01/07/2026 09:00
- 18:20
HALL: Parenzo - Aula Magna
Contact:
Call N.
Chair:
Appel K.
In the contect of evolving forms of interdisciplinary research on religion and interreligious dialogue within shifting societal contexts, religions are increasingly involved in novel forms of encounters and alliance-building. These are forged, lived, and narrated in the public sphere - not only among religious traditions but also in encounters between religious and secular worlds. In this broader sense, "religion in dialogue" exceeds interreligious exchange and becomes an engagement with the secular, with other forms of knowledge, and with artistic and scientific practices.
Against the backdrop of social, political, and epistemic (in)equalities, such dialogical constellations reveal both asymmetries of power and possibilities for transformation. The interplay between religious and secular worlds involves cooperation as well as conflict: alliances may emerge from shared experiences of marginalization, unequal recognition, or pressures to justify religion's place in contemporary societies. At the same time, religious traditions are internally diverse and marked by political, theological, and cultural divisions. New forms of dialogue therefore often do not take religion itself as the primary distinguishing feature but emerge around shared concerns and common struggles within religious-secular partnerships.
Dialogue, understood not as a formal procedure but as a transformative practice that involves religious as well as non-religious dialogue partners, takes place under multiple pressures in need of closer examination. Within this framework, the panel brings together contributions from Natural Sciences and Ecology; the Arts; Abrahamic Dynamics: Dialogue between Islam, Christianity and Judaism; Politics and Gender; Critical Perspectives on Religion. Together, these perspectives aim to offer a nuanced understanding of how dialogue shapes contemporary interactions between religious and secular worlds.
