Religion and Secularism in a Global Age Conference

• When: March 1st, 2013
• Time: 3:00 to 8:00 PM
• Where: Gregorian University, Piazza della Pilotta, Rome

The American University of Rome has partnered with the Tony Blair Faith Foundation, the Pontifical Council for Culture, the British Embassy to the Holy See and the Gregorian University in the conference Religion and Secularism in a Global Age, Society, Democracy and Foreign Policy, which will be held at the Gregorian University in Rome on March 1.

The conference will bring together distinguished academics, religious leaders, diplomats and civil servants to debate and explore key international issues through the lens of religious and secular world views. H.E. Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi will deliver the key note address and that H.E. British Ambassador to the Holy See, Nigel Baker, will chair the afternoon session.

Topics explored will include:

• Does Indian Secularism hold lessons for Europe?
• Religion and politics: is there really an Islamic exceptionalism?
• Reflections from the North African experience
• The Turkish experience of secularism: a comparative perspective on laicitie
• Religious Minorities and Human Rights
• Judging Religious Rights Cases: a Comparative Perspective

The afternoon session includes a panel discussion led by experts in the field who will consider religion and foreign policy from both a practical, on the ground perspective as well as a historical and academic one. This panel is designed for foreign policy professionals, diplomats, academics and interested students, and will address some of the key questions in this field.

Experts include:

• Olivier Roy, Professor of Social and Political Theory at the European University Institute, Italy
• Rajeev Bhargava, Director of the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, Delhi, India
• Hakan Yilmaz, Professor of Political Science and International Relations at Bogaziçi University, Istanbul, Turkey,
• Amel Boubekeur, Visiting Fellow at Brookings Doha Centre, Qatar
• Daniel Cere, Professor of Religious Studies at McGill University, Canada
• Ian Leigh, Professor of Law at Durham Law School, United Kingdom

For further information please contact FGI@tonyblairfaithfoundation.org or see www.tonyblairfaithfoundation.org or call Maurizia Garzia, The American University of Rome’s Executive Assistant to the President, on +39 06 58330919, ext 209

Links

The Tony Blair Foundation