The Future of the Religious Past

Conference: The Future of the Religious Past

From Thursday 16 June to Saturday 18 June 2011, the last in a series of international conferences on religion was held in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. This conference was hosted by the programme committee of the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) research programme 'The Future of the Religious Past'. It took place in the Beurs van Berlage in the Centre of Amsterdam.

The conference was titled 'The Future of the Religious Past' The conference consisted of a number of presentations by international guests and members of the groups related to the programme – Program Committee, International Advisory Board, and funded researchers  – as well as workshops, organised especially to air the work of senior but also younger researchers and help them to come into dialogue with other researchers taking part in the overall project.

A key note lecture was given by Sari Nusseibeh. Other lectures were held by Colin Campbell, Liesbeth van Zoonen, Jeanette Jouili, Thomas Tweed, Riem Spielhaus, Anne-Marie Korte, Hent de Vries, James Kennedy, Markha Valenta.

'The Future of the Religious Past'

In the early 21st century we are confronted with continued or renewed participation in religion as we know it, no less than with the even more remarkable invention of seemingly new and unprecedented elements and forms of 'religion', many of which defy traditional and modern tools for interpretation. These novel experiences and experiments require a radical rethinking of the central themes, disciplinary fields and diverse methods that make up the comparative study of contemporary religion. More importantly, they challenge us to answer the question of whether (the very term) 'religion' may not one day come to be seen as a mere historical category, referring to a well documented and identifiable past, or whether there may still be unanticipated futures for this particular religious past. Both alternatives, which represent complex socio-historical tendencies in their own right, merit further intensive interdisciplinary inquiry.

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laatst gewijzigd op 11 juli 2011