RIPL Symposiums & Conference 2013
Political Religion in Secular Australia Symposium
Political Religion in Secular Australia Symposium: Religion’s new visibility in political life has provoked one of the most significant global debates of our day.What has become evident in a number of genealogical accounts of the history of secular democracies is that they are structured in response to political religions. For instance, Talal Asad has persuasively argued that secularism is another way for the state, especially in Muslim-majority states, to control religion, while Charles Taylor has proposed that far from being anti-religious, the many strains of secularism are other ways of being religious. Thoroughgoing accounts of the religious underside of enlightenment political orders have also emerged, leading to renewed interest in political theology, and a series of creative projects have expanded well beyond the boundaries of traditional theological and religious studies circles.
This symposium intervenes by interrogating religion’s impact upon secular authority, with particular attention to the Australian context. It draws together Australia’s leading scholars on religion and politics in order to propel the debate in new directions and promote urgently needed public understanding.
Dates: 22-23 July 2013
Venue: Newcastle Beach Novotel Hotel
Contact: timothy.stanley@newcastle.edu.au, 02.492.17927
Confirmed Speakers:
Gary Bouma Emeritus, UNESCO Professor, Monash University
Hilary Carey, Professor in History,The University of Newcastle
Steve Chevura, Lecturer in Politics and International Relations, Macquarie University
Matthew Chrulew, Adjunct Lecturer in Humanities, University of New South Wales
Michael Hoelzl, Lecturer in Philosophy of Religion, The University of Manchester
Terrence Lovat, Emeritus Professor of Education, The University of Newcastle
Marion Maddox, ARC Future Fellow Professor in, Politics and International Relations, Macquarie University
Kathleen McPhillips, Lecturer in Sociology, The University of Newcastle
Paul Oslington, Conjoint Professor in Religion and Theology, The University of Newcastle
Holly Randell-Moon, Lecturer in Media, Film and Communication, The University of Otago
Timothy Stanley, Lecturer in Religion and Theology, The University of Newcastle
Ian Tregenza, Lecturer in Politics and International Relations, Macquarie University
Graham Ward, Regius Professor of Divinity, The University of Oxford
DECEMBER 14-16 2012
NEWCASTLE, NSW, AUSTRALIA
CONVENORS: KATHLEEN MCPHILLIPS (Newcastle University, Australia) & LISA ISHERWOOD (Winchester University UK)
The new visibility of religion that has emerged since Sept 11th has led to a re-assessment of the role of religion in the contemporary world by numerous scholars. Yet, there has been little attention paid to the experiences of women as both citizens and adherents of religious groups. State and Church have historically excluded women from positions of authority and power. But the radicalizing of religious traditions, particularly Islam, and the development of religious institutions into public fora has had significant impact on the ability of women to participate as religious and political citizens. Do the new global power arrangements in both State and Church re-enforce this or offer women new forms of participation?
This conference (the first of two) will bring together feminist and gender scholars working across disciplines of religious studies and theology, to examine such developments in their areas of interest. It will be a small seminar (15 -20 scholars) and we will meet over one weekend to workshop written papers. Peer reviewed papers will go forward to book publication in the Equinox Series Gender, Religion and Spirituality (Series Editor: Lisa Isherwood).
Topics will address the following areas:
- The emergence of new articulations of feminist theology (queer theology, eco-feminist theology, Islamic/Jewish/Christian/Hindu/Buddhist, Indigenous/Womanist theology);
- Feminist/gender theory in religious studies that addresses the new visibility of religion and in particular the erosion of secularization processes and the claims by women for inclusion in political decision-making processes;
- Case Study accounts that document gender and change processes;
- The marginalization of women in new religious groups and state formations;
- The uses of feminist biblical scholarship in the understanding of contemporary women’s religious experience.
This conference is funded by a grant from the Faculty of Education and Arts at the University of Newcastle. It is part of the RIPL (Religion and Political Life research group) based at Newcastle University (http://www.newcastle.edu.au/institute/humanities-research/programmes-of-research/ripl/)
Please direct all enquires to: Kathleen McPhillips, Newcastle University
Kathleen.McPhillips@newcastle.edu.au
Religion and Greater Ireland, 1788-1922
3 – 4 December 2012, Newcastle City Hall, NSW Australia
Keynotes: Vincent Comerford, NUI Maynooth, Barry Crosbie, University of Macau, Myrtle Hill, Queen’s University of Belfast, Mark McGowan, University of Toronto, Erik Richards, Flinders University of South Australia, John Stenhouse, University of Otago
Image: Bishops' Library, Cultural Collections, Auchmuty Library, University of Newcastle, NSW
The new visibility of religion in world affairs has encouraged historians to reassess the role of religion in the age of empires and in post-colonial times. The Irish are an important focus for this revisionist debate about the imperial past. In the course of the nineteenth century, economic, political and religious forces combined to transform the Irish into a global people who actively participated in British imperial expansion and colonial nation building in Australia, Canada, India, South Africa, South America, New Zealand and the United States. The religious impact of the Irish on the English-speaking world has long been obvious, not least in religious terms: think of St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York, but also in Melbourne, Auckland, Grahamstown, and Thunder Bay, Ontario. It has also largely been considered a Roman Catholic phenomenon. Although this is to a great extent true, it is not the whole story: all of the Irish denominations, Anglicans, Catholics, Jews, Methodists, Moravians, Quakers, Presbyterians, and others engaged with, settled, and evangelized the Anglo-World. Together, they created a religious ‘Greater Ireland’ within the British Empire and United States. Irish men and women – clerics, religious, missionaries, and laity – and Irish churches, missions, and parishes founded institutions from schools to hospitals, and often came to dominate the institutional structures of their respective communions. This was a distinctly transnational phenomenon, with personnel, institutions, and networks that crossed the Anglo-World, and helped form recognizably Irish and British colonial cultures. ‘Religion and Greater Ireland’ will examine this Irish spiritual empire in all its aspects, national and transnational, ecclesiastical, political, educational and social, and with reference to all the Irish denominations in the British Empire and United States from 1788-1922.
Proposals for papers on any aspect of the Irish spiritual empire are welcome, including papers that consider only one denomination, institution, or region, or those that have a more transnational or thematic focus. Abstracts of no more than 200 words should be submitted to either of the organizers by 3 September 2012. Those unable to travel to Australia are still encouraged to submit abstracts as the organizers envisage producing a volume of essays on the conference theme.
Hilary Carey
University of Newcastle, NSW
Hilary.Carey@newcastle.edu.au
Religion and Radicalism Conference
under the auspices of RiPL: Religion in Political Life project
University of Newcastle, 5-6 October 2012
Since the ‘religions of the book’ centre on calls to personal and social transformation (Hebrew shuv, Greek metanoia, Arabic tawbah), they have given rise to repeated radical and revolutionary movements. This radicalism continues, even in the context of the privatized and individualist faith of the West, but also in Eastern contexts, such as the Taiping Rebellion in China. The political and legal definition of such an act is ‘treason’: conspiring to overthrow the ‘state’, whether the political state or the states of our social and individual lives.
Theology is also notorious for supporting the status quo (see Romans 13). Thus, theology is caught between political reaction and radicalism: the same theological system – whether Christian, Islamic or Jewish – can foster support of an oppressive status quo and yet undermine that state. Or, one theological system – notably some forms of Islam – may challenge the dominance of another, such as Christianity (see Qur’an 5:51).
This tension between religious reaction and radicalism, which takes place within and between theological traditions, is the focus of a two-day conference at the University of Newcastle, to be held on 5-6 October, 2012. It is part of the ‘Religion in Political Life’ project at the university and is organised by Roland Boer and Terry Lovat. We will include speakers who bring new perspectives to this discussion, especially from Asia.
Topics include but are not limited to:
1. Permutations of theological treason in Christianity, Islam and Judaism.
2. Internal and systemic tensions between religious radicalism and conservatism.
3. Events when religion’s treasonable resources were deployed to overthrow the ‘state’.
4. Theological underpinnings – much denied – of Islamic-Western tension and misunderstanding.
The symposium will bring four international experts to Newcastle to present papers in the symposium and interact with the RiPL members at Newcastle. The speakers are Zhang Shuangli (Fudan University, Shanghai), Chin Kenpa (Chung Yuan Christian University, Zhongli, Taiwan), Ward Blanton (University of Glasgow) and James Crossley (University of Sheffield). Funds are also available to bring specialists from Australia.
Outcomes: Two thematic journal issues on ‘Theology and Treason’, published with established journals.
Organiser:
Roland Boer roland.t.boer@gmail.com