leaders and political representatives. It builds on vital roles that religious institutions and beliefs play in world affairs, reflecting a rich diversity of institutions, ideas, and values. The membership includes interfaith and intercultural organizations, religious leaders, scholars, development and humanitarian entities, and business and civil society actors.
The theme for the global gathering, to be held in September 2021, will be: “Time to Heal: Peace Among Cultures, Understanding Between Religions.”
As the Saudi Presidency passes the torch to Italy, the G20 Interfaith Forum will host an online handover ceremony on Thursday, December 3, 4.30-5.30 pm (Rome time). Here you can find the program of the ceremony and the link to register to the Zoom webinar. You are all invited to join the meeting!
Righteousness is a verb not a noun. This became apparent in the theological and philosophical debates in Early Modern Christianity as well as in socio-political, legal and economical discussions during that time. These two spheres of debate were closely connected in theory and in practice. Different views on a righteous God and a righteous society resulted in debates, turmoil, plans and projects that are reflected in art and literature.
Reformation Research Consortium (RefoRC), in cooperation with Fscire and the Coram Deo Program, invites proposals for the international conference 'Righteousness in Early Modern Christianity. Voices, Fruits & Failures', to be held in Bologna, September 15-17, 2021.
The conference focuses on the question of how the issue of righteousness was dealt with in Early Modern Christianity as a period that brought about immense and longlasting changes and brought forth inspiring individuals with innovative ideas.
What concepts of righteousness were presented? What projects towards more righteousness were undertaken and what were their successes or failures? What was done to encourage righteousness in the various areas of life?
Interested participants are requested to send an abstract of maximum 1500 characters (incl. blank spaces) and an abbreviated CV via the application form before February 1, 2021 (extended deadline).
A list of possible paper topics, full information about the conference, and the application form are available here.
Research news from Münster
October 26, 2020
Find out the latest research news from the Cluster of Excellence “Religion and Politics” at the University of Münster:
(In)visibility. Or: visualizing and perceiving an invisible threat
In the new chapter "(In)visibility", the dossier “Epidemics. Perspectives from cultural studies” is devoted to the question of how the invisible virus, the invisibility of epidemics, has been made visible, graspable, tangible, and legible over the centuries, and how the perception of the invisible threat has influenced societies.
Read the full article here.
Important pioneer of European business ethics
The Latin work of an important pioneer of modern business ethics, the Dutch legal scholar and moral theologian Leonardus Lessius (1554-1623), is being made available in German for the first time. The dutch legal scholar and moral theologian Leonardus Lessius developed innovative legal and ethical principles, comments the publisher, legal historian Prof. Dr. Nils Jansen from the Cluster of Excellence. The first of ten volumes will be published by frommann-Holzboog Verlag next week.
Read the full article here.
International comparison of religious diversity
The NRW graduate school “Religious Plurality” at the universities of Münster and Bochum is to be extended and will in future examine regional religious diversity in comparison with different countries. This was announced by the University of Münster’s Centre for Religion and Modernity (CRM) and the University of Bochum’s Centre for Religious Studies (CERES) on Tuesday.
Read the press release in full here.
Le relazioni tra Israele e Vaticano,1904-2005. L'opera di Nathan Ben-Horin
September 25, 2020
The figure of Nathan Ben-Horin and his book Le relazioni tra Israele e Vaticano,1904-2005, will be the topics of a webinar, on Zoom, organized by the Italy-Israel Association and the Department of Legal Sciences "Cesare Beccaria" (University of Milan). The issues of anti-Semitism and Jerusalem, Ben Horin's diplomatic function in the years when relations with the Holy See were not yet settled, will be the topics addressed by jurists, historians, and exponents of the Jewish community that will intervene in the converstion.
For more information and to register to the event, please contact Professor Cristiana Cianitto (Unimi).
EuARe Lectures. Third volume forthcoming
September 21, 2020
How does the powerful effect that religion has on public and personal life relate to the various spheres of our culture? Is the relationship between power and religion always negative or can religion also affect individuals and societies positively?
The forthcoming volume of the EuARe Lectures, edited by Herman Selderhuis, collects the texts of the lectures delivered at the Third Annual Conference of the European Academy of Religion (2020) on the topic “The Power of Religion / Religion and Power”. Scott Appleby explores the connection, in the religious imagination, among glorifying the divine, sanctifying the mundane and exercising political and cultural power. Cyril Hovorun addresses the issue of the politicization of religion, focusing in particular on Eastern Christian cases. Susanne Schröter offers an insight into the current debate on Islam in Germany. Finally, Kristina Stoeckl analyses the complex relationship among Europe’s new religious conflicts, Russian orthodoxy, American Christian conservatives and the emergence of a European populist right-wing.
The volume will be available online in the next months. In the meanwhile, you are invited to download the first two volumes of the EuARe collection:
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EuARe Lectures. Annual Conference 2018, edited by Francesca Cadeddu
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EuARe Lectures. Annual Conference 2019, edited by Jocelyne Cesari
Research news from Münster. Religion and conspiracy theories in the time of corona epidemic
September 21, 2020
Hardly had people in Germany realized that their lives would be fundamentally changed by the corona crisis than virologists and epidemiologists were on hand to inform us about the new situation and its challenges. Conspiracy theories also sprang up, offering comprehensive explanations for the crisis, providing deeper insights into the connections that lay below the surface, and revealing the true causes of the crisis to the uninitiated. The dossier „Religion and conspiracy theories in the time of the corona epidemic“ explores the connection and difference between religion and conspiracy theories in the time of the pandemic.
The dossier is available at this link: https://www.uni-muenster.de/Religion-und-Politik/en/aktuelles/schwerpunkte/epidemien/Epidemien_Religionen_und_Verschwoerungstheorien.html
Research Infrastructure on Religious Studies RESILIENCE Is Ready to Start
September 10, 2020
Thirteen academic institutions from eleven countries are working on the establishment of a permanent European Research Infrastructure on Religious Studies, named RESILIENCE.
Yesterday they submitted an application for the Research Infrastructure to be included in the ESFRI Roadmap 2021. The inclusion of RESILIENCE in this Roadmap will assure partners that a framework to actually start the preparation phase of the infrastructure is in place.
Discerning the increasing interest in research on Religious Studies and the growing importance of these studies, RESILIENCE aims at improving access to knowledge related to religion. At the same time, tools and support are needed, in order to make available, interpret and handle this knowledge. RESILIENCE will respond to this need, establishing a permanent European Infrastructure on Religious Studies.
Building on the traditions of participating institutions, RESILIENCE’s history dates back to 2014. Since September 2019 the partners have been working on reaching the maturity required to be included in the ESFRI Roadmap 2021. A design has been made for the future infrastructure and the services have been defined, along with a sustainable budget and a stable governance model, which basically means that the Research Infrastructure is ready to start.
Inclusion of RESILIENCE in the Roadmap will assure partners of a framework to actually start in the near future the preparation phase of the infrastructure.
Read the press release in full here.
INIRE-FSCIRE virtual seminars on "Religion in a pandemic"
September 9, 2020
What function does religion have in a pandemic? How have faith communities been affected by, and responded to, the current crisis? How might we envisage a post-pandemic world through the lens of religion?
The International Network on Interreligious Research and Education (INIRE), in collaboration with Fondazione per le scienze religiose Giovanni XXIII (FSCIRE), hosted virtual seminar sessions in which over 40 scholars, religious leaders, and students from around the globe met to discuss these and other questions. Over the course of these sessions, participants explored the central themes of religious authority and response in a time of crisis and heard the personal reflections of students on the pandemic.
The recordings of the virtual seminars are available online on DukeEthics and Fscire YouTube Channels.
Latest news from the EuARe GA
August 31, 2020
On Tuesday 25th, the General Assembly of EuARe members, held online, officially closed the Annual Conference 2020. Here are the latest news announced by the President, Herman Selderhuis, the members of the Executive Committee, and the secretariat.
#EuARe2021. WWU Münster and its beautiful city will host the Conference from Monday, August 30th to Thursday, September 2nd 2021. The conference overarching theme will be “Religion and Change”. More details about the event, including the official Call, will shortly be available.
A study on EuARe memberships and conferences. A quantitative study is being carried on by professor Silvio Ferrari (EuARe EC) and Irene Iarocci (EuARe secretariat) on the EuARe membership and conference data collected between 2018 and 2020. The results of their analysis will be presented in the form of charts and infographics on the EuARe website over the following months.
2021 President announced. Hans-Peter Grosshans was unanimously elected as the new President of EuARe by the EuARe EC, with Herman Selderhuis replacing him as the Treasurer. Congratulations!
ReIReSearch, a New Search Tool for Researchers in Religious Studies
August 28, 2020
ReIReS is pleased to announce the launch of ReIReSearch, an integrated research database for religious studies. The database combines the rich collections of various European institutions, thus offering a new search tool and improved access to researchers in religious studies.
ReIReSearch contains a variety of contributions from the academic libraries of the Fondazione per le Scienze Religiose Giovanni XXIII, Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz, KU Leuven, and Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski. At the moment, ReIReSearch includes among other things Hebrew manuscripts from 1700 to 1920 from the Jewish Community of Mainz, a digitized version of the sources of church councils, a selection of rare books and manuscripts from the Maurits Sabbe Library and books related to the fields of Slavic studies and religion. ReIReSearch also returns search results from the Index Religiosus database provided by Brepols Publishers for users who have access to this subscription database. ReIReS plans to continue importing data from other (academic) libraries and research databases as often as possible, thus adding to the usefulness of the service.
Read the Press Release in full and access the database here: https://reires.eu/4637/reiresearch-a-new-search-tool-for-researchers-in-religious-studies/27/
#EuARe2020. General Assembly
August 5, 2020
On Tuesday, August 25th (3 pm, CET), the EuARe members will gather for the annual EuARe General Assembly.
The meeting, which this year is going to be held on Zoom, will close the 2020 edition and officially start #EuARe2021. The meeting will also be the occasion to elect the EuARe President for 2021 and to present a study on the first five years of the association.
We look forward to meeting all our members there!
Donne di fede. Diversità spirituali in prospettiva femminile
August 4, 2020
LIREC announces a new date for the conference Donne di fede. Diversità Spirituali in prospettiva femminile.
The meeting will be held online on Monday, October 5th, 2020.
More information will be available here soon after the summer break. Stay tuned!
Research news from Münster
July 29, 2020
Find out the latest research news from the Cluster of Excellence “Religion and Politics” at the University of Münster:
Already 300 years ago: Epidemics and conspiracy theories
According to historians, conspiracy theorists who do not believe in the pandemic already existed exactly 300 years ago.
Read the full article here.
Dossier „Hagia Sophia – religious buildings and the history of their conversion“
From a historical perspective, the conversion of religiously and politically charged buildings such as Hagia Sophia in Istanbul is no new phenomenon, branching back to antiquity. A multitude of such cases can be found in all epochs, religions and regions, as the dossier "Hagia Sophia – religious buildings and the history of their conversion" shows. In a further, the dossier traces the eventful history of Hagia Sophia with its interior and exterior changes from the 6th to the 21st centuries.
Read the full article here.
EuARe Lectures. Conference proceedings
July 15, 2020
The second volume of the EuARe Lectures is out! Get your copy here!
The volume, edited by our former president, Jocelyne Cesari, collects the lectures delivered at the Second Annual Conference of the European Academy of Religion (2019) on the topic "Empowering the Individual, Nurturing the Community".
Tackling the theme from the different perspectives of their fields of study, Craig Calhoun (Arizona State University) explores the meaning of secularisation for the individual and the community, and the challenges resulting from the reorganisation of human existence on a global scale and from new technologies; Maureen Junker-Kenny (Trinity College Dublin) analyses different approaches to the relationship between individuality and sociality, and the consequences of this for people’s views of religion; Sophie Nordmann (École Pratique des Hautes Études) discusses the contribution of Jewish philosophers to political theory in the twentieth century, and how they developed their conceptions of the way in which individuals belong to social, political, and cultural communities; finally, Tim Winter (University of Cambridge) surveys foundational Islamic assumptions about human diversity and measures their intelligibility to modern positivism.
If you missed it, the first EuARe Lectures volume (edited by our Secretary General, Francesca Cadeddu) is also available for download.
Alberigo School for Advanced Religious Studies. Seminars
July 10, 2020
We are pleased to share with you the schedule of the 2020-2021 research seminars season, organised by Fscire in the frame of the «Giuseppe Alberigo» School for Advanced Religious Studies.
The seminars are held by internationally renowned scholars and cover a wide range of interests and research lines, both in the history of Christianity and in the history and Doctrines of Islam.
Students and scholars who wish to attend are invited to send an email to altascuola@fscire.it. Notifications about possible re-schedulings or cancellations will be advertised here.
For more information about the «Giuseppe Alberigo» School for Advanced Religious Studies is available at this link.
Minorities and COVID-19: Full Episodes list
July 8, 2020
The Institute for Minority Rights, Eurac Research invites you to join a webinar series to investigate the challenges minorities worldwide are facing as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Researchers and policymakers will help us deepen our understanding of "Minorities and Covid-19" during ten appointments, scheduled from May 13 to July 14.
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Episode 1. COVID-19 and its effects on minorities: https://youtu.be/YtW27NP2ZC
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Episode 2. Equality, Discrimination and COVID-19: https://youtu.be/iYZf6z9w-lE
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Episode 3. Minorities, territorial governance and inter-state relations in pandemic times: https://youtu.be/76jpfoslWfk
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Episode 4. COVID-19 and religious minorities: https://youtu.be/lJH-fRJ-uvU
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Episode 5. Indigenous peoples in times of the pandemic: https://youtu.be/Jkua1Kd-sXw
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Episode 6. Gender and the pandemic: https://youtu.be/bVrU5Y5ZWEw
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Episode 7. COVID-19 and its effects on Roma: https://youtu.be/ZyCGX_guqHE
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Episode 8. Security in times of a pandemic: borders, states and minorities: https://youtu.be/HChLz7tMh_I
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Episode 9. Economy, minorities and COVID-19: https://youtu.be/_JEp38sRa7k
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Episode 10. Diversity governance: future post-covid scenarios: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbLHfv2-BVc
Piazza Grande Religion Journalism Award. Winners announced
June 22, 2020
The International Association of Religion Journalists (IARJ) and Fscire are pleased to announce that Italian journalist Federica Tourn was awarded the first edition of the Piazza Grande Religion Journalism Award for her coverage about religion discrimination in Italian prisons Dio dietro le sbarre / God behind bars.
The international jury also awarded three special mentions to journalists Gerald Drißner (Austria) for Kolossale Ambitionen einer kleinen Stadt / The colossal ambitions of a little town; László Szőcs (Hungary) for Megtalált jegygyűrű / A wedding ring recovered; and Chiara Zappa (Italy), for Papa Francesco ad Abu Dhabi: La Chiesa in terra araba / Pope Francis in Abu Dhabi: The Church on Arab soil.
The Piazza Grande Religion Journalism Award was launched by the IARJ and Fscire in Bologna in March 2019 during the annual conference of the European Academy of Religion (EuARe) to honour the work of journalists covering faith and religion in Europe, including Iceland and Russia, and the countries surrounding the Mediterranean basin. The award program is run by the IARJ and funded by Fscire.
In its first edition, it received 71 entries. The entries came from journalists based in countries including Austria, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Italy, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Israel, Portugal, Serbia, Spain, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine and the United Kingdom. The IARJ and the FSCIRE thank all of the participants in the contest for entering their stories to the first edition of the Piazza Grande Religion Journalism Award.
Read the full news and the jury’s comments on the winner and the special mentioned here.
Call for Applications. ReIReS Transnational Access scholarship
June 17, 2020
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The EU funded project “Research Infrastructure on Religious Studies” (ReIReS) offers scholars from any academic discipline the opportunity to spend typically two weeks in one of fourteen outstanding European research centres (libraries and archives) in Bologna, Hamburg, Leuven, Mainz, Paris, and Sofia to carry out their research project in historical Religious Studies.
The fifth and last ReIReS TNA-call will be open from June 15, 2020 until August 30, 2020. Scholars who will receive a scholarship, will have access to one of the holdings starting October 2020, depending on the current travel regulations.
ReIReS grants to users support for travel and subsistence. Users spend typically two weeks at the provider institution and take advantage in dealing with all these materials with the constant tutorial of experts of the host provider who are specialists in the research field for which access has been requested, and who assist and guide the use and interpretation of the data.
Users should aim to publish the results of their research within a realistic period of time and preferably in open access ISI or SCOPUS refereed journals that have substantial academic impact. The support of the EU as well the use of the ReIReS services must be clearly acknowledged in the academic publication realised using ReIReS’ transnational access.
More information about the call is available here: https://reires.eu/4580/fifth-and-last-call-for-applications-reires-tna-scholarships/15/.
COVID-19 and Religion: Between Nationalism and Communal Responsibility
June 8, 2020
Read Jocelyne Cesari's OPed on Politics Today: https://politicstoday.org/covid-19-and-religion-between-nationalism-and-communal-responsibility/
Call for applications: teaching position in Dublin
June 8, 2020
The Loyola Institute is pleased to announce that the School seeks to appoint an Assistant Professor to teach and supervise in theology in the Catholic tradition.
As well as contributing to the School’s Undergraduate and Postgraduate taught courses in theology, the appointed person will be expected to supervise MPhil and PhD dissertations, to participate across the range of School activities and especially to contribute to the development of the Loyola Institute.
A full job description and details can be found here:
https://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/CAE347/assistant-professor-in-theology-in-the-catholic-tradition
A ZOOMTalk on religious fundamentalism
May 19, 2020
EuARe promotes a webinar on religious fundamentalism organised by Confronti.
The session will be presided by the Director of Confronti, Claudio Paravati, and the EuARe Secretary-General, Francesca Cadeddu.
The webinar (in Italian) will be streamed on Wednesday, May 20, at 6 pm CET.
Religioni e fondamentalismi
Emanuela Del Re, Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation
Gad Lerner, Journalist
Alberto Melloni, Secretary-General of FSCIRE
Paolo Naso, Sociologist of religion, Sapienza-Università di Roma/Confronti
Click here to join.
Religion and Nationalism in Turkey
May 16, 2020
The Politicization of Religion in Global Perspective project at Georgetown University is promoting a series of events that focus on questions surrounding the politicization of religion in India, China, Russia, Syria, and Turkey.
Today we share the YouTube link of a webinar on Religion and Nationalism in Turkey conducted on May 13 at the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs.
In this conversation, Jocelyne Cesari, former EuARe president, will be joined by A. Erdi Ozturk, lecturer in international relations and politics at London Metropolitan University, to engage in a discussion on the status of Islam in the building of Turkey as a secular nation-state and on modern-day Turkish politics. They will consider religious dimensions of Turkish politics, the authoritarian turn of the ruling Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisim, AKP), features of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's populism, and how the current COVID-19 crisis will affect political leadership.
The video is available here.
Research news from Münster
May 6, 2020
We are pleased to share with you some recent updates from the Cluster of Excellence “Religion and Politics” at the University of Münster: a call for applications to the first training programme in “Religious Journalism” offered by the Cluster and the ifp Catholic School of Journalism; some reflections by the legal scholar Nils Jansen about the moral questions raised by the corona crisis; the starting of a long-term project on Ibn Nubatah; the publication of a discussion paper on “Dialogue and Transformation" in religious education; and, finally, an international survey on how religion is transmitted in families.
Together with seven other members, the Cluster is part of the network of European Centers on Religion and Politics, launched on March 4 2019, during the third congress of the European Academy of Religion.
Read the full news here.
Religion and Nationalism: the role of Orthodoxy in Russia's nation-building
April 23, 2020
The Politicization of Religion in Global Perspective project at Georgetown University is promoting a series of events that focus on questions surrounding the politicization of religion in India, China, Russia, Syria, and Turkey.
Today we share the YouTube link of a webinar on Religion and Nationalism in Russia conducted on April 7 at the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs.
In this conversation, Jocelyne Cesari, former EuARe president, and Kristina Stoeckl, assistant professor of sociology at the University of Innsbruck and Keynote Lecturer at EuARe2020, engage in a discussion on the role of Orthodoxy in Russia's nation-building, domestic politics, and international relations. They consider questions of Russian nationhood, the influence of religion on the foreign policy of President Putin, and the relationships between orthodoxy, secularism, and nationalism.
The video is available here.
Call for applications: «Giuseppe Alberigo» School for advanced religious studies. A three-year postgraduate specialisation course
April 28, 2020
The Foundation for Religious Studies John XXIII is offering three posts, of which at least one with a scholarship, in the fields of the history of religions, exegesis, and theology to candidates for the three-year postgraduate specialisation course (2020-2023) at the «Giuseppe Alberigo» School for Advanced Religious Studies.
The call is open to candidates of any nationality holding a Master’s or advanced degree – or equivalent non-Italian qualification – in fields relating to the subjects of the specialisation course and obtained before 30 September 2020. Candidates less than 26 years of age as of 1 October 2020 may apply for the scholarship.
The application and all additional documents must be sent or delivered by hand to the «Giuseppe Alberigo» School’s secretariat (via San Vitale 114, 40125 Bologna, Italy) by 31 July 2020. The postmark or courier service stamp will serve as proof of the date of dispatch. Applicants are advised to send an electronic copy of their application form and all additional documents in .pdf format (email address: altascuola@fscire.it), in addition to the hard copy which must, however, reach the School’s secretariat before the deadline indicated.
For more information please visit the section of the «Giuseppe Alberigo» School for Advanced Religious Studies at this link.
2020 ISA Awards
April 2, 2020
The International Studies Association (ISA), one of the oldest interdisciplinary associations dedicated to understanding international, transnational and global affairs, offers several awards given to recognize outstanding scholarly contributions to the field of international studies. They recognize outstanding papers, books, achievement, and service awards to current ISA members.
We are pleased to share the news that the 2020 ISA Award in Religion and International Relations has been awarded to our Board member and former president, Jocelyne Cesari.
The full list of Award recipients is available here.
RESILIENCE goes online
February 24, 2020
We are glad to share the news of the launch of the RESILIENCE website.
RESILIENCE is a unique, interdisciplinary and invigorating scientific research infrastructure for all religious studies, building a high-performance platform, supplying evolving tools and big data to scholars from all the scientific disciplines crossing religions in their diachronical and synchronical variety.
RESILIENCE is constituted of twelve European academic institutions from 10 different countries, which have created a consortium to address the need for a larger and infrastructured involvement of excellent scholars.
Learn more about RESILIENCE.
Donne di fede. Diversità spirituali in prospettiva femminile
February 18, 2020
LIREC is organising a conference about the topic: Donne di fede. Diversità Spirituali in prospettiva femminile.
The conference will take place on Tuesday, February 25, 9.00, Sala dell'Istituto di Santa Maria in Aquiro (Piazza Capranica 72, Roma).
More information are available here: https://lirec.net/eventi/2020/2/25/donne-di-fede-diversit-spirituali-in-prospettiva-femminile
‘Beyond Wishful Thinking’: Peace Building in the Middle East
February 17, 2020
How religion influences our political and social life? How can religion help build peace in war-torn countries?
The Harvard Divinity School spoke with professor Jocelyne Cesari, T. J. Dermot Dunphy Visiting Professor of Religion, Violence, and Peacebuilding, about the recent crisis in the Middle East and how peace efforts can come about.
Read the interview here: https://hds.harvard.edu/news/2020/02/11/beyond-wishful-thinking-peace-building-middle-east#
Marginalized religious minorities. Religious diversity in Italy between law and politics
February 14, 2020
The University of Milan is organizing a conference on the topic of "Marginalized religious minorities. Religious diversity in Italy between law and politics”.
The meeting aims at examining the situation of some religious minorities that are legally and socially marginalized in Italian society. Through an analysis that also covers the historical, political and sociological profiles of the issue, speakers and participants will consider and discuss the capacity of the Italian legal system to include the smallest and most controversial religious minorities and the best strategies to achieve this goal.
The conference will take place on May 5 at the University of Milan.
The conference is held under the patronage of the European Academy of Religion.
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/.
Call for submissions. Religion, Nationalism and Populism across the North/South Divide
January 20, 2020
A call for manuscripts submission is open for a Religions special issue on Religion, Nationalism and Populism across the North/South Divide.
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by 30 January 2021.
Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers).
Guest Editor of the issue is the former president of the European Academy of Religion, Professor Jocelyne Cesari (University of Birmigham / Georgetown University).
Visit the dedicated page on Religions website to know more about the topic of the call and get further details about the submission procedure.
Call for Papers. Religion and Authority: Contest and Legitimacy
January 19, 2020
Political and transcendental authority are problematic in themselves and at odds with each other. Each religion has defining moments when the core questions become contested and are opened for debate, modification and change. Where is authority coming from or based upon? How is authority defined, invested and limited? Who wields authority, and how does it become legitimized and delegitimized?
Fscire and the International Network on Interreligious Research and Education (INIRE) invite proposals for the international conference Religion and Authority: Contest and Legitimacy, to be held in Palermo July 5-9, 2020.
Paper proposals will be received before January 15, 2020.
Deadline for submission has been extended to February 1, 2020.
Religious Freedom and Equality. Discrimination cases in Europe and in the International Context
January 6, 2020
Professors Maria Cristina Ivaldi and Silvia Angioi (Università della Campania "Luigi Vanvitelli") are organizing a two-days conference on the topic Libertà religiosa ed eguaglianza. Casi di discriminazione in Europa e nel contesto internazionale.
The conference aims to analyse, in a legal perspective, a wide range of issues of religious discrimination in Europe (at work, in the family, in health care, etc.) and in some countries of the world where there are significant problems from this point of view as in certain countries of particular concern mentioned in the USCIRF Annual Report 2019 (China, Burma, Russia, Iran, Pakistan).
The conference will take place in Caserta on January 23-24 at the Department of Political Science Jean Monnet (Università della Campania "Luigi Vanvitelli").
The conference is held under the patronage of the European Academy of Religion.
Call for Applications ReIReS Scholarships for Transnational Access
January 6, 2020
The EU funded project “Research Infrastructure on Religious Studies” (ReIReS) offers scholars from any academic discipline the opportunity to spend typically two weeks in one of fourteen outstanding European research centres (libraries and archives) in Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Germany, and Italy to carry out their research project in Historical Religious Studies.
Applications will be accepted until February 16, 2020.
Go for more information and the application form to: https://reires.eu/call-for-proposals-tasc-and-taad/