Thirteenth International Conference on Religion & Spirituality in Society
- Religion in the Public Sphere: From the Ancient Years to the Post-Modern Era
- 20-22 June 2023
- National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece + Online
From the ancient years, religion has been a crucial factor in humans’ culture and personal and social life. Although modernity wanted religion marginalized to private spheres, religious traditions and faith communities are still in the public sphere, and as Habermas indicated they gained ‘unexpected political importance’. In different contexts worldwide different forms of relations between religion, civil society, the private sector, and the state have emerged while religion has its role in education, health care, social or charity institutions, and public services. Religious debates and conflicts as well as terrorism and fundamentalism related to religions appear as well. This year’s conference calls on researchers from religious studies, political science, theology, education, cultural studies, historical studies, philosophy, and law to explore the role of religion in the public sphere, from the ancient years to the postmodern era, the identity construction, the development of narratives, legal, political and human rights issues related to religion and faith, the public image of religious groups, the contribution of religion to culture and education.
Center of Byzantine, Modern Greek and Cypriot Studies, University of Granada, Spain
Associate Professor of Pedagogy and Religious Education, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece
The Thirteenth International Conference on Religion & Spirituality in Society featured plenary sessions by some of the world's leading thinkers and innovators in the field.
Professor of Educational Theory and Pedagogy, Moray House School of Education and Sport, University of Edinburgh, UK
“Religious Education in the Impulse Society: On the Need for Transcendence”
Founding Director, Faith Centre and the Religion and Global Society Research Unit, London School of Economics and Political Science, UK
“Postsecular Temporalities and the Clash of Futures”
Professor of Theology, Archbishop Demetrios Chair in Orthodox Theology and Culture, Co-founding Director, Orthodox Christian Studies Center, New York, USA
"Political Communion: The Proper Role of the Church in a Democratic Public"
For each conference, a small number of Emerging Scholar Awards are given to outstanding graduate students and emerging scholars who have an active research interest in the conference themes. Emerging Scholars perform a critical role in the conference by chairing the parallel sessions, providing technical assistance in the sessions, and presenting their own research papers. The 2023 Emerging Scholar Award Recipients are as follows:
University of Copenhagen, Denmark
(In-Person)
Universitat Jaume I, Spain
(In-Person)
Florida International University, USA
(In-Person)
Bethany Theological Seminary, USA
(In-Person)
National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece
(In-Person)
National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece
(In-Person)
National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece
(In-Person)
National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece
(In-Person)
University of Antwerp, Belgium
(In-Person)
Università Ca’ Foscari, Italy
(Online Only)
Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad, India
(Online Only)
Universidad Central, Colombia
(Online Only)
United Lutheran Seminary, United States
(Online Only)
Dublin City University, Ireland
(Online Only)
Athens, Greece