Never Again? The Return of Antisemitism
Never Again? The Return of Antisemitism
Date: May 21-23, 2024
Place: Palermo, Italy
The horrors of the war in Gaza have triggered a global explosion of antisemitism, the like of which the world has not known since World War II. Concomitantly, heightened tensions around the war intensified Islamophobia. Both antisemitism and Islamophobia seem to issue from racist populist nationalism, which universally attacks the norms of civic discourse and religious life that made pluralism, coexistence, and dialogue possible. The religious zealot, hostile to other religions, may feed antisemitism and Islamophobia, but, at least as typically, the European antisemite is anti-Christian and an Islamophobe – a secular xenophobe. The secular xenophobe is unwilling to extend the hospitality and compassion that Christianity, Islam, and Judaism have traditionally shown each other when they were at their best.
The International Network for Interreligious Research and Education (INIRE), a collaborative global project of universities and institutions over four continents, has been organizing an annual summer school and conference to support interreligious dialogue and promote scholarly and public understanding of the major challenges facing religion. The recent conference at Duke University has generated unprecedented dialogue with African and South Asian theologians and historians and addressed also the war in Ukraine. https://jewishstudies.duke.edu/inire-2023-name-god-voice-war-call-peaceINIRE has been collaborating with the Fondazione per le Scienze Religiose Giovanni XXIII (FSCIRE) in the framework of the European Academy of Religion (EUARE) to promote their shared goals.
ANTISEMITISM will be the focus of INIRE’s 2024 annual conference and summer school, as part of EAURE in Palermo, May 19-24. The INIRE conference will take place on May 21-23. We hope to host about 30 faculty and 25 students, from the Europe, the US, Chile, Israel, and several African and Asian countries. Our program will underscore the global intersections of antisemitism, islamophobia, and anti-Christian hate, highlighting their secular and religious manifestations, and current developments in antisemitism. We will seek ways for interreligious dialogue to advance a joint platform to combat antisemitism, Islamophobia, and the diversity of secular and religious xenophobia.
The conference is multidisciplinary and interreligious. Among the topics:
- New scholarly and theological explanations and contextualizations of antisemitism
- Historical roots and contexts of antisemitism, Islamophobia, and anti-Christianity
- Christiam theology, anti-Judaism and antisemitism
- Islamophobia and Muslim rejection of the West
- Jewish hostility to Christianity, Islam, and other religions
- Secularization, antisemitism, and Islamophobia
- Religious strategies to combat antisemitism, Islamophobia, and xenophobia.
In the Name of God: A Voice for War, a Call for Peace
In the Name of God: A Voice for War, a Call for Peace
Date: July 4-6, 2023
Location: Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, United States.
An interdisciplinary workshop, exploring the role of religion in political and social disputes over war and peace. Workshop is organized by INIRE – the International Network for Interreligious Research and Education: https://sites.duke.edu/inire/
Many think of religion as a major cause of global conflicts while others see religion as promoting harmony. Holy texts provide support for both war and peace. In recent decades especially, religion has been viewed as contributing to global strife. The war between Russia and Ukraine has become also a battle between Ukraine’s claim for spiritual independence and Russia’s vision of salvation for ethnic Russians. In fragile states, such as Myanmar, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sri Lanka, religious divisions exacerbate strife. Yet, religion has also played a major role in peace-making and conflict resolution.
Our conference will look at the question of religion and conflict. We are cognizant of the gravity of the moment: Religious voices compete in supporting peace and war. Religion is at the heart of political decision.
The conference is multidisciplinary and interreligious. Among the topics:
- Why and how do religious activists deploy belief to harm and heal?
- Why do so many perpetrators think their actions are just and holy?
- How should religious communities remember their violent past or confront their violent present?
- What, if anything, separates scholars of religious violence from perpetrators?
- Is secularism the solution to religious violence or part of the problem?
- How can religious extremism best be met – religious critique or secular argument?
- Is a commitment to religious pluralism a requirement for a peaceful interpretation of religion?
- How might believers be equipped to respond to religious violence harder?
Possible panels:
- Texts of violence/peace
- Causes of religious violence/religious rescue or pacification
- Holiness and justice in the minds of perpetrators/pacifiers
- Teaching about religion and violence/peace in the classroom
- Critiquing one’s own tradition/voice of pluralism in religious traditions
- Characteristics of religious peacemakers
This conference is being cosponsored by Bar-Ilan University (and especially the Judaism and Society Chair), Duke University (the Duke Center for Jewish Studies, Duke Islamic Studies Center, Franklin Humanities Institute, Duke Divinity School, and Religions and Public Life at the Kenan Institute for Ethics).
Bar-Ilan University, Israel, 2022
“Religion and Immigration”
June 6 – 10, 2022
Bar-Ilan University, Israel
The International Network for Interreligious Research and Education (INIRE) in connection with the Duke Center for Jewish Studies and Religions and Public Life at the Kenan Institute for Ethics invites interested graduate and undergraduate students to apply for the 6th annual conference and summer program, “Religion and Immigration,” at Bar-Ilan University, Israel, June 6 – 10, 2022.
The conference is multidisciplinary and interreligious. General themes covered by the school and the conference:
- Religious leaders as sources/purveyors of continuity.
- Theologians as cultural bridge-builders
- Religious activists as socializing agents
- Religion’s impact on integration: case-studies
- Religious activism, religious institutions and immigration.
- Religious communities facilitating integration.
- Religious organizations and refugees
- Religious sensibilities and humanitarian ideologies
- Religious organizations, lobbying, and immigration policy making
Airfare, accommodations and tuition are waived.
Interested students should send an application to serena.elliott@duke.edu BY FEBRUARY 15, 2022. Applications consist of a 1-page statement of interest and how the summer program would relate to their current course of study.
Palermo, Sicily, Italy, 2020
Religion and Authority: Contest and Legitimacy, July 5-10, 2020 – POSTPONED
The International Network for Interreligious Research and Education (INIRE) in connection with the Duke Center for Jewish Studies and Religions and Public Life at the Kenan Institute for Ethics invites interested graduate and undergraduate students to apply for the 5th annual conference and summer program in Palermo, Sicily: July 5-10, 2020.
General themes covered by the school and the conference:
- Heritage, patrimony and cultural capital
- Who owns the religious property and meaning?
- Controversy on holy places, objects and their meaning
- Authority of interpretation and canonization of holy texts.
- Secularization and issues of religious vs. state authority.
Airfare, accommodations and tuition are waived.
Applications consist of a statement of interest and how it relates to current course of study. Applications are due to serena.elliott@duke.edu (se59@duke.edu) BY FEBRUARY 15, 2020.
University of Groningen, 2019
Religious Heritage in a Diverse Europe, June 17-21, 2019
The Centre for Religion and Heritage at the University of Groningen’s summer school will explore heritage as a form of religious memory that is mobilized in cultural and political contests and interactions, as well as a new force in theology and religious practice. In particular, we will ask what role heritage plays in interactions between religious communities in history and in the present.
The 2019 summer school will be integrated into two related conferences: a three- day international conference on “Religious Heritage in a Diverse Europe” that the Centre is organizing with leading Dutch heritage organizations. Students will attend select events of the conference, meet managers in European and Dutch heritage organizations and museums that are attending the conference, and take part in excursions to local religious heritage sites. The second conference is a one-day meeting of scholars from the International Network for Interreligious Research and Education (INIRE), which was co-founded by universities in Israel, Germany, UK, the Netherlands and the USA.
Leipzig University, 2018
Normative Religious Traditions and Their Authority, July 23-29, 2018
Judaism, Christianity, and Islam: these religions rely on normative religious traditions, sometimes called ‘Holy Scriptures’. Today, late-modern or post-modern societies often ask if these normative texts are still meaningful and relevant.
The questions asked will include: What roles do “Torah”, “Bible”, and “Quran” play in the three monotheistic religions in the past and present? How are the old texts interpreted today? And how are they used in religious and political discussions? Are ‘holy texts’ relevant for ‘secular people’? And what role do ‘holy texts’ play in the dialogue of religions and discourse in our societies?
Subjects include:
– Church Authority and Normative Tradition
– The Jewish Canon and the Christian Bible
– Reading the Qur’an as Literary Text
– Comparative study of holy scriptures
– Holy Scriptures and Canon in a societal, political, and religious perspective
Bar-Ilan University, 2017
Religious Exchange and the Historical Collaboration among the Three Abrahamic Religions, July 12-17, 2017
The history of Christianity, Judaism and Islam is often associated with struggles, crusades and controversy. This perception ignores many instances of cooperation, coexistence and mutual impact. This workshop is aimed to highlight some significant moments in history in which the three religions confronted common challenges, triggering, in many cases, parallel responses and even joint intellectual activity, based on explicit or implicit exchange of ideas.
The Workshop includes lectures by Israeli and visiting scholars, field work and tours.
Subjects:
– Judaism and Christianity facing philosophical heresy and conversion
– Inter-religious dialogue in the Middle Ages
– Christianity, Judaism, Islam and the Challenge of Medieval Aristotelianism
– The modern challenge of Enlightenment and nationalism
– The challenge of interreligious dialogue
– Religions and secularism
– Jews and Muslims and the challenge of democracy
– Anthroposophy as an eclectic, modern religion
Never Again? The Return of Antisemitism
Date: May 21-23, 2024
Place: Palermo, Italy
The horrors of the war in Gaza have triggered a global explosion of antisemitism, the like of which the world has not known since World War II. Concomitantly, heightened tensions around the war intensified Islamophobia. Both antisemitism and Islamophobia seem to issue from racist populist nationalism, which universally attacks the norms of civic discourse and religious life that made pluralism, coexistence, and dialogue possible. The religious zealot, hostile to other religions, may feed antisemitism and Islamophobia, but, at least as typically, the European antisemite is anti-Christian and an Islamophobe – a secular xenophobe. The secular xenophobe is unwilling to extend the hospitality and compassion that Christianity, Islam, and Judaism have traditionally shown each other when they were at their best.
The International Network for Interreligious Research and Education (INIRE), a collaborative global project of universities and institutions over four continents, has been organizing an annual summer school and conference to support interreligious dialogue and promote scholarly and public understanding of the major challenges facing religion. The recent conference at Duke University has generated unprecedented dialogue with African and South Asian theologians and historians and addressed also the war in Ukraine. https://jewishstudies.duke.edu/inire-2023-name-god-voice-war-call-peaceINIRE has been collaborating with the Fondazione per le Scienze Religiose Giovanni XXIII (FSCIRE) in the framework of the European Academy of Religion (EUARE) to promote their shared goals.
ANTISEMITISM will be the focus of INIRE’s 2024 annual conference and summer school, as part of EAURE in Palermo, May 19-24. The INIRE conference will take place on May 21-23. We hope to host about 30 faculty and 25 students, from the Europe, the US, Chile, Israel, and several African and Asian countries. Our program will underscore the global intersections of antisemitism, islamophobia, and anti-Christian hate, highlighting their secular and religious manifestations, and current developments in antisemitism. We will seek ways for interreligious dialogue to advance a joint platform to combat antisemitism, Islamophobia, and the diversity of secular and religious xenophobia.
The conference is multidisciplinary and interreligious. Among the topics:
- New scholarly and theological explanations and contextualizations of antisemitism
- Historical roots and contexts of antisemitism, Islamophobia, and anti-Christianity
- Christiam theology, anti-Judaism and antisemitism
- Islamophobia and Muslim rejection of the West
- Jewish hostility to Christianity, Islam, and other religions
- Secularization, antisemitism, and Islamophobia
- Religious strategies to combat antisemitism, Islamophobia, and xenophobia.
In the Name of God: A Voice for War, a Call for Peace
In the Name of God: A Voice for War, a Call for Peace
Date: July 4-6, 2023
Location: Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, United States.
An interdisciplinary workshop, exploring the role of religion in political and social disputes over war and peace. Workshop is organized by INIRE – the International Network for Interreligious Research and Education: https://sites.duke.edu/inire/
Many think of religion as a major cause of global conflicts while others see religion as promoting harmony. Holy texts provide support for both war and peace. In recent decades especially, religion has been viewed as contributing to global strife. The war between Russia and Ukraine has become also a battle between Ukraine’s claim for spiritual independence and Russia’s vision of salvation for ethnic Russians. In fragile states, such as Myanmar, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sri Lanka, religious divisions exacerbate strife. Yet, religion has also played a major role in peace-making and conflict resolution.
Our conference will look at the question of religion and conflict. We are cognizant of the gravity of the moment: Religious voices compete in supporting peace and war. Religion is at the heart of political decision.
The conference is multidisciplinary and interreligious. Among the topics:
- Why and how do religious activists deploy belief to harm and heal?
- Why do so many perpetrators think their actions are just and holy?
- How should religious communities remember their violent past or confront their violent present?
- What, if anything, separates scholars of religious violence from perpetrators?
- Is secularism the solution to religious violence or part of the problem?
- How can religious extremism best be met – religious critique or secular argument?
- Is a commitment to religious pluralism a requirement for a peaceful interpretation of religion?
- How might believers be equipped to respond to religious violence harder?
Possible panels:
- Texts of violence/peace
- Causes of religious violence/religious rescue or pacification
- Holiness and justice in the minds of perpetrators/pacifiers
- Teaching about religion and violence/peace in the classroom
- Critiquing one’s own tradition/voice of pluralism in religious traditions
- Characteristics of religious peacemakers
This conference is being cosponsored by Bar-Ilan University (and especially the Judaism and Society Chair), Duke University (the Duke Center for Jewish Studies, Duke Islamic Studies Center, Franklin Humanities Institute, Duke Divinity School, and Religions and Public Life at the Kenan Institute for Ethics).
“Religion and Immigration”
June 6 – 10, 2022
Bar-Ilan University, Israel
The International Network for Interreligious Research and Education (INIRE) in connection with the Duke Center for Jewish Studies and Religions and Public Life at the Kenan Institute for Ethics invites interested graduate and undergraduate students to apply for the 6th annual conference and summer program, “Religion and Immigration,” at Bar-Ilan University, Israel, June 6 – 10, 2022.
The conference is multidisciplinary and interreligious. General themes covered by the school and the conference:
- Religious leaders as sources/purveyors of continuity.
- Theologians as cultural bridge-builders
- Religious activists as socializing agents
- Religion’s impact on integration: case-studies
- Religious activism, religious institutions and immigration.
- Religious communities facilitating integration.
- Religious organizations and refugees
- Religious sensibilities and humanitarian ideologies
- Religious organizations, lobbying, and immigration policy making
Airfare, accommodations and tuition are waived.
Interested students should send an application to serena.elliott@duke.edu BY FEBRUARY 15, 2022. Applications consist of a 1-page statement of interest and how the summer program would relate to their current course of study.
Religion and Authority: Contest and Legitimacy, July 5-10, 2020 – POSTPONED
The International Network for Interreligious Research and Education (INIRE) in connection with the Duke Center for Jewish Studies and Religions and Public Life at the Kenan Institute for Ethics invites interested graduate and undergraduate students to apply for the 5th annual conference and summer program in Palermo, Sicily: July 5-10, 2020.
General themes covered by the school and the conference:
- Heritage, patrimony and cultural capital
- Who owns the religious property and meaning?
- Controversy on holy places, objects and their meaning
- Authority of interpretation and canonization of holy texts.
- Secularization and issues of religious vs. state authority.
Airfare, accommodations and tuition are waived.
Applications consist of a statement of interest and how it relates to current course of study. Applications are due to serena.elliott@duke.edu (se59@duke.edu) BY FEBRUARY 15, 2020.
The Centre for Religion and Heritage at the University of Groningen’s summer school will explore heritage as a form of religious memory that is mobilized in cultural and political contests and interactions, as well as a new force in theology and religious practice. In particular, we will ask what role heritage plays in interactions between religious communities in history and in the present.
The 2019 summer school will be integrated into two related conferences: a three- day international conference on “Religious Heritage in a Diverse Europe” that the Centre is organizing with leading Dutch heritage organizations. Students will attend select events of the conference, meet managers in European and Dutch heritage organizations and museums that are attending the conference, and take part in excursions to local religious heritage sites. The second conference is a one-day meeting of scholars from the International Network for Interreligious Research and Education (INIRE), which was co-founded by universities in Israel, Germany, UK, the Netherlands and the USA.
Judaism, Christianity, and Islam: these religions rely on normative religious traditions, sometimes called ‘Holy Scriptures’. Today, late-modern or post-modern societies often ask if these normative texts are still meaningful and relevant.
The questions asked will include: What roles do “Torah”, “Bible”, and “Quran” play in the three monotheistic religions in the past and present? How are the old texts interpreted today? And how are they used in religious and political discussions? Are ‘holy texts’ relevant for ‘secular people’? And what role do ‘holy texts’ play in the dialogue of religions and discourse in our societies?
Subjects include:
– Church Authority and Normative Tradition
– The Jewish Canon and the Christian Bible
– Reading the Qur’an as Literary Text
– Comparative study of holy scriptures
– Holy Scriptures and Canon in a societal, political, and religious perspective
The history of Christianity, Judaism and Islam is often associated with struggles, crusades and controversy. This perception ignores many instances of cooperation, coexistence and mutual impact. This workshop is aimed to highlight some significant moments in history in which the three religions confronted common challenges, triggering, in many cases, parallel responses and even joint intellectual activity, based on explicit or implicit exchange of ideas.
The Workshop includes lectures by Israeli and visiting scholars, field work and tours.
Subjects:
– Judaism and Christianity facing philosophical heresy and conversion
– Inter-religious dialogue in the Middle Ages
– Christianity, Judaism, Islam and the Challenge of Medieval Aristotelianism
– The modern challenge of Enlightenment and nationalism
– The challenge of interreligious dialogue
– Religions and secularism
– Jews and Muslims and the challenge of democracy
– Anthroposophy as an eclectic, modern religion
