Bologna: International Conference Islam and Europe: Religion, law, identity (14-15 march 2011)

UNIVERSITA' DI BOLOGNA
JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY SAIS – WASHINGTON

ISLAM AND EUROPE: RELIGION, LAW, IDENTITY
TWO DAY INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE

BOLOGNA, 14-15 MARCH 2011
Jointly organized by The Protection Project at The Johns Hopkins University SAIS, Washington, DC;
The Johns Hopkins SAIS, Bologna Center and the Center for Constitutional Studies and Democratic Development (CCSDD)

The brochure

MONDAY, MARCH 14, 2011

9:00 OPENING REMARKS
Erik Jones, Professor of European Studies, Johns Hopkins University SAIS Bologna Center, Italy
Mohamed Y. Mattar, Executive Director, The Protection Project, Johns Hopkins University SAIS Washington, DC, USA
Justin Frosini, Director, CCSDD-Center for Constitutional Studies and Democratic Development, Bologna, Italy

09:30 ISLAM, CHRISTIANITY, AND SECULARISM: SOCIAL AND LEGAL IMPLICATIONS OF A GROWING INTERCONNECTEDNESS

Chair: Erik Jones, Professor of European Studies, Johns Hopkins University SAIS Bologna Center, Italy
Muslim-Christian Relationship: An Islamic View
Seyed Ali Moosavi Karimi, Professor, Islamic Seminaries, Qom, Iran
Islam, Christianity, and Secularism in the Context of Europe: Christian – Muslim dialogue in Germany: Some Critical Considerations
Jamal Malik, Professor, Faculty of Humanities, Chair for Religious Studies-Islamic Studies, University of Erfurt, Germany

11:00 MINORITY RIGHTS IN EUROPE: AVOIDING DISCRIMINATION – A PRECARIOUS BALANCE

Chair: Giovanni Poggeschi, Associate Professor of Comparative Public Law, University of Lecce, Italy
Legal Implications of Muslims as a Minority Group
Seyed Mohammad Ali Hosseini Zadeh, Director, Department of Political Science, Mofid University, Qom, Iran
European Human Rights Law And Practice in a Changing Social Context: The “Muslim Question”
Maleiha Malik, Professor in Law, Kings College, London, UK
Reconciling Traditional and Religious Practices, Women’s Rights, and European Human Rights Norms and Practices
Shaheen Sardar Ali, Professor of Law, Vice-Chair, United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK

13:45 FREEDOM OF SPEECH AND RELIGIOUS FREEDOM: CONSIDERATIONS IN THE CONTEXT OF INCREASING CULTURAL PLURALISM

Chair: Karim Mezran, Adjunct Professor of Middle East Studies, Johns Hopkins University SAIS Bologna Center and Director, Center for American Studies, Rome, Italy
Islam and Democracy
Seyed Sadegh Haghighat, Department of Political Science, Mofid University, Qom, Iran
Accommodating diversity, Protecting freedoms, Managing Security: Dilemmas for Policy Makers
Sara Silvestri, Senior Lecturer in Religion and International Politics, City University, London, Research Associate, Cambridge University, UK
The Funding of Islam in Belgium: Recognition or Regulation?
Nadia Fadil, Associate Academic Staff Member, Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium

15:30-16:30 REBUTTABLE ASSUMPTIONS ON ISLAM: A WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Chair: Mohamed Y. Mattar, Executive Director, The Protection Project, Johns Hopkins University SAIS Washington, DC, USA
Reflections on “Radical Reform: Islamic Ethics and Liberation,” (By Tariq Ramadan, Oxford University Press, USA, 2008)
Bailey Caldwell Bernard, Master’s Degree Candidate, Johns Hopkins University SAIS Washington, DC, USA
Reflections on “They Must Be Stopped” (By Brigitte Gabriel, St. Martin’s Press, USA, 2008)
Bradley Bush, Master’s Degree Candidate, Johns Hopkins University SAIS Washington, DC, USA

TUESDAY, MARCH 15, 2011:

09:15 APPLYING ISLAMIC LAW IN NON-ISLAMIC STATES: LEGAL AND JUDICIAL PERSPECTIVES AND IMPLICATIONS

Chair: Mohamed Y. Mattar, Executive Director, The Protection Project, Johns Hopkins University SAIS Washington, DC, USA
Islamic Law in Non-Islamic States
Seyed Mostafa Mirmohammadi Azizi, Professor, Department of Law & Director of Center for Comparative Law Studies, Mofid University, Iran
Sharia in Europe: Trends and Questions in Current Legal Practice
Maurits Berger, Professor of Islam in the West, Chair for the Study of Islam in the West, Leiden University, The Netherlands
Constitutional Approach to the Problem of Relations between the State and Religious Confessions
Gerardo Ruiz Rico, Professor of Constitutional Law, Universidad de Jaen, Jaen, Spain

11:00 WOMEN’S RIGHTS VS FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION?: THE HIJAB AND THE NIQAB DEBATES

Chair: Roja Fazaeli, Lecturer in Islamic Studies, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland
Limitations on the right to display traditional Islamic Clothing in European Jurisdictions: Comparative Perspectives
Susanna Mancini, Adjunct Professor of International Law, Johns Hopkins University SAIS Bologna Center and Associate Professor of Comparative Public Law, University of Bologna, Italy
Islamic Hijab and European Court of Human Rights
Saeid Rahaei, Professor, Department of Law, Mofid University, Iran

13:30 CHANGING IDENTITIES AND INTEGRATION IN LOCAL AND NATIONAL CONTEXTS: EMERGING TRENDS

Chair: Justin Frosini, Director, CCSDD-Center for Constitutional Studies and Democratic Development, Bologna, Italy
Points of Conflict and Paths Toward Conciliation in a Multi-Cultural Europe
Farhad Khosrokhavar, Professor, Chief Researcher, Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris, France
European Politics and Islam: Emerging Trends
Saskia van Genugten, PhD Candidate, Johns Hopkins SAIS Bologna Center, Italy

14:30-15:00 CLOSING REMARKS

While Open to the Public, Space is Limited and Pre-registration is Required.
RSVP@JHUBC.IT by March 10