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Conference Agenda
THURSDAY, MARCH 5th, 2009 |
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10:30 am - 1:15 pm
Session I: Origins of the Secular
Religious Origins
Noah Feldman, Professor of Law, Harvard University
Political Origins
George Kateb, Professor Emeritus, Politics, Princeton University
Philosophic Origins
Richard J. Bernstein, Vera List Professor of Philosophy, The New School for Social Research
Secularism as Ideology
José Casanova, Professor of Sociology and Senior Fellow; Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs, Georgetown University
Session Moderator: David Plotke, Professor of Political Science, Chair of History, The New School for Social Research and Eugene Lang College The New School for Liberal Arts
The session will be ended with discussion between the speakers, then discussion with the audience
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1:15 pm - 2:15 pm BREAK
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2:15 pm - 5:00 pm
Session II: Religious Selves, Secular Selves
Ritual, Sincerity and the Self
Adam B. Seligman, Professor of Religion, Research Associate, Institute for Culture, Religion and World Affairs, Boston University
Spirituality in Modern Society: The Spiritual Self
Peter van der Veer, University Professor, Utrecht University
The Human Predicament
William E. Connolly, Krieger-Eisenhower Professor of Political Theory and International Relations, The Johns Hopkins University
The Human Soul, a Unique Biological Adaptation: The Psychological Self
Daniel C. Dennett, Co-Director, Center for Cognitive Studies and Austin B. Fletcher Professor of Philosophy, Tufts University
Session Moderator: Mark Larrimore, Eugene Lang College The New School for Liberal Arts
The session will be ended with discussion between the speakers, then discussion with the audience
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5:00 pm - 6:00 pm BREAK
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6:00 pm - 7:15 pm
Session III: Keynote Address, The Polysemy of the Secular
by Charles Taylor, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy, McGill University
Moderated by Benjamin Lee, Senior Vice President for International Affairs, The New School
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FRIDAY, MARCH 6th, 2009 |
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10:00 am - 12:45 pm
Session IV: Religion, Politics, and the Democratic State
The Secular Citadel and the Untended Garden: Past Constitutional/Legal Debates
John T. Noonan, Jr., United States Senior Circuit Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
We Are All Religious Now, Again: Constitutional/Legal Debates
Winnifred Sullivan, Associate Professor of Law and Director, Law and Religion Program, University at Buffalo Law School, SUNY
Political Debates: Then
James A. Morone, Professor of Political Science and Urban Studies, Brown University
Political Debates: Now
Ann Pellegrini, Associate Professor, Performance Studies and Religious Studies, New York University
(in collaboration with Janet Jakobsen, Professor, Director, Barnard Center for Research on Women and Interim, Associate Dean of Faculty Diversity, Barnard College)
Session Moderator: Tariq Modood, Professor of Sociology, Politics and Public Policy, Director, University Research Centre for the Study of Ethnicity and Citizenship, Bristol University
The session will be ended with discussion between the speakers, then discussion with the audience
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12:45 pm - 1:45 pm BREAK
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1:45 pm - 4:30 pm
Session V: Moral Crusades Then and Now: Religious and Secular
The Prophetic Tradition and Civil Rights: a Transracial Challenge to Democracy
David L. Chappell, Professor of History, University of Oklahoma
Temperance to the Moral Majority
Susan F. Harding, Professor of Anthropology, University of California at Santa Cruz
Identity Politics
Yvonne Yazbeck Haddad, Professor of the History of Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations, Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, Georgetown University
Culture Wars
James Davison Hunter, LaBrosse-Levinson Distinguished Professor of Religion, Culture, and Social Theory; University of Virginia
Session Moderator: Ann Snitow, Associate Professor, Literature and Gender Studies, Eugene Lang College The New School for Liberal Arts
The session will be ended with discussion between the speakers, then discussion with the audience
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4:30 pm - 5:00 pm BREAK
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5:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Session VI:
Contemporary Debates: The Future of Religion and the Future of Secularism a panel discussion
Sheila Davaney, Program Officer, Religion, Society and Culture, Ford Foundation
Michael W. McConnell, Judge, U. S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit; Presidential Professor of Law, S.J. Quinney College of Law at the University of Utah
Ann Pellegrini, Associate Professor, Performance Studies and Religious Studies, New York University
Charles Taylor, Professor Emeritus of Political Science and Philosophy, McGill University
Session Moderator:
José Casanova, Professor of Sociology and Senior Fellow; Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs, Georgetown University
The session will be ended with discussion between the speakers, then discussion with the audience
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SATURDAY, MARCH 7th, 2009 |
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Tours at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Social Research has collaborated with the Metropolitan Museum of Art to create private tours for conference attendees. The tours will begin with art from Ancient Greece and Rome, step back to the Ancient Near East, and then continue forward through Medieval Art, the Renaissance, and into the 19th century and Modern art. Each work of art will be considered in its respective historical context in order to establish how each work functions in terms of the religious-secular divide. The tours are one hour and cost $10 per person and include admission to the museum. ALL TOURS ARE NOW FULL AND CLOSED.
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