A Trans-Disciplinary Investigation
Nov. 3-4, Union College

For more information, please contact
Lewis Davis, davisl@union.edu.

 

 

 Symposium on

Religion, Social Conflict and Social Cohesion

Program

 

Friday, November 3, Karp Hall 105

Coffee and Snacks: 3:00 pm

Opening Remarks: Lewis Davis, 3:15 pm

Session 1: Religion and Gender 3:30—6:00 pm

Chair and Moderator: Dan Venning

• Arsalan Khan, Anthropology, “Pious Masculinity as Ethical Reflexivity in Tablighi Jamaat“
• Michele Angrist, Political Science, “Madrasas in West Africa: The Impact of Private Religious Schools on Gender Values and National Identity”
• Jia Gao, Economics, “Religion, Employment, and Female Happiness”

Break: 4:50-5:00 pm

• Judith Lewin, English, “Jewish American Women’s Writing: Dislodging Preconceptions by Challenging Expectations”
• Yasmine Van Wilt, Mellon Fellow, “Representations of the Feminine Divine: The Magical Real New Historical Format”

Dinner: Everest Lounge, 6 pm

Saturday, November 4, Karp Hall 105

Continental Breakfast: 8:30 am

Session 2: Religion and Tolerance: 9:00-11:00 am

Chair and Moderator: Kirk Wegter-McNelly

• Felmon Davis, Philosophy, “Evolutionary Psychology, Religion and Morality“
• David Cotter, Sociology, “Trending Toward Tolerance?”

Coffee Break: 9:50-10:00 am

• Peter Bedford, Religious Studies, “Ancient Origins of Religious Universalism”
• Lewis Davis, Economics, “Religion, Differential Trust and the Rule of Law: Evidence from Rainfall Data”

Keynote Address: Andy Rotman (Smith College) “Social Cohesion and the Struggles of Modernity: Lessons from an Indian Bazaar,” 11:15 am

Lunch: Noon-1 pm, Hale House

Session 3: Religion and Social Change, 1-3 pm

Chair and Moderator: Jia Gao

• Dan Venning, English/Theater, ” ‘Praise Be’: Puritanism and the Transformation of Seventeenth-Century English Theatre.”
• Steven Sargent, History, “Youth, Religion, and Rebellion in Late Medieval Europe: Joan of Arc and Hans Böhm, the Drummer of Niklashausen”

Break: 1:50-2:00

• Kirk Wegter-McNelly, Religious Studies, “Faith: From Divinely Given Belief to Conversation with Tradition”
• Sheri Lullo, Visual Arts, “Toiletries and the Production of Social Memory from the Warring States through the Han (5 th.BCE – 3 rd CE“

Panel Discussion: Trans-Disciplinary Approaches to Religious Scholarship, 3:00-4:00 pm

Panelists: Peter Bedford, Lewis Davis, Andy Rotman, and Michele Angrist

Moderator: Arsalan Khan

Closing Remarks: Lewis Davis, 4:00-4:15 pm