The Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy is hosting a conference and research workshop, “Lost in Translation? Comparing Local and Global Interpretations of Religious Fredom,” Feb. 26-27 at the Baker Center.
Over the last decade, religion has assumed far greater significance on the world stage. Since the U.S. signed into law the International Religious Freedom Act in 1998, the issue of religious freedom has received new focus worldwide.
The workshop aims to explore the divergent cultural, linguistic and political interpretations of the concept of religious freedom, in both historical and contemporary contexts. Areas to be discussed include India, Nepal, China, Israel, France, Denmark, the United States, Morocco, Eritrea, Nigeria and the Arab world.
Speakers include internationally renowned humanities and legal scholars such as T. Jeremy Gunn, director of the ACLU Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief, William Sweet of St. Thomas University, Fredericton, Canada, and Tim Jensen of the University of Southern Denmark. Other visiting speakers include: Greg Grieve, University of North Carolina, Greensboro, Robert Yelle, University of Memphis.
UT faculty with expertise on these issues will also be on hand for the discussion.
Sessions open to members of the public are 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 26, and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday, Feb. 27.
The program is funded by the Humanities Initiative, the College of Law, the Department of Religious Studies, the Department of Philosophy, and the Baker Center.
For more information, contact Rosalind I. J. Hackett at rhackett@utk.edu or 974-2466, or visit the Religious Studies departmental Web site at: http://web.utk.edu/~religion.