Reducing Religious Conflict

The Science and Religious Conflict Project team in the Faculty of Philosophy at Oxford University is pleased to announce a two-day international and interdisciplinary conference on the theme of reducing religious conflict. Conflicts between different religious groups and between religious groups, governments and broader society are endemic to modern life and have been a feature of human existence for thousands of years. What can be done to reduce the rate of occurrence and the severity of such conflicts? In this conference leading international experts from different disciplines take up the theme of reducing religious conflict. The conference is funded by Arts and Humanities Council Standard Grant AH/F019513/1.

Monday 18th June

9.30-9.45           Welcome/Introduction: Professor Julian Savulescu

9.45-11.00          Eran Halperin, Lauder School of Government, Israel

Can Emotion Regulation Change Political Attitudes in Intractable and Religious Conflict? From the Laboratory to the Field

11.00-11.15        Coffee Break

11.15-12.30        Scott Atran, Anthropology, University of Michigan & John Jay College & National Center for Scientific Research Paris

Religious and Sacred Imperatives in Human Conflict

12.30-1.30         Lunch Break

1.30-2.45           Paul Troop, Faculty of Law and Centre for Neuroethics, University of Oxford

How Might Understanding Human Groups Help Address Religious Conflict?

2.45-4.00           Julian Savulescu Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics, University of Oxford and Ingmar Persson, University of Gothenburg and Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics, University of Oxford

Religion and Religious Conflict: A Secular View

4.00-4.30           Coffee Break

4.30-5.45           Monica Toft, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University

Local versus Global Dimensions of Religious Violence: The Case of the Caucasus

5.45                  Finish

Tuesday 19th June

9.30-10.45          Miles Hewstone, Katarina Schmid and Ananthi Al Ramiah, Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford

Intergroup Contact as a Means of Reducing Religious Conflict: Evidence from Belfast and Oldham

10.45-11.00         Coffee Break

11.00-12.15         Liz Carmichael, Faculty of Theology, University of Oxford

Religion in Conflict and Peacemaking, with Particular Reference to South Africa

12.15-1.15           Lunch Break

1.15-2.30             Tony Coady, Philosophy, University of Melbourne & Leverhulme Visiting Professor, Oxford

Civility and Deep Disagreement: Philosophical Reflections on Religious Differences and Public Life

2.30-3.30              Round Table: discussion of key themes emerging from the conference. To be led by Julian Savulescu and Roger Trigg, University of Oxford.

Places are free and teas and coffees will be provided (but not lunch).

Contact: Dr Steve Clarke: [email protected]