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10.00am - 11.00am BST: Is there a bomb in this text? Lessons from the Scripture and Violence project with Dr Daniel Weiss and Dr Julia Snyder
The expertise to read and expound religious texts is limited. Even if you consider yourself open-minded and a supporter of religious pluralism, it might be hard to respond to allegations that religious texts promote violence. Drawing on the Scripture and Violence essay collection (eds. Snyder and Weiss, 2021), this workshop is intended to equip you with knowledge and confidence to overcome internal and external prejudices about the relationship between religious communities and seemingly pro-violent texts.
12.00pm - 1.00pm BST: Objects of attention. A material approaches workshop with Dr Anastasia Badder
Traditional models for inter-religious encounter have been criticised as exclusionary, making assumptions about what, how and who counts as religious, and for their readiness to be pressed into service for securitization, and other political agendas. They can also be talk-heavy, and so less-than accessible for those who struggle with wordy concepts and very theoretical approaches. In this session we will explore how material objects can function as an alternative way into thoughtful engagement with religious difference.
2.00pm - 3.00pm BST: Not those shoes! Issues with empathy and how to address them with Prof Esra Özyürek
To what extent is “fellow feeling” a net gain in human relations? And what about non-human relations? This session, which includes a creative writing/arts component, draws critical insight from Professor Esra Özyürek’s research on the impact of Holocaust education (Subcontractors of Guilt, 2023). Using prompts to imagine our way into other bodies, spaces and places, we will explore the limits of empathy and why it matters.