Reset-Dialogues on Civilizations is glad to announce the 9th Istanbul Seminars, to be held on 24-28 May 2016 at the Istanbul Bilgi University. This email is to announce that applications are open for students and young scholars
Istanbul Seminars 2016 | 24-28 May 2016
Religion, Rights and the Public Sphere
Whereas religiously inspired social movements, political parties, institutions of charity make an important contribution to society in terms of civil life and social cohesion, every religion can also play a negative role in radicalizing identities, in making compromises more difficult, in provoking violence and wars. That religious traditions risk to be a double-edged sword is today particularly evident in the Muslim world, where democratization and modernization processes risk to be obliterated by radical Islam, terrorism, the escalation of the Shia-Sunni conflict. This rises important questions with regard to what makes religions contribute to the foundations and legitimacy of democracy and why, on the contrary, at times religions turn to be source of extremism and intolerance. What is the connection between religious radicalism and the colonial and postcolonial legacy? Is radical Islam a consequence of imposed and fragile state-building processes confiscated by secular authoritarian regimes or vice versa? Can it be explained by the collapse of nationalist and socialist ideologies or by underdevelopment and inequalities? Do religious doctrines bring forth the radicalization of identities quite autonomously and independently from the political and social context? Accordingly, the Istanbul Seminars ’16 will discuss how much religious pluralism is a matter of politics, law and economy and to what extent it is also a matter of theology.
Among the confirmed speakers so far: Mustafa Akyol, Zygmunt Bauman, Rajeev Bhargava, Seyla Benhabib, Manuel Castells, Dipesh Chakrabarty, Mohd Eiadat, Alessandro Ferrara, Silvio Ferrari, Nilüfer Göle, Peter Gordon, Amr Hamzawy, Elisabeth Shakman Hurd, Aleksandra Kania, Cristina Lafont, Ebrahim Moosa, Fabio Petito, David Rasmussen, Olivier Roy, Saskia Sassen, Richard Sennett, Ananya Vajpeyi, Michael Walzer (in video), Patrick Weil, Boyan Znepolski and many more.
Executive Committee of the Istanbul Seminars: Asaf Savaş Akat, Seyla Benhabib, Giancarlo Bosetti, Alessandro Ferrara, Abdou Filali-Ansary, Nina zu Fürstenberg, Nilüfer Göle, Ferda Keskin, David Rasmussen
CLICK HERE FOR INFORMATION AND UPDATES
Grants and enrollment:
As usual, there is no fee of attendance. Reset-Dialogues does not arrange travel and accommodation for participants, but is happy to provide information and support through its website. A limited number of small grants (up to 300 euros) for Undergraduates, Graduates, PhDs and Post PhDs, is available.
Granted applicants are required to attend the whole program 24-28 May.
The application deadline to apply for a grant is the 8th of April 2016. Applicants asking for a grant will be notified regarding the selection by April 15th.
The enrollment deadline to apply without asking for a grant is 15th May 2016.
CLICK HERE TO FILL IN THE APPLICATION FORMS
A daily free lunch ticket to be spent at the Campus Cafeteria will be provided to all granted participants and to all enrolled participants.
Working groups:
Both granted students/scholars and not granted enrolled participants may ask for being part of the discussion working groups. Participants involved in the working groups will receive some reading material by April 30th. Each working group will discuss the preliminary readings and the speeches given by the Speakers. At the end of the program each working group will present the results to the audience. Working groups meet daily at the end of the sessions, for about one hour. Involvement in the working groups is not compulsory, but welcome.
Check www.resetdoc.org regularly for updates
This event is organized and cosponsored by Reset-Dialogues on Civilizations and Istanbul Bilgi University