Conference on human rights, religion Oct. 21
- October 14, 2008
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A day-long conference on human rights and religion will take place on Tuesday, Oct. 21 in the Student Union Theatre.
The conference, which is open to the public, is from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., with registration at 8:30 a.m. An evening address by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar on “Values, Spirituality, and Human Rights” will take place at 7 p.m. in the Student Union Theatre.
The event is sponsored by the UNESCO Chair and Institute of Comparative Human Rights.
The conference will explore three related issues: how interaction between religion and human rights in human history; why advocating freedom of worship has sometimes resulted in the restriction of cultural diversity; and what approaches may lead to dialogue among religions, as well as reinforcing interaction between religion and human rights.
Conference speakers include:
- Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, founder of the Art of Living Foundation and the International Association for Human Values – the largest volunteer-run humanitarian non-profit organization in the world;
- Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane, retired Archbishop of Cape Town, South Africa and president and founder of African Monitor;
- Rusmir Mahmutcehajic, professor of applied physics at Sarajevo University, president and founder of the NGO International Forum “Bosnia,” and former vice president of Bosnia and Herzegovina;
- M.J. Akbar, journalist, author, editor, and public intellectual; Zahid Bukhari, director of the American Muslim Studies Program at the Prince Alwaleed Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, Georgetown University;
- David Coppola, associate executive director of the Center for Christian-Jewish Understanding, Sacred Heart University;
- Rosalind Hackett, professor of religious studies at the University of Tennessee, president of the International Association for the History of Religions, and founder of the Jazz for Justice Project;
- Zahid Bukhari, director of the American Muslim Studies Program (AMSP) at the Prince Alwaleed Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, Georgetown University;
- Madhu Kishwar, founder of Manushi Citizen’s Rights Forum and Manushi – A Journal About Women and Society, and senior fellow at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies in New Delhi, India;
- T. Jeremy Gunn, director of the ACLU’s Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief and senior fellow for religion and human rights at the Center for the Study of Law and Religion, Emory University.
For more information, call 860-486-0647 or go to www.unescochair.uconn.edu
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