European Associtation for the Study of Religions
Communicating Religion
Description and organization
Communication plays a crucial role in religion and religious praxis. Religions claim to be able to create links with the divine and the transcendent, between humans and superhuman agents. But equally important, both for defining religion and for its subsistence, is the communication that takes place between humans. The conference will focus above all on this second aspect and study how a religion is communicated within the own tradition and towards outsiders. The first area deals with how religious traditions have been presented or present themselves to their members. It offers opportunities for studying a wide range of topics, including ways of creating “ideal” types or images of a tradition, handling moments of crisis, establishing and questioning forms of authority and structure, coping with dissidence, or balancing between preservation and renewal, and how all of these are communicated to the faithful. The second area deals with how a religious tradition positions itself towards outsiders. This includes such topics as reflecting on identity, coming to terms with the constant tension between intra- and extravert orientations, or developing modes for reaching out to others.
Programme
Monday, 18 September
08:00-17:00 Registration
09:00-13:00 Meeting of the Executive Committee
14:00-14:30 Opening Session Addresses by Monique Weis, President of the Belgian Association for the Study of Religions (BABEL) Einar Thomassen, President of the EASR Tim Jensen, President of the IAHR Mathijs Lamberigts, Dean of the Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies, KU Leuven
14:30-15:30 Keynote I: Guy G. Stroumsa Communicating Religion in the Late Antique Scriptural Galaxy
15:30-16:00 Coffee and tea
16:00-17:30 Slot 1
S84: New Religious Movements HP1 S11A: Religious Communication and the City HP2 S01: Religion and Video Games Pentalfa S07: Total Devotion: Emotions, Narrative, and Religious Identity HP3 S09A: The World Religions Paradigm in Educational Contexts HP4 S64A: The Ethics and Aesthetics of Visual Narratives in South Asia GA1 S100: Religion, Spirituality and Mental Health II 02.0214 S12A: Communicating Pilgrimage – Representations and Re-presentations GA2 S27A: Aesthetic Communication – Modes and Methods for the Study of Religion beyond Representation GA3 S22A: Communicating Religion and Worldviews in Schools in Europe: Comparative Perspectives CAG S83: Communicating Religion in an Atheist World HP6 S34A: Is Our Understanding of Indian Culture the Result of a Dialogue? GSO
17:30-17:40 Changing rooms
17:40-19:10 Slot 2
S85: Communicating Religion in an Asian Context I HP1 S11B: Religious Communication and the City HP2 S23: Digital Games, Religious Motifs and Practice Pentalfa S66: The Study of Religions in the EU Research Funding System HP3 S09B: The World Religions Paradigm in Educational Contexts HP4 S64B: The Ethics and Aesthetics of Visual Narratives in South Asia GA1 S104: Religious Education II HP6 S12B: Communicating Pilgrimage – Lessons from History and Literature GA2 S27B: Aesthetic Communication – Modes and Methods for the Study of Religion beyond Representation GA3 S22B: Communicating Religion and Worldviews in Schools in Europe: Comparative Perspectives CAG S15: An (Audio-) Visual Lens on Religion and Religiosity 02.0214 S34B: Is Our Understanding of Indian Culture the Result of a Dialogue?
19:15-20:30 Reception
Tuesday, 19 September
08:00-17:00 Registration
09:00-10:30 Slot 3
S08: Religious Authority and the Internet: Towards a New Framework GA3 S50: Magic Divinities and Divine Magicians HP1 S25A: Hierotopy between Art History and Religious Studies HP2 S29: Normativity, Performance, and Subversion of Religious Authority in Islam HP3 S63A: Religious Language and Communication: Philosophical Perspective HP6 S64C: The Ethics and Aesthetics of Visual Narratives in South Asia GA1 S12C: Communicating Pilgrimage – Responses to Change GA2 S18A: Practicing Difference: Religion and Diversity in a Secular Age – The Legal Dimension Pentalfa S58A: Transmitting and Transforming Religious Practice: Varieties of Rituals and Ritualization in Public and Private Schools 02.0214 S04A: Communicating Environmental Knowledge and Technology in Indian Mythological and Hagiographic Narratives – Premodern Narratives HP4 S24: Socialist Religions: Mere Rhetoric or the Emergence of New Religious Identities?
10:30-11:00 Coffee and tea
11:00-12:30 Slot 4
S16: Communicating a New Religion: A Case Study of Aumism and the Mandarom HP1 S56A: Christian Responses to Ancient (Pagan) Mythography GA3 S25B: Hierotopy between Art History and Religious Studies HP2 S30: Religion as and beyond Construction: How Our Research Topics and Contexts Inform Our Theorizing of Religion HP3 S63B: Religious Language and Communication: Philosophical Perspective HP6 S12D: Communicating Pilgrimage – Alternative Pilgrimages GA2 S18B: Practicing Difference: Religion and Diversity in a Secular Age – The Urban Dimension Pentalfa S58B: Transmitting and Transforming Religious Practice: Varieties of Rituals and Ritualization in Public and Private Schools S04B: Communicating Environmental Knowledge and Technology in Indian Mythological and Hagiographic Narratives – Modern and Contemporary Narratives HP4 S33: The Zoroastrian Religion: The Avestan Liturgies according to the Zoroastrian Manuscripts
12:30-13:45 Lunch
13:45-14:45 Keynote II: Jan N. Bremmer From Religious Education to Education in Religion (see p. 13)
14:45-15:00 Changing rooms
15:00-16:30 Slot 5
S17: Communicating Knowledge about Religion in the “Extended Classroom” GA1 S56B: Christian Responses to Ancient (Pagan) Mythography GA3 S26: A Dialogue of the Deaf? Constructing Paganism in Christian GraecoRoman Apologetics HP1 S51: Communicating Architecture: Creating Conflict, Credit and Competition with Purpose-built Religious Buildings HP2 S10: Pulp Religion: Popularizing the Study of Religion in the Late 19th and the 20th Century HP4 S31: Arguing Religion HP6 S12E: Communicating Pilgrimage – Re-presenting Pilgrimage Digitally GA2 S18C: Practicing Difference: Religion and Diversity in a Secular Age – The Gender Dimension Pentalfa S35: Theosophical Societies – Structures, Activity, Ideas, Contextual Influences HP3 S42: Judaism Presenting Itself to the Other during the 17th Century GSO S44: New Religious Movements: What Is Wrong?
16:30-17:00 Coffee and tea
17:00-19:00 General Assembly
Wednesday, 20 September
08:00-13:00 Registration
09:00-10:30 Slot 6
S28A: Religion and Culture in the Ancient Regime – Communicating Female Religiosity in the Ancient Regime CAG S36A: Shaping the Divine Counterpart – Communicating Religion through Signs, Image-Objects and Architecture in Graeco-Roman Antiquity GA1 S59A: Communicating Jainism: Theoretical Perspectives Pentalfa S21A: Redefining ‘Secularism’: European States and the Regulation of (Minority) Religions GA2 S49A: “Islam Means Peace!”: Violent Extremism, “Moderate” Islam and Muslim Self-Representations in Africa and Europe GA3 S39A: Reconsidering the Psychoanalytical Study of Religion. S32: Revisiting European History of Religion HP4 S37: The Religious Life of Human Rights: Exploring the Nexus between Religion, Rights and Development HP2 S61: Esotericism and the Cognitive Science of Religion: Mediation, Communication, Cognition HP3 S91: Religion, Spirituality and Mental Health I 02.0214 S103: Religious Education I HP6 S88: Communicating Religion and Gender Issues
10:30-11:00 Coffee and tea
11:00-12:30 Slot 7
S28B: Religion and Culture in the Ancient Regime – Communicating Religion through the Senses in the Ancient Regime CAG S36B: Shaping the Divine Counterpart – Communicating Religion through Signs, Image-Objects and Architecture in Graeco-Roman Antiquity GA1 S59B: Communicating Jainism: Storytelling, Wordplay, Literary Composition Pentalfa S70: Seekership and Theories of the Subject HP1 S49B: “Islam Means Peace!”: Violent Extremism, “Moderate” Islam and Muslim Self-Representations in Africa and Europe GA3 S39B: Reconsidering the Psychoanalytical Study of Religion GSO S38: Communicating Religion in Gender and Development Discourses and Practices: Critical Anthropological Perspectives HP2 S45: Communication as the ‘sine qua non’ of Religion: From Invention to Tradition HP3 S62: Christianity and Religion HP4 S92: Religious Identities I 02.0214 S101: Communicating Religion: Anthropological and Ethnographical Perspectives II GA2 S40A: The Shaman as a Mediator between the World of Spirits and the Researchers of Shamanism
12:30-13:45 Lunch
13:45-14:45 Keynote III: Ann Taves Communicating about Religion/s and Other Worldviews in the Classroom
14:45-15:00 Changing rooms
15:00-16:30 Slot 8
S28C: Religion and Culture in the Ancient Regime – Communications and Transregional Transfer in the Ancient Regime CAG S41A: Communication Strategies of Religious Minorities GA1 S59C: Communicating Jainism: New Media, New Messages Pentalfa S73A: Shintō in Recent Research HP1 S53: Religious Engineering: Projects of Change in the Context of Global Development HP2 S54A: Studying Religious Studies Today
S68A: Impious Communication: Religious Sensitivities vs Contested Representations of Religion GA3 S77: Communicating Religion in Islamic Tradition I HP3 S21B: Redefining ‘Secularism’: European States and the Regulation of (Minority) Religions HP4 S19: Communicating on Religious Traditions to Innovate GSO S65A: Caught in Translation: Versions of Late-Antique Christian Literature 02.0214 S40B: The Shaman as a Mediator between the World of Spirits and the Researchers of Shamanism
16:30-17:00 Coffee and tea
17:00-18:30 Slot 9
S28D: Religion and Culture in the Ancient Regime – Printing Religion in the Ancient Regime CAG S41B: Communication Strategies of Religious Minorities GA1 S79: Communicating Religion in Christian Tradition I Pentalfa S73B: Shintō in Recent Research HP1 S46: Narratives on the Move: Reshaping the Identities in South and Southeast Asia HP2 S54B: Studying Religious Studies Today GA2 S68B: Impious Communication: Religious Sensitivities vs Contested Representations of Religion GA3 S78: Sufism HP3 S21C: Redefining ‘Secularism’: European States and the Regulation of (Minority) Religions HP4 S95: Religion and the Media II GSO S65B: Caught in Translation: Versions of Late-Antique Christian Literature 02.0214 S40C: The Shaman as a Mediator between the World of Spirits and the Researchers of Shamanism
20:00 Conference Dinner
Thursday, 21 September
08:00-12:00 Registration
09:00-10:30 Slot 10
S03: Upholding the Reputation of the Buddhist Monastic Community CAG S41C: Communication Strategies of Religious Minorities GA1 S67A: Communicating Religion through Polemic Discourse: The North African Church of the Fourth and Fifth Centuries and Its Various Religious Polemics GA2 S60A: Imagination, Knowledge, and Religious Traditions GA3 S71A: Communicative Challenges in Contemporary Women’s Spirituality Pentalfa S55: Communicating Judaism and Islam to “Others” – in Theory and Practice S69: Saints or Soaps? Hagiography and Literary Approaches to Sainthood HP4 S80: Theorizing Communication I HP3 S86: Communicating Religion in a Secularized World HP2 S96: Communicating Religion in Islamic Tradition II HP6 S102: Communicating Religion in an Asian Context II GSO S65C: Caught in Translation: Versions of Late-Antique Christian Literature
10:30-11:00 Coffee and tea
11:00-12:30 Slot 11
S93: Religion and Competition/Violence CAG S41D: Communication Strategies of Religious Minorities GA1 S67B: Communicating Religion through Polemic Discourse: The North African Church of the Fourth and Fifth Centuries and Its Various Religious Polemics GA2 S60B: Imagination, Knowledge, and Religious Traditions GA3 S71B: Communicative Challenges in Contemporary Women’s Spirituality Pentalfa S57: Exploring the Relationship between Science and Religion: Insights from a Multidiscipline and Mixed-Method Approach HP1 S74: Communicating Religion: Anthropological and Ethnographical Perspectives I HP2 S81: Communicating Religion in a History of Religion Perspective HP3 S87: Communicating Religion in the Arts HP4 S97: Communicating Religion in Christian Tradition II HP6 S105: Religious Identities III GSO S65D: Caught in Translation: Versions of Late-Antique Christian Literature
12:30-13:45 Lunch
13:45-14:45 Keynote IV: Jenny Berglund Study of Islamic Education, a Litmus Test on State Relations to Muslim Minorities
14:45-14:55 Changing rooms
14:55-16:25 Slot 12
S05A: Religious Authority on the Move GA2 S13A: The Work of Culture: Making Sense in/of Religion as a Communication System GA1 S52A: Delineating the Confines of Proper Piety: Negotiating Religious Authority in Antiquity HP4 S60C: Imagination, Knowledge, and Religious Traditions GA3 S71C: Communicative Challenges in Contemporary Women’s Spirituality Pentalfa S02: The Ahmadiyya: A Communicative Religious Movement HP1 S82: Communicating Religion in the Russian Orthodox Church HP2 S89: Esoteric Traditions HP3 S98: Theorizing Communication II HP6 S106: Communicating Religion in Antiquity 02.0214. S20A: ‘Be as well as possible, work as much as possible, and write to me as often as possible’: The Scientific Correspondence between Franz Cumont and Alfred Loisy (1908-1940)
16:25-16:45 Coffee and tea
16:45-18:15 Slot 13
S05B: Religious Authority on the Move GA2 S13B: The Work of Culture: Making Sense in/of Religion as a Communication System GA1 S52B: Delineating the Confines of Proper Piety: Negotiating Religious Authority in Antiquity GA3 S48: The Interconfessional Dialogue in Ukraine: Realities and Prospects HP1 S72: Esotericism in the Age of Nationalism: Constructing and Communicating Identities HP2 S76: Religion and the Media I HP4 S14: Faking Ascetism: East and West Pentalfa S90: Communicating Religion through Rituals HP3 S99: Religious Identities II HP6 S107: Communicating Religion in Christian Tradition: Historical Perspectives 02.0214 S20B: ‘Be as well as possible, work as much as possible, and write to me as often as possible’: The Scientific Correspondence between Franz Cumont and Alfred Loisy (1908-1940)
18:15-18:45 Closing session
Contact
Professor Joseph Verheyden
University of Leuven
Chair of the host team
(Text by the organizers)
Link