THURSDAY, MARCH 5th, 2009

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

Discussion Between Speakers, then Discussion with Audience

Session Moderator: TBD

1:15 pm - 2:15 pm BREAK

2:15 pm - 5:00 pm
Session II - Religious Selves, Secular Selves

The Concept of the Religious Self
David Martin, Professor Emeritus of Sociology, London School of Economics and Political Science; Honorary Professor of Sociology of Religion, Lancaster University

Spirituality in Modern Society: The Spiritual Self
Peter van der Veer, University Professor, Utrecht University

Post Secular Pluralism: The Secular Self
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

Discussion Between Speakers, then Discussion with Audience

Session Moderator:TBD

5:00 pm - 6:00 pm      BREAK

6:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Session III - The Polysemy of the Secular

Charles Taylor, Professor Emeritus of Political Science and Philosophy, McGill University; Professor of Law and Philosophy, Northwestern University

Moderated by Bob Kerrey, President, The New School; Former Nebraska Senator

FRIDAY, MARCH 6th, 2009

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
*Stephen L. Carter, William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Law, Yale Law School

Discussion Between Speakers, then Discussion with Audience

Session Moderator:TBD

12:45 pm - 1:45 pm      BREAK

2:15 pm - 5:00 pm
Session V - Moral Crusades Then and Now: Religious and Secular

Abolition to Civil Rights
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

Discussion Between Speakers, then Discussion with Audience

Session Moderator:TBD

1:45 pm - 3:45 pm
Session VI - Contemporary Debates: The Future of Religion and the Future of Secularism, A Panel Discussion

Mark Lilla, Professor of the Humanities, Columbia University

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

Charles Taylor, Professor Emeritus of Political Science and Philosophy, McGill University; Professor of Law and Philosophy, Northwestern University

Discussion Between Speakers, then Discussion with Audience

Session Moderator: José Casanova, Professor of Sociology and Senior Fellow; Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs, Georgetown University