ICA Institute: Conflict Management Conf: "Religion, Conflict, & Reconciliation"

3/28/2016 1:00 PM

ICA Institute: 6th Annual Conflict Management Conference:
Religion, Conflict, and Reconciliation,
with keynote Fr. Cedric Prakash on Wed; Viren Mayani & Mazida Khan on Tues am, & others

Dates: Monday, March 28-Wednesday, March 30, 2016
Time: 1pm-- see schedule here
Venue: Kennesaw State University, KSU Center, 3333 Busbee Drive, Kennesaw, GA 30144
Register: $50 graduate students; $150 others; here.
Contact: ccm@kennesaw.edu, 470-578-2233.

Keynote Speaker: Rev. Fr. Cedric Prakash
Speaking on Wednesday, March 30, 2016 at 9:30 AM

Fr. Prakash is a leading human rights and peace activist. Currently the Director of PRASHANT (the Ahmedabad-based Jesuit Centre for Human Rights, Justice and Peace) which he founded on October 2, 2001, Fr. Prakash has been at the forefront on issues of religion and human rights, advocating for the poor, the marginalized, the minorities and other vulnerable sections of society in Gujarat and in other parts of India. Fr. Prakash was born and brought up in Bombay where he graduated from St. Xavier’s College. He later worked full time with the AICUF (All India Catholic University Federation) in Madras and then spent a year with the TAIZE community in France preparing for the World Council of Youth in 1974. Read more

Plenary Speaker: Professor Johan Galtung
Speaking on Wednesday, March 30, 2016 at 12:30 PM

Dr. Johan Galtung is professor of peace studies. A mathematician, sociologist, and political scientist, he is also the founder of the discipline of peace studies. He founded the International Peace Research Institute, Oslo (1959), the world’s first academic research center focused on peace studies, as well as the influential Journal of Peace Research (1964). He has helped found dozens of other peace centers around the world. Read more

Also with Viren Mayani, Mazida Khan, and others.

Conference Description:

Religion is a complex phenomenon. It confounds those who practice whatever form of it, and baffles those who study any and all forms of it. There is no single, globally acceptable definition of religion, yet most people think they know it. Many people claim to be “spiritual” but not “religious,” shunning organized religion altogether. And yet there continues to be the “allure of the sacred” that draws believers together; or, to use Scott Appleby's words, the “ambivalence of the sacred” that enables the terrorist and the peacemaker to share the same traditions but choose different means to fight injustice. The point is that religious traditions, with the right leadership, can result in impactful organizations and collective action.

Throughout history, religion has served as a means of group mobilization. It is arguable, for instance, that faith was a central part of the civil rights movement in the United States, that faith is at the heart of the work of people like Mother Teresa, and faith can and does facilitate forgiveness. Religion is a source of unity and positive inspiration for many people. Religion also teaches about managing conflicts, forgiving past offenses, and reconciling divided societies. But, in an apparent contradiction, religious antagonism has served as a source of division, friction, and conflict. Religion is often portrayed as a poison that creates us-versus-them mind-sets and exclusivity, which can lead to conflict and violence.

How can we make sense of this? How could something that unites people and communities also separate them? How could something that promises believers peace and salvation also be the source of so much discontent, violence, and war? How can the promise of peace embraced by many faiths be used to reconcile people and societies fractured by prolonged and intractable conflicts? What have we learned about responding to religious conflicts? Or are they religious conflicts? What are the roles of religious and lay leaders, state and non-state actors, in managing conflicts and facilitating reconciliation? These and related questions will be the focus of the 6th International Conflict Management Conference hosted by the Center for Conflict Management at Kennesaw State University on Tuesday-Wednesday, March 29-30, 2016. The theme of the conference is “Religion, Conflict, and Reconciliation.”

Subthemes:

Theoretical issues; approaches to the study of religion, religious conflicts, amnesty, and reconciliation.
Religion and Peace
Comparative Religions
Religious Cultures and Contacts, historically and in the contemporary period
Religion and Violence
Religion and War, historical and contemporary experiences
Women and Youths in Conflict
Religious Extremism and Terrorism
Religion, Poverty, and Conflict
Witchcraft, Occultism, and Witch-hunt
Forgiveness
Truth and Reconciliation Commissions
Religion and Power
Religion and Education
Religion and Leadership
International Politics
Tolerance, Dialogue, and Inter-faith Peace Discourses