Events
Conflicting Identities: Religion, Race, and Belonging in a Changing World [Manchester, May 2010]A one-day cross-cultural workshop inviting senior and early-career members of academic, media, government and non-governmental organizations to learn from - and inform - how outstanding academics understand the role religious and ethnic identities play in social inclusion. Key themes for the day:
- Defining 'religion' and 'belief'
- Inherited Identities: Youth cultures and inter-generational tensions.
- Visible Identities: The tensions and expectations surrounding visible signs of identity such as crosses, turbans, and head-scarves.
- Violent Identities: Why individuals join extremist organizations
Religious Identity, Conversion, and Ethnic Identity in Late Antiquity [Hawarden, February 2010]
This historical workshop compares how 'religion' and 'ethnicity' function as discourses of affinity and obligation at the end of antiquity, and considers the following areas:
- Conversion
- Ethnicity/ethnic identity
- Identity, boundary-formation, eliciting allegiance and reciprocity
A seminar on religious boundaries and 'disciplinary' violence in late antiquity at the Society of Biblical Literature Conference, in Atlanta, led by Blake Leyerle (University of Notre Dame) and Ra'anan Boustan (University of California, Los Angeles).
Religion and Violence in early Christianity and early Islam [Hawarden, January 2011]
This historical workshop re-examines whether the rise of violence and religious coercion can be classed as one of the 'consequences of monotheism in late antiquity' (Fowden) with specific reference to the 3rd to the 8th centuries CE. Contributions will address theoretical approaches or case studies in areas such as:
- Martyrdom and holy war
- State violence and resistance to the state
- 'Intolerance' and 'tolerance'
- 'Dissent' and 'heresy'
- Household and family: religion and attitudes to domestic violence
Religion, Conflict and Violence [Manchester, February 2011]
A cross-cultural and transhistorical study day co-sponsored with the British Sociological Association's Sociology of Religion Group at the University of Manchester.
Violence, social reproduction and religious identity in late antiquity [Worcester College, Oxford, August 2011]
A writing workshop focussing on how religious groups in late antiquity (especially but not exclusively Christianity) use violent ideas and violent practices to maintain and reproduce the social order.