The International Center for Law and Religion Studies is pleased to announce keynote speakers for the 22nd Annual International Law and Religion Symposium:  Dr. Gunnar Stålsett, Moderator of the European Council of Religious Leaders and International President, World Council of Religions for Peace, and Professor David Little, currently a research fellow at Georgetown University’s Berkley Center, who was at the time of his retirement in 2009 T.J. Dermot Dunphy Professor of the Practice in Religion, Ethnicity, and International Conflict at Harvard Divinity School and an associate at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard University.

Each year the Symposium brings together approximately 90 invited participants, including world-renowned scholars, government officials, religious and civil society leaders, and judges from roughly 45 countries to discuss both the theory and practice of the interaction of law, society, and religion.

This year’s Symposium will be held October 4-7, 2015, at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. Because of space limitations, Symposium sessions are open to invited guests only, but the opening session on Sunday evening will be streamed live to listeners worldwide, and recordings of all Symposium sessions will be available on the Center’s website and YouTube channel.

Religion continues to be a major factor in conflict, peacemaking, and the establishment of or disruption to the rule of law throughout the world. To what extent can religion and religious freedom play a helpful role in resolving social and political conflict?  How is religion and religious extremism related to violence? What role can or should religious organizations play in society?  Can they contribute to building more just, peaceful, and stable communities?  How should the law address religious freedom claims? This year’s Symposium discussants—leading scholars, jurists, and political and civil society leaders from around the globe—have been invited to consider these questions and explore the relationships and tensions among religion, law, and social stability.

See developing news in this space, and on the Symposium Facebook page.