Center-Related Conferences and 2012
4 January 2012. Fourth Annual J. Reuben Clark Law Society Faculty Section Conference, Washington College of Law, American University, 3:00 p.m., Robert Smith participating on plenary panel with paper titled “Current Frontiers in Religious Freedom Litigation.”
6 January 2012. Committee on Religious Liberty meeting. Washington, D.C. Cole Durham participating.
16-18 February 2012. Annual Conference of the J. Reuben Clark Society, Stanford University, Cole Durham and Gayla Sorenson participating.
24-25 February 2012. Workshop on Oxford Handbook on Religion, Conflict, and Peacebuilding, University of Notre Dame, Cole Durham panelist, “Conceptual Foundations and Historical Contestations.”
1 March 2012. Second Religious Freedom Discussion Series, Lecture #1, W. Cole Durham, Jr., 12:00 noon MST, webinar from Room 472 JRCB, Brigham Young University.
19 April 2012. Launch of the Oxford Journal of Law and Religion, the Oxford Journal of Law and Religion Colloquium, Regent’s Park College, Oxford, U.K. Cole Durham presenting, Brett Scharffs, David Kirkham, and Donlu Thayer attending.
20 April 2012. Oxford Journal of Law and Religion Seminar, Bailliol College, Brett Scharffs and Cole Durham prsenting, David Kirkham and Donlu Thayer attending. [Video interview of Peter Petkoff, by David Kirkham.]
19-20 April 2012. 5th Fundamental Rights Platform meeting, held in Vienna, Austria.
21 April 2012. JRC Law Society London Chapter Event. “A Secular State Preserves Religious Freedom,” Brett Scharffs and Ronan McCrea, Latham & Watkins, Bishopsgate, London.
24-26 April 2012. 7th World Congress on “The Secular Challenge to Religious Freedom,” sponsored by the International Religious Liberty Association (IRLA), held in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, Cole Durham and Gary Doxey participating.
30 April & 1 May 2012. Managing Religious & Cultural Diversity in the Pacific. Law & Religion Conference; Apia, Samoa; sponsored by National University of Samoa, Victoria University (New Zealand), International Center for Law and Religion Studies (Utah, USA), UNESCO, 9 a.m. – 4 p.m., National University of Samoa, Cole Durham participating.
2-4 May 2012. Conference of Religiously Affiliated Law Schools, “The Place of Religion in the Law School, the University and the Practice of Law,” Touro Law Center, Central Islip, New York, Elizabeth Clark participating.
14-15 May 2012. “Religion and Contemporary Society,” co-organized by Chinese Academy of Social Science, China, and Brigham Young University, United States, held at Milton A. Barlow Center, 2520 L Street N.W., Washington, D.C., Cole Durham and Brett Scharffs participating.
24 May 2012. “Rising Threats to American Religious Freedom,” sponsored by the Ethics and Public Policy Center’s American Religious Freedom Program, Washington, D.C., Cole Durham and Gary Doxey participating.
1-2 June 2012. Registration, Religious Autonomy and the Right to Freedom of Religion or Belief, hosted by the Department of Legal Studies, Central European University, organized by the International Center for Law and Religion Studies, Brigham Young University, USA, Cole Durham participating. [Conference Program]
7 June 2012. Seminar on the Autonomy of the Church in the Recent Case-law of the European Court of Human Rights and of the USA Supreme Court, Council of Europe, Organized by the European Centre for Law and Justice in cooperation with Centre d’Etudes et de Recherches Européennes: Religion et Société (Bruxelles – CERERS), the Catholic University of Louvain (UCL) and the Strasbourg Consortium on Freedom of Conscience and Religion. Cole Durham participating.
8-9 June 2012. 20th Annual Individual and the State Conference on “Tragedy of Liberty: From Liberation to Self-Destruction and Irrelevance,” June 8-9, 2012, Central European University, Cole Durham participating.
18-19 June 2012. Conference, “Year of Russian History: State—Individual—Faith,” sponsored by the Expert Council of the Federal Human Rights Ombudsman, the Representative of the President of the Russian Federation in the Nor-West Region, St. Petersburg Christian University, the Russian Association of Researchers of Religion, and the State Museum of the History of Religion, with organizational help from the International Center for Law and Religion Studies, St. Petersburg, Russia. [Передачи на русском языке] Cole Durham and Elizabeth Clark attending from the Center.
21-22 June 2012. Roundtable on Law and Religion in Australia, held at Australian National University College of Law, Sydney, with Public Lecture by Professor Brett G. Scharffs, Accommodating Conscience: The Problems Arising from General and Neutral Laws, Sparke Helmore Theatre 1, ANU College of Law, Building 5, Fellows Road, 21 June, 5.30-6 pm. [Event Flyer]
22 June 2012. State-Sponsored Religious Displays in the U.S. and Europe, sponsored by the Center for Law and Religion at St. John’s School of Law and the Department of Law at the Libera Università Maria Ss. Assunta (LUMSA). Held at LUMSA, Complesso del Giubileo via di Porta Castello, 44 – Rome. Cole Durham participating on panel to discuss “Lautsi, the Margin of Appreciation, and the Choice of Secularisms.” [Program]
8-20 July 2012 China Certificate Training Program, held under the auspices of Peking University Law School, Beijing, China, cosponsored by the International Center for Law and Religion Studies and the Center for Administrative and Constitutional Law at Peking University Law School. Brett Scharffs and Cole Durham participating.
20-22 August 2012. International Religious Liberty Association 14th Meeting of Experts, an International Think Tank on Religious Freedom: Models of Secularity and Religious Freedom: Canada, the United States of America, and Europe, Cole Durham participating with “Comparative Approaches to Offensive Religious Expression,” Multi-Faith Centre, University of Toronto, Canada.
5 September 2012. Religious Freedom Discussion Series Lecture by Professor Brett G. Scharffs — “Accommodating Conscience: The HHS Contraception Mandate and the Problems Arising from General and Neutral Laws,” Brigham Young University.
7-9 October 2012. “Religion, Democracy, and Civil Society,” 19th Annual International Law and Religion Symposium of the International Center for Law and Religion Studies, to be held at the J. Reuben Clark Law School on the campus of Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah.
11 October 2012. “Which Model, Whose Liberty?: Differences between the U.S. and European Approaches to Religious Freedom,” sponsored by the Religious Freedom Project, The Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs, Georgetown University, and the International Center for Law and Religion Studies, J. Reuben Clark Law School, Brigham Young University, held in Washington, D.C. Cole Durham, Robert Smith, and Elizabeth Clark participating.
3 November 2012. Ninth Beijing Forum: 【2012 Panel II】Faith and Society: Spiritual Reflections of Global Age, Peking University. Brett Scharffs participating.
26 November – 5 December 2012. Inaugural Certificate Training Program on “Religion and the Rule of Law in Vietnam and Southeast Asia,” at the College of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi. Brett Scharffs and Cole Durham participating.
1 December 2012. INFORM Autumn Seminar: Changing Beliefs and Schisms in New Religious Movements, 9.30am – 5.15 pm, Wolfson Theatre, New Academic Building, London School of Economics. Cole Durham participating.
4 December 2012. RELIGARE Final Conference: “Religious Diversity and Secular Models in Europe: Innovative Approaches to Law and Policy”, Leuven, Belgium. [full program] Cole Durham participating.
5 December 2012. Religious Freedom Discussion Series, Robert Smith, “A Contest of Greatest Importance: The Battle over the Meaning of Religious Freedom,” 12:00 noon, 472 JRCB, Brigham Young University.
5 December 2012. International Conference “Religious Instruction in the World Today”, Institute of St. Stanislava, Hall Matija Tomc, Ljubljana, Slovenia. Cole Durham and Elena Miroshnikova participating.
7-8 December 2012. Interdisciplinary and international conference “Group Autonomy and Its Critics: Human Rights Perspectives”, University of Oslo. [program] Cole Durham participating.
11-12 December 2012. The Institute of World Religions (IWR) in the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), international conference, The China Social Science Forum on “Religious Charities and Social Development,” Beijing. Cole Durham and Brett Scharffs participating.
China Social Science Forum: Religious Charities and Social Development 2012
The China Social Science Forum (2012 • Religious Studies) — Religious Charities and Social Development, sponsored by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), was held by the Institute of World Religions, 11-12 December 2012, in Beijing. Professor Brett G. Scharffs and Professor W. Cole Durham, Jr., Associate Director and Director of the International Center for Law and Religion Studies, were among the foreign experts making presentations at the Forum.
Photo: Ma Guilin is General Secretary and Vice President of the China Charity International Exchange Center; Zhang Daocheng is Vice Secretary-General, The National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and Vice Director of the China Charity Federation.  …
International Conference Religious Education in the World Today 2012
An International Conference, “Religious Education in the World Today”, was held 5 December 2012 at the Institute of St. Stanislava, Hall Matija Tomc, Ljubljana, Slovenia. Speakers of different religions from ten countries on four continents presented the situation in their countries and the problems faced.
Featured at the conference was the recently published Routledge International Handbook of Religious Education, edited by Derek Davis and Elena Miroshnikova, who were in attendance, along with W. Cole Durham, Jr., who wrote the Foreword to the book.
In a globalized world where people of all nations are closely connected…
Professor Smith Discusses the Battle over the Meaning of Religious Freedom
Professor Robert Smith, Managing Director of the International Center for Law and Religion Studies, delivered the concluding lecture in the second Religious Freedom Discussion Series. The Lecture, “A Contest of Greatest Importance: The Battle over the Meaning of Religious Freedom,” was delivered on Wednesday, 5 December 2012, at the J. Reuben Clark Law School in Provo, Utah.
The video recording (mp4) of the event, as well as PowerPoint presentation used in the lecture, and the accompanying text, may be downloaded or accessed by clicking the links: Video Recording PowerPoint Text
In an address delivered at BYU-Idaho in October 2009, Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints stated: “There is a battle over the meaning of that freedom. The contest is of eternal importance…
RELIGARE Final Conference: Religious Diversity and Secular Models in Europe
RELIGARE (‘Religious Diversity and Secular Models in Europe: Innovative Approaches to Law and Policy’) is a European framework project focusing on the ways in which European states govern the diversity of religions and beliefs within their territories. Its ultimate aim is to advance ‘promising practices’ through an in-depth comparative study of case law and sociological data on the freedom of religion and the right to nondiscrimination. A two-day conference held 4-5 December 2012 offered a unique opportunity to discuss and reflect upon the projects key findings.
The first day (4 December – University of Leuven) was dedicated to a detailed presentation and an in-depth discussion of the research results…
Certificate Training Program on Religion and the Rule of Law in Vietnam – December 2012
From 26 November to 5 December 2012, the Institute for Global Engagement, Brigham Young University, and the University of Social Sciences and Humanities in Hanoi co-conducted the first-ever certificate training program on Religion and the Rule of Law in Vietnam.
The purpose of the ten-day program was to train an emerging generation of scholars, government officials, judges, and religious leaders on international and comparative approaches to religion and the rule of law. The training—using both comparative and interdisciplinary training methods—helped to build an emerging intellectual foundation as they develop a new legal infrastructure that contributes to religious freedom and the well-being of society.
The program trained over 80 Vietnamese government officials, researchers…
Scharffs at Beijing Forum【2012 Panel II】on Faith and Society in a Global Age
Professor Brett G. Scharffs, Associate Director of the International Center for Law and Religion Studies at Brigham Young University, delivered the paper “Regulating Religion: Formal and Informal Mechanisms of State and Social Oversight in an Easy-entry Registration System — The U.S. Experience” at the Beijing Forum 2012, “The Harmony of Civilizations and Properity of All,” held 2-4 November 2012 in Beijing. Professor Scharffs was a participant in the second of the Forum’s 10…
Symposium: “Is Legalization of Same-Sex Marriage Constitutionally Required?”
2 November 2012. Symposium: “Is Legalization of Same-Sex Marriate Constitutionally Reguired?”, co-sponsored by the Marriage & Family Law Research Project at the J. Reuben Clark Law School at BYU, by the Marriage Law Project at Columbus School of Law at The Catholic University of America, and by the BYU Journal of Public Law. Welcome at 8:45 a.m.; events at 8:55 and 11:05 am and 2:20 p.m., Room 472 JRCB, Brigham Young University.
Which Model, Whose Liberty? Conference at Georgetown University, 11 October 2012
Religious freedom is in the headlines on both sides of the Atlantic. Although some have written of a “Western model” of religious liberty, is that label a myth? Sixteen law and religion experts—from Australia, Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, and the United States—met at Georgetown University in Washington, DC on 11 October 2012 to examine the historic and emerging differences in how religious freedom was conceived and has been implemented on both sides of the Atlantic.
Which Model, Whose Liberty?: Differences between the U.S. and European Approaches to Religious Freedom was cosponsored by the Religious Freedom Project of the Berkley Center for Religion…
Professor Douglas Laycock Honored at 2012 International Religious Liberty Award Dinner
The 2012 Religious Liberty Honor was presented to Professor Douglas Laycock at the third International Religious Freedom Awards Dinner, held 11 October 2012 at the Mayflower Renaissance Hotel in Washington DC. The award is given annually by the J. Reuben Clark Law Society and the International Center for Law and Religion Studies at Brigham Young University.
Also announced at the Awards Dinner were the winners of the Third Annual Religious Freedom Student Writing Competition.
Those in attendance at the dinner were welcomed by Michael Merrell, Chair of the International Religious Liberty Award Committee. The invocation…
US Representatives at Human Dimension Implementation Meeting in Warsaw
The 2012 Human Dimension Implementation Meeting (HDIM), Europe’s largest annual human rights and democracy conference, took place in Warsaw from 24 September through 5 October 2012. HDIM is organized every year by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) as a platform for OSCE participating States, Partners for Co-operation, civil society, international organizations and OSCE structures to take stock of the implementation of the human dimension commitments, discuss associated challenges, share good practices and make recommendations for further improvements. On 2 October a group of participants met to discuss the needs of religious belief communities…
Assembly of the Latin American Consortium for Religious Liberty Held in Bogota
The Twelfth Annual Assembly of the Latin American Consortium for Religious Liberty was held in Bogota, Colombia September 6-8, 2012. Scott E. Isaacson, Executive Director for Latin America of the International Center for Law and Religion Studies, attended the Assembly on behalf of the Center. Center Director Cole Durham is one of the founding supporters of the Latin American Consortium, and the Center has supported the Consortium in various ways over the years, including lending logistical and financial…
Professor Brett Scharffs Lectures on HHS Mandate and Religious Freedom Issues
Brett G. Scharffs, Francis R. Kirkham Professor of Law and Associate Director of the International Center for Law and Religion Studies at the J. Reuben Clark Law School, presented a lecture, “Accommodating Conscience: The HHS Contraception Mandate and the Problems Arising from General and Neutral Laws,” as part of the Center’s Religious Freedom Discussion Series, on 5 September 2012 at Brigham Young University. A video recording (mp4) of the presentation is available for download here.
Professor Scharffs is a graduate of Georgetown University, where he received a B.S.B.A in international business and an M.A. in philosophy. He was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University, where he earned a B.Phil in philosophy. He received his J.D. from Yale Law School, where he was Senior Editor of the Yale Law Journal. He was a law clerk on the U.S. Court of Appeals, D.C. Circuit, and worked as a legal assistant at the Iran-U.S. Claims Tribunal in The Hague. Before teaching at…
International Religious Liberty Association 14th Meeting of Experts
The International Religious Liberty Association (IRLA) 14th Meeting of Experts convened at the Multi-Faith Centre of the University of Toronto on 20 August 2012. The IRLA, an international think tank on religious freedom chartered in 1893, is the oldest association dedicated to freedom of conscience for all people. Originally organized by the Seventh-day Adventist Church, IRLA is served by a panel of experts from many nations and religious denominations.
This year’s two-day meeting of experts focused on Models of Secularity and Religious Freedom: Canada, the United States of America, and Europe. Participants included members of the panel of experts as well as IRLA advisory directors, including John Graz, Rosa Maria Martinez de Codes, Jeremy Gunn…
Elizabeth Clark Presents Discussion Series Lecture, 11 July 2012
Professor Elizabeth A. Clark, Associate Director of the International Center for Law and Religion Studies at Brigham Young University, presented “Is Religion Different? Should We Care?”: Contemporary Religious Freedom Controversies and Arguments on the Value of Religion” as the third in the 2012 Religious Freedom Discussion Series lectures, on 11 July 2012 at BYU’s J. Reuben Clark Law School.
The role of religion and religious freedom fills public debate, whether the topic is the religious exemption to the contraception mandate, exemptions for religious employers, or Proposition 8. Much of the debate, however, turns on assumptions about the value of religion and whether…
China Certificate Training Program 2012
By Liu Peng
Pushi Institute for Social Science
From July 9 to 20, 2012, the International League of Higher Education in Media and Communication of the Communication University of China, School of Political Science and Law of the Communication University of China, Center for People’s Congress and Foreign Legislations Study of Peking University Law School, and the Pushi Institute for Social Science jointly held the Religion and Rule of Law Summer Training Program in Beijing. Seventeen experts…
Year of Russian History: State – Individual – Faith, 18-19 June 2012
“Year of Russian History: State—Individual—Faith,” a conference sponsored by the Expert Council of the Federal Human Rights Ombudsman, the Representative of the President of the Russian Federation in the Nor-West Region, St. Petersburg Christian University, the Russian Association of Researchers of Religion, and the State Museum of the History of Religion, with organizational help from the International Center for Law and Religion Studies, was held 18-19 June 2012 in St. Petersburg, Russia. [Передачи на русском языке] ICLRS Director Cole Durham, along with Associate Director Elizabeth Clark, the Center’s Regional Advisor for Eastern Europe, attended and spoke at the Conference.
Scharffs at Roundtable on Law and Religion in Australia, 21-22 June 2012
A Roundtable on Law and Religion in Australia was held at Australian National University College of Law, Sydney, with a Public Lecture by Professor Brett G. Scharffs, Accommodating Conscience: The Problems Arising from General and Neutral Laws, at ANU College of Law, 21 June 2012. [Event Flyer]
Seminar on the Autonomy of the Church in the Recent Case-law of the European Court of Human Rights and of the USA Supreme Court – 13 June 2012
The European Centre for Law and Justice organized a seminar on the recent case law of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) and of the USA Supreme Court on Church autonomy, in cooperation with the Centre d’Etudes et de Recherches Européennes: Religion et Société (Bruxelles – CERERS), the Catholic University of Louvain (UCL) and the Strasbourg Consortium on Freedom of Conscience and Religion at the European Court of Human Rights.
The purpose of the seminar was to discuss the protection afforded in Europe and in the USA…
Discussion Series Lecture by Professor Gary Doxey on Thomas More
Professor Gary B. Doxey delivered the third lecture in the 2012 Religious Freedom Discussion Series, on Wednesday, 13 June 2012, at Brigham Young University Law School. The subject of Professor Doxey’s lecture was “Sir Thomas More and Religious Liberty.” An audio recording of the lecture, as well as the PowerPoint Presentation accompanying it, are available at the links below.
Professor Doxey – historian, attorney, administrator, and Church leader – serves as Associate Director and Regional Advisor for Latin America, as well as chair of the development committee, of the International Center for Law and Religion Studies. He also teaches in the History Department at Brigham Young University. He chose for his Discussion Series topic this year a man who has been described as “the most brilliant lawyer of his generation”…
Religion and Civil Society: The Changing Faces of “Religion” and “Secularity”
7-8 June 2012 – Harvard University
Announcing an international conference, Religion and Civil Society: The Changing Faces of “Religion” and “Secularity”, convened by the Culture and Society Institute of the University of Navarra and the cooperation of the Harvard University Law School.
KEYNOTE SPEAKERS…
Faith leaders meet at conference on religious freedom – 24 May 2012
Government officials, religious leaders and public policy experts from across the nation met to discuss a host of topics including the new Health and Human Services mandate requiring religious organizations to provide health care coverage for contraceptives. The day-long event featured discussions on issues ranging from contraceptive coverage under the Affordable Care Act to state laws requiring health care providers to perform procedures or provide services that are…
Professor Clark at 2012 Conference of Religiously Affiliated Law Schools
Professor Elizabeth A. Clark, Associate Director of the International Center for Law and Religion Studies, was among the academic experts participating in the 2012 Conference of Religiously Affiliated Law Schools, hosted by the Touro College Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center, Central Islip, New York, 2-4 May 2012. The conference addressed the topic “The Place of Religion in the Law School, the University and the Practice of Law.” Professor Clark was part of the panel “The Place of Law and Religion Institutes in the Law School and the University,” along with Marie A. Failinger…
Professor Kirkham Discusses Human Rights, the Constitution, and Religious Liberty
Professor David M. Kirkham addressed the topic “Human Rights, the Constitution, and Religious Liberty” as the second lecture in the International Center for Law and Religion Studies’ 2012 Religious Freedom Discussion Series, held 2 May 2012 at Brigham Young University.
Video recordings of the presentation: wmv mp4
Dr. Kirkham is Senior Fellow for Comparative Law and International Policy at the Center, and Regional Advisor for the European Union and Council of Europe. David Kirkham came to the Center in July 2007 from the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, where he served as Associate Dean and Professor of International…
Managing Religious & Cultural Diversity in the Pacific – Conference in Samoa
30 April & 1 May 2012 – Law & Religion Conference: Apia, Samoa
Theme: How best to manage religious diversity so as to create an environment that fosters harmonious relationships between different religious and cultural groups, lessens religious and cultural tensions, and recognizes the human right to religion, and religious freedom, within national, local and traditional contexts.
Held at the National University of Samoa. Sponsored by National University of Samoa, Victoria University (New Zealand), International Center for Law and Religion Studies (Utah, USA), UNESCO. …
IRLA 7th World Congress Concludes – Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
The Seventh World Congress of the International Religious Liberty Association was held 24-26 April 2012 in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, with more than 800 international guests in attendance. Chartered in 1893, the International Religious Liberty Association (IRLA) is the oldest association dedicated to freedom of conscience for all people. It has national associations in 80 countries. Thirteen regional chapters cover the whole surface of the globe with correspondents in 200 countries. In 2003, the IRLA was recognized by the United Nations Economic and Social Council and given the status of United Nations Non-Governmental Organization Category II. It is represented in New York and Geneva and takes part in the Human Rights Council meetings every year.
A primary aspect of the IRLA’s work is to ensure that religious freedom has the highest possible visibility on the world scene. To that end, its hold congresses, regional conferences, national symposiums, and local meetings—all…
Scharffs and O’Crea Discuss Religion in the Secular State at Clark Society Event in London
On 21 April 2012 the London Chapter of the J. Reuben Clark Law Society sponsored an event hosted by the law firm Latham & Watkins, Bishopsgate, London. The event featured a discussion of the topic “A secular state preserves religious freedom” by Dr. Ronan McCrea, a barrister lecturing at University College London, and Professor Brett G. Scharffs, Francis R. Kirkham Professor of Law at the J. Reuben Clark Law School, Brigham Young University, USA, and Associate Director of the International Center for Law and Religion Studies.
Dr. McCrea is author of Religion and the Public Order of the European Union (OUP 2011), which was Shortlisted for The Peter Birks Prizes for Outstanding…
Oxford Journal of Law and Religion Seminar
The first of the Oxford Journal of Law and Religion Seminars was held 20 April 2012 in the Old Common Room of Balliol College, Oxford, UK. The event was co-sponsored by the Oxford Society for Law and Religion; FORBFocus; the International Consortium for Law and Religion Studies (ICLARS, Milan); Brunel Law and Religion Research Group; Centre for the Study of Religion in Public Life, Kellogg College, Oxford; Religion, Law and International Relations Program, Regents Park College, Oxford; the International Center for Law and Religion Studies (ICLRS), Brigham Young University, United States; and the Strasbourg Consortium. …
Oxford Journal of Law and Religion Colloquium
The Oxford Journal of Law and Religion Colloquium, held on the occasion of the publication of the first issue of the Journal, convened on Thursday, 19 April 2012, at Regent’s Park College, Oxford, UK, hosted by the Religion Law and International Relations Programme of the Centre for Christianity and Culture.
Session I of the Colloquium featured a Welcome and Introduction, “Harmony in Dissonance — Directions of the Law and Religion Studies,” by Peter Petkoff, Director of Religion, Law and International Relations Programme, Regent’s Park College, and Managing Editor of the Oxford Journal of Law and Religion….
Brett Scharffs: Religion and the Rule of Law for Vietnam
Professor Brett G. Scharffs, Associate Director of the International Center for Law and Religion Studies (ICLRS), traveled to Vietnam in March 2012 to meet with University leaders at Vietnam National University – Hanoi. While there he to delivered a lecture on “Religion and the Rule of Law: Comparative and International Law Perspectives for Contemporary Vietnam” and discuss with the Vietnamese academics possibilities for significant joint academic programs in the future.
Professor Scharffs, ICLRS Regional Advisor for Asia, is co-author, with his colleague W. Cole Durham, Jr. of the casebook, Law and Religion: National, International, and Comparative Perspectives (Wolters Kluwer 2010), second edition now in preparation.
Durham Delivers Lecture on Important Religious Freedom Employment Cases
Professor W. Cole Durham, Jr., Director of the International Center for Law and Religion Studies (ICLRS) and president of the International Consortium on Law and Religion Studies (ICLARS) opened the second Religious Freedom Discussion Series on 7 March 2012 with a lecture entitled “Hosanna-Tabor and its European Counterparts: Comparative Reflections.”
On January 11, 2012, the Supreme Court of the United States issued its decision in the most important religious freedom case to come before the Court in decades. In Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission the Court for the first time reviewed “ministerial exception,” a First…
Christians in Political Science Eighth Annual Conference
31 May – 2 June 2012 – Gordon College, Wenham, MA
Brief Conference Description from the Organizers
This conference provides Christian political scientists with a unique forum to explore how our faith impacts our teaching and scholarship. In addition to paper panels, plenary sessions, workshops, roundtables, and times of worship, the conference includes an optional Saturday evening excursion into Boston. The conference is hosted by Gordon College, which is in Wenham, MA, a short drive from Symphony Hall, Fenway Park, and historic Boston. Gordon is within biking distance of more than a few beautiful beaches, and surrounded by hundreds of acres of woodlands.
This year’s conference, Power and Justice: Perspectives on Political Order, is co-sponsored by Gordon’s Center for Christian Studies, the Center for Public Justice and the Institute for Global Engagement. The planning team is comprised of Gordon’s political science department, Ruth Melkonian-Hoover, Paul Brink, David Lumsdaine, and Timothy Sherratt, along with CPS President Mark David Hall of George Fox University.
We are excited to have three plenary speakers: the newly inaugurated president of Gordon College, sociologist D. Michael Lindsay, author of Faith in the Halls of Power: How Evangelicals Joined the American Elite; Anthony Gill, professor of political science, University of Washington and host of Research on Religion podcasts; and Peter Feaver, professor of political science and director of the Triangle Institute for Security Studies and director of the Program in American Grand Strategy, Duke University.