International Center for Law and Religion Studies

Conferences Sponsored or Co-Sponsored by the Center in 2008

February 14-16, 2008 State, Religion and Law in and beyond South Asia: Comparative Perspectives, New Delhi, India.

February 25, 2008 Why Religious Freedom? The Origins and Promise of U.S. International Religious Freedom Policy, Washington, D.C., USA.

April 3-6, 2008 Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Conscience, and Right of Association: International and Russian Experience in Implementation, Ekaterinburg, Russia.

March 31-April 1, 2008 Religion and Education: Russian and International Experience, Moscow, Russia.

April 21, 2008 A Decade of U.S. International Religious Freedom Policy: Assessing the Results, Washington, D.C., USA.

April 28-29, 2008 International Congress 2008, “Religious Liberty, the Source of all Liberties,” Buenos Aires, Argentina.

May 20-21, 2008 Religion in Post-Modern Society: Conceptional, Socio-Political and Legal Aspects, Kiev, Ukraine.

May 30-June 2, 2008 Religion and Rule of Law: The Legal System and Religion in a Harmonious Society, Beijing, People’s Republic of China.

June 13-14, 2008 Emerging Legal Issues Involving Islam in Europe: Part II, Budapest, Hungary.

June 21-22, 2008 Freedom of Religion or Belief and Protecting Vulnerable Identities – A Global Snapshot Conference, Geneva, Switzerland.

June 22, 2008 Noodt Consultation on the Strasbourg Conference Project, Geneva, Switzerland.

October 5-8, 2008 Fifteenth Annual International Law and Religion Symposium on “International Protection of Religious Freedom: National Implementation.” Provo, Utah, USA.

October 9, 2008 International Law and Religion Symposium, Washington, D.C., USA.

October 10, 2008 The Future of U.S. International Religious Freedom Policy: Recommendations for a New Administration, Georgetown University Washington, D.C., USA.

Conferences Participated in by Center Directors and Advisors in 2008

Meetings of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, Vienna, Austria, February 7-8, 2008. Click here for more information about the OSCE.
Law and Religion Colloquium, Balliol College, University of Oxford, England, February 9, 2008. Politics, Law and Religion, Boston, Massachusetts, USA, March 18, 2008. Hosted by Boston College.
A Common Morality for the Global Age: In Gratitude for What We are Given,” Washington, D.C., USA, March 27-30, 2008. Hosted by The Catholic University of America’s Center for Law, Philosophy and Culture. Click here for more complete information about the Conference.
7th Conference of Religiously Affiliated Law Schools on “Where is the Spark? Professional Formation Through the Lens of Faith,” Boston, Massachusetts, USA, April 6-8, 2008. Hosted by Boston College.
Religion and Education: Russian and International Experience, Moscow, Russia, March 31-April 1, 2008. Hosted by Russian State University for Humanities, Center for Religious Studies. Click here for more complete information about the Conference.
2008 International Conference on “Twenty Years and More: Research into Minority Religions, New Religious Movements and ‘the New Spirituality’,” London, England, April 16-19, 2008. Hosted by London School of Economics. Sponsored by INFORM and CESNUR, in association with ISORECEA. Click here to view the program for this event.
16th Annual Conference on “The Individual vs. the State,” Budapest, Hungary, June 7-8, 2008. Sponsored by Central European University. Click here for a brief description of the Conference.
Religious Liberty, Public Education and the Future of American Democracy Conference, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA, August 4-6, 2008. Sponsored by Westminster College and Utah 3R’s Project; Utah State Office of Education; and the Freedom Forum First Amendment Center, Washington, D.C. Click here to view the program and biographies for this event.
9th IRLA Conference of Experts, “Hate Speech and Defamation of Religions,” Bucharest, Romania, September 8-12, 2008. Sponsored by the International Religious Liberty Association. Click here to view an article concerning the Conference.
“Church-State Relations and Religious Liberty: Comparative Perspectives,” University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana, USA, September 22-23, 2008. Click here for more information.

Center Co-sponsors Focus on FORB Conference in Geneva, 20-22 June 2008

The International Center for Law and Religion Studies (ICLRS) assisted Focus on Freedom of Religion or Belief (Focus on FoRB) in organizing the conference “Freedom of Religion or Belief and Protecting Vulnerable Identities: A Global Snapshot,” held 20-22 June 2008, in Geneva, Switzerland, in conjunction with the convening of the annual meeting of UN Special Rapporteurs and Chairs of Treaty Bodies. Focus on FORB is an organization of international scholars, leaders, lawyers, and other experts in the field of freedom of religion and belief, created as a follow-up to the 2006 Prague Conference commemorating the 25th anniversary of the 1981 U.N. Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief. The title for the Geneva conference was derived from a recent report of the UN Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Religion or Belief, Ms. Asma Jahangir, which assessed “Vulnerable Groups” in the context of freedom of religion or belief. (For the report, see Doc A/HRC/6/5 dated 20 July 2007 available here, click on ‘annual reports’ and then on ‘A/HRC/6/5 under 2007’.) Ms. Jahangir attended the conference, participating as the respondent in the panel session entitled “Striking the Balance: Identifying Vulnerabilities and Responding to Them.”

The first-day sessions focused on whether respect for freedom of religion or belief can be legislated and how makers of law and policy can strike a balance between protecting individual identities and FORB, as well as how to take a balanced approach to identifying and responding to vulnerabilities of groups and individuals in freedom of conscience matters. Day two began with a look at perspectives on current UN developments in FORB. It concluded with the session, “What next? Suggestions for future work and seminars by Focus on Freedom of Religion or Belief,” chaired by Malcolm Evans, Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences and Law at the University of Bristol and one of the founding forces behind Focus on FORB. ICLRS participants included Professor Cole Durham, Director; Robert Smith, Managing Director; David Kirkham, Senior Fellow for Comparative Law and International Policy; and Jim Stevens and George and Kathryn Jarvis, Senior Fellows and field representatives in Brussels and Geneva, respectively. Primary financial support for the event came from the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs. To see a copy of the program, please click here.

Center Co-sponsors Conference “A National Workshop on Freedom of Religion or Belief as A Human Right in Indonesia: Recognizing, Protecting and Promoting,” Yogyakarta, Indonesia, 10-12 December 2008

On 10-12 December 2008, the Center co-sponsored;the conference “A National Workshop on Freedom of Religion or Belief as A Human Right in Indonesia: Recognizing, Protecting and Promoting.” The conference was held in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, a spiritual capital of Indonesia. Professor Robert Smith, managing director of the Center, presented one of the opening addresses; his remarks were titled “Limiting Limitations: Recognizing the Proper Scope of Religious Freedom Limitations.” Professor Tore Lindholm, a member of the Center’s Academic Advisory Board and a member of the Oslo Coalition, also presented an opening address. Kevin Duncan, one of the Center’s Fellows, delivered closing remarks, and Professor Robert Smith gave the concluding address and officially closed the conference. Other sponsors included the Centre for Religious and Socio-Cultural Diversity at the State Islamic University of Sunan Kalijaga; The Oslo Coalition on Freedom of Religion or Belief, Norwegian Centre for Human Rights, University of Oslo, Norway; The International Center for Law and Religion Studies at Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, USA.

ICLRS and Central European University Host Budapest Conference on Islam in Europe

Scholars, experts, and students from around the world came together 13-14 June 2008 at Budapest’s Central European University (CEU) to conduct a conference on the topic of “Emerging Legal Issues Involving Islam in Europe (Part II).” These experts included Professors Matthias Rohe (Germany), Jytte Klausen (U.S.-Denmark), Francis Messner (France), Sharyl Cross (U.S.), Supreme Court Justice Karim Pharaon (Jordan), and many others. The conference, sponsored by the International Center for Law and Religion Studies (ICLRS) and CEU’s Department of Legal Studies, marked a follow-up to the 2007 Budapest conference of the same name. Participants examined contributions and challenges of the changing European Islamic dynamic from various perspectives of law, culture and public policy. From devout Muslim scholars to secular academicians, the program…

Center Co-sponsors Conference for Ukrainian Officials and Scholars, 20-21 May 2008

Scholars, media representatives, and virtually all national and regional Ukrainian religious affairs officials attended the conference “Religion in Postmodern Society: Conceptual, Social-Political, and Legal Aspects,” 20-21 May 2008, at the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine in Kiev. The conference was co-sponsored by the International Center for Law and Religion Studies at Brigham Young University. Other sponsors included the State Committee of Nationalities and Religious Affairs of Ukraine, the Ukrainian Association of Religious Studies Scholars, and the Division of Religious Studies of The Skovoroda Institute of Philosophy of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine.

Conference participants addressed questions of relationships between society and religion, particularly state-confessional relations in the context of global and regional changes in the postmodern era. Special focus was on processes taking place in the countries…

CESNUR Conference Held at London School of Economics, 16-20 April 2008

The 2008 International Conference sponsored by CESNUR (Center for Studies on New Religions) and INFORM (Information Network on Religious Movements) was held 16-20 April 2008, at the London School of Economics. The Conference theme was “Twenty Years and More: Research into Minority Religions, New Religious Movements and ‘the New Spirituality’.” Participants consisted of experts and scholars who study individual religious movements as well as the interrelation between the movements, particularly new religious movements with the state. The International Center for Law and Religion Studies at Brigham Young University sponsored a panel on “Shifting Legal Frameworks for Protection of Non-Traditional Religious Communities in Post-Communist Lands.” Experts on the panel included Alexander Verkhovsky (Director, SOVA Centre for Information and Analysis, Moscow), Romanita Iordache Human Rights Lawyer, Center for Legal Resources, Romania), and Archil Giorgadze (Head of Human Rights Protection Unit, Office of the Prosecutor General of Georgia). The Center’s participants, W. Cole Durham and Christine Scott, chaired panels and presented papers on “Shifting Legal Frameworks for Protection of Non-Traditional Religious Communities in Post-Communist Lands” and “Twenty Years of Studies on Religious Pluralism in the Former Soviet Union,” respectively. To see the 2008 Program, please click here.

Russian State University for Humanities’ Center for Religious Studies and ICLRS Co-sponsor Conference on Education, 31 March – 1 April 2008

With support from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), the Russian State University for Humanities’ Center for Religious Studies and the International Center for Law and Religion Studies at Brigham Young University sponsored the conference “Religion and Education: Russian and International Experience,” 31 March – 1 April 2008 in Moscow, Russia. This conference provided a tremendous opportunity for Russian and international scholars to discuss questions of the role of…

Conference in New York City: Challenges and Perspectives on UN Protections of Freedom of Religion or Belief, New York City, 8 December 2008

On 8 December 2008, the Center co-sponsored a conference entitled, “Freedom of Religion or Belief: Perspectives and Challenges after Sixty Years of United Nations Protection.” The conference was held in the Bahá’í International Community’s United Nations Office in New York City, and was in honor of the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the 27th Anniversary of the Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance based on Religion or Belief. Center director W. Cole Durham presented at the conference on the effectiveness of the implementation of Freedom of Religion or Belief throughout the world since 1948. He said many of the greatest successes were hardly noted at the time. He went on to say that the issue of freedom of religion or belief is a historical and philosophical foundation of other rights, and noted, “religious freedom does more for security than just about any other measure.”

Other presenters included Felice Gaer, from the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, The Jacob Blaustein Institute; Malcolm Evans of the University of Bristol School of Law; Bani Dugal from Bahá’í International Community; Azza Karam, from United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA); and Tom Farr, from Georgetown School of Foreign Service. Angela Wu of the Becket Fund moderated the first session, and Cory Leonard of the David M. Kennedy International Center at Brigham Young University moderated the second. Speakers presented on topics such as challenges facing the freedom of religion or belief, including cultural concerns and conflicts with other rights; the effectiveness of legal protections for the freedom of religion or belief; the role of smaller NGO’s in issues involving the freedom of religion or belief; and challenges in the United States’ response to international religious issues. Later that same evening, W. Cole Durham spoke at an event hosted by the Jacob Blaustein Institute, also in New York City, addressing “Freedom of Religion and Religious Violence: How to Protect One and Stop the Other.” Tom Farr and Malcolm Evans were the other two speakers.

Georgetown Conference: The Future of U.S. International Religious Freedom Policy, 10 October 2008

On 10 October 2008, the Center co-sponsored the third and final conference in a series reviewing the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA). This conference, titled “The Future of U.S. International Religious Freedom Policy: Recommendations for the Next Administration,” looked at IRFA and the U.S. international religious freedom policy in the specific contexts of religious extremism, public diplomacy, democracy, civil society, and the law. Professor Cole Durham, director of the Center, moderated the session dealing with U.S. International Religious Freedom and the Law. The sponsors are now working to prepare a paper that can be used by the new federal government administration as it seeks to further religious freedom worldwide. The first conference in the series provided a review of the topic “Why International Religious Freedom? The Origins and Promise of U.S. International Religious Freedom Policy,” while the second focused on “A Decade of U.S. International Religious Freedom Policy: Assessing the Results.” Each of these conferences has been held at Georgetown University, in conjunction with the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs at Georgetown University, the Council on Faith and International Affairs at the Institute for Global Engagement, the International Center for Law and Religion Studies at Brigham Young University, Council for America’s First Freedom, Ethics and Public Policy Center, The Federalist Society, Leonard Greenberg Center for the Study of Religion in Public Life, Council on Foreign Relations, and Human Rights Watch. The generous support of the Henry Luce Foundation and the Templeton Foundation have also helped, in part, to make this series possible. To see a copy of the program, please visit click here.

2008 Conferences

“The Future of U.S. International Religious Freedom Policy: Recommendations for a New Administration,” third in a series of three symposia commemorating the Tenth Anniversary of the Passage of the International Religious Freedom Act, Georgetown University Washington, D.C., USA, October 10, 2008. Sponsored by the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs at Georgetown University; Council on Faith and International Affairs at the Institute for Global Engagement; the International Center for Law and Religion Studies at Brigham Young University; and the Council for America’s First Freedom

Fifteenth Annual International Law and Religion Symposium, Washington, D.C., USA, October 9, 2008. Sponsored by the International Center for Law and Religion Studies at Brigham Young University

Fifteenth Annual International Law and Religion Symposium on “International Protection of Religious Freedom: National Implementation,” Provo, Utah, USA, October 5-8, 2008. Sponsored by the International Center for Law and Religion Studies at Brigham Young University.

“Church-State Relations and Religious Liberty: Comparative Perspectives,” University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana, USA, September 22-23, 2008. Click here to see a brochure for this event.

9th IRLA Conference of Experts, “Hate Speech and Defamation of Religions,” Bucharest, Romania, September 8-12, 2008. Sponsored by the International Religious Liberty Association.

Religious Liberty, Public Education and the Future of American Democracy Conference, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA, August 4-6, 2008. Sponsored by Westminster College and Utah 3R’s Project; Utah State Office of Education; and the Freedom Forum First Amendment Center, Washington, D.C.

Noodt Consultation on the Strasbourg Conference Project, Geneva, Switzerland, June 22, 2008. Sponsored by the International Center for Law and Religion Studies at Brigham Young University and the Gerard Noodt Foundation.

Freedom of Religion or Belief and Protecting Vulnerable Identities – A Global Snapshot Conference, Geneva, Switzerland, June 21-22, 2008. Sponsored by Focus on FORB and the International Center for Law and Religion Studies at Brigham Young University.

Emerging Legal Issues Involving Islam in Europe: Part II, Budapest, Hungary, June 13-14, 2008. Sponsored by the International Center for Law and Religion Studies at Brigham Young University and the Legal Studies Department of Central European University.

16th Annual Conference on “The Individual vs. the State,” Budapest, Hungary, June 7-8, 2008. Sponsored by Central European University.

Religion and Rule of Law: The Legal System and Religion in a Harmonious Society, Beijing, People’s Republic of China, May 30-June 2, 2008. Hosted by Institute of World Religions and Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Sponsored by Beijing Pu Shi Institute for Social Science Research; the Institute for Global Engagement; the International Center for Law and Religion Studies at Brigham Young University; the Oslo Coalition on Freedom of Religion or Belief; and the J.M. Dawson Institute of Church-State Studies at Baylor University.

Religion in Post-Modern Society: Conceptional, Socio-Political and Legal Aspects,” Kiev, Ukraine, May 20-21, 2008. Sponsored by the International Center for Law and Religion Studies at Brigham Young University.

International Congress 2008, “Religious Liberty, the Source of all Liberties,” April 28-29, 2008, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Hosted by Pontificia Universidad Catolica Argentina. Sponsored by the Argentine Council for Religious Liberty and the International Center for Law and Religion Studies at Brigham Young University.

A Decade of U.S. International Religious Freedom Policy: Assessing the Results, Washington, D.C., USA, April 21, 2008. The second in a series of three symposia commemorating the 10th anniversary of the International Religious Freedom Act. Hosted by Georgetown University. Sponsored by the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs at Georgetown University; Council on Faith and International Affairs at the Institute for Global Engagement; the Council for America’s First Freedom; and the International Center for Law and Religion Studies at Brigham Young University.

2008 International Conference on “Twenty Years and More: Research into Minority Religions, New Religious Movements and ‘the New Spirituality’,” London, England, April 16-19, 2008. Hosted by London School of Economics. Sponsored by INFORM and CESNUR, in association with ISORECEA.

7th Conference of Religiously Affiliated Law Schools on “Where is the Spark? Professional Formation Through the Lens of Faith,” Boston, Massachusetts, USA, April 6-8, 2008. Hosted by Boston College.

Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Conscience, and Right of Association: International and Russian Experience in Implementation, commemorating the 60th Anniversary of the Adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Ekaterinburg, Russia, April 3-6,2008. Sponsored by the Expert Council of the Human Rights Ombudsman in the Russian Federation; the Human Rights Ombudsman of the Sverdlovsk Region; “Znanie” Society of Russia;Eurasia Department of the International Association of Religion Freedom; Center for the Study of Religion, Russian State Humanities University; Association of Researchers of Religion; and the International Center for Law and Religion Studies at Brigham Young University.

Religion and Education: Russian and International Experience, Moscow, Russia, March 31-April 1, 2008. Hosted by Russian State University for Humanities, Center for Religious Studies.

A Common Morality for the Global Age: In Gratitude for What We are Given,” Washington, D.C., USA, March 27-30, 2008. Hosted by The Catholic University of America’s Center for Law, Philosophy and Culture.

Politics, Law and Religion, Boston, Massachusetts, USA, March 18, 2008. Hosted by Boston College.

Why International Religious Freedom? The Origins and Promise of U.S. International Religious Freedom Policy,” Washington, D.C., USA, February 25, 2008. The first in a series of three symposia commemorating the 10th anniversary of the International Religious Freedom Act. Hosted by Georgetown University. Sponsored by the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs at Georgetown University; Council on Faith and International Affairs at the Institute for Global Engagement; the Council for America’s First Freedom; and the International Center for Law and Religion Studies at Brigham Young University.

State, Religion and Law in and beyond South Asia: Comparative Perspectives, New Delhi, India, February 14-16, 2008.

Law and Religion Colloquium, Balliol College, University of Oxford, England, February 9, 2008.

Meetings of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, Vienna, Austria, February 7-8, 2008.