On October 19th – 21st 2016, UCSIA organizes the academic workshop The Critical Role of Religious Community Life in Europe: A World Between Tradition and Innovation at the University of Antwerp, Belgium.
See: http://www.ucsia.org/main.aspx?c=*UCSIAENG2&n=121745&ct=121745.
This academic workshop wants to investigate how various forms of religious community life may change due to – or in interaction with – societal transformations like increasing individualization and personal autonomy as well as the religious importance of a direct personal experience of the transcendent and mystical experience. We explore how both regular clergy and religiously oriented people see the changes in religious community life today; which communities can bind people ‘successfully’ and what distinguishes them from others? How does larger society understand these rule-abiding religious communities and what is their critical role in the church of the future? In reverse, is a religious community possible without connection to church institutions or what is the minimum commitment to a religion to not end up in a New Age, something-ism belief?
The workshop wants to offer a platform to scholars to present their research on the topic and exchange their ideas on research findings. Such a meeting may open up new multidisciplinary horizons to think about the topic. Besides empirical research, also conceptual or methodological contributions from various disciplines are welcomed for submission. The topics are centred around the following themes:
– Societal transformation processes and its influence on monastic and religious communities
– Monastic life and digital media
– Religious life rules and interpretation today
– New religious community forms
– Comparison of monastic and other forms of (religious) community life
– Lay communities and religious life
Researchers, doctoral students and other experts are welcome to submit their application until 15 June 2016
