In June 2023, students affiliated with the Cambridge Interfaith Programme are co-organising a symposium on the theme Religion – Conflict – Dialogue. Here is the call, addressed to students and recent graduates at the University of Cambridge:
We are delighted to announce that the call for papers for the Cambridge Interfaith Forum’s 2023 Symposium is now open. This year’s theme is “Religion – Conflict – Dialogue”. Both conventional academic papers and creative responses to the theme are welcome.
We invite University of Cambridge undergraduates, postgraduate students and recent graduates to present 20-minute papers, 2–5 minute lightning presentations, posters, or other creative responses.
To submit a response to this call, please fill out the Symposium web form by midday on 1st May 2023.
This year’s symposium welcomes a wide range of responses to our theme “Religion – Conflict – Dialogue”. We encourage our speakers to be as imaginative as they like. Speakers should not feel obliged to respond to every part of the Symposium title, and papers exploring intra-faith as well as inter-faith encounters are welcome at the Symposium.
Topics might include (but are not limited to):
- What is the role of silence in dialogue?
- How does gender influence participation in inter- and intra- religious dialogue?
- Can we understand medical, environmental or other crises as a form of conflict?
- What is the relationship between disagreement and conflict in inter-religious spaces?
- Must change be the purpose of dialogue?
- Is conflict inevitable in religious discourse?
If you have an idea—perhaps based on coursework or a new research proposal—and you are uncertain about the fit, you can send questions and enquiries to our shared mailbox: if-forum-symposium@divinity.cam.ac.uk
We would prefer speakers to deliver their papers in person, but we can also discuss hybrid options. Successful applicants will be notified by 5th May.
The symposium will be held on 15 June 2023, at the Faculty of Divinity, 25 West Road, Cambridge, CB3 9BS.
Further details and a link to register will be advertised on this website. The symposium will be followed at 5pm by the UK launch of Religicide: confronting the roots of anti-religious violence, featuring co-author Dr Georgette Bennett in conversation with CIP Academic Director, Professor Esra Özyürek. We hope that attendees will join us for that event.
Featured image: The Old Bridge in Mostar, Bosnia. Built in 1566, destroyed in 1993, reconstructed in 2004. Image by Safet HadziMuhamedovic, 2021.