The Institute for Religion, Culture, and Public Life (IRCPL) at Columbia University will host a one-day conference entitled Religion II: Dynamics, Processes, and Change on Friday, April 21, 2017. IRCPL will bring together visiting scholars and fellows to take up the theme of religion from various critical perspectives that engage: democratic processes, states, ideologies, identity-making, gender, social class, kinship, space, symbols and meaning construction in diverse places such as Canada, China, India, Iran, Israel, Palestine, Turkey, and the U.S. The conference aims to facilitate an active intellectual exchange and provide a comparative understanding of the multi-layered dynamics and processes undergirding religion in societies.
PROGRAM OF EVENTS
Panel 1: Religious Politics, Labor and Economic Thought // 10:00am-11:30am
Discussant: Katherine Ewing (IRCPL Director, Columbia University)
Sami Al-Daghistani (IRCPL, Columbia University & University of Leiden)
Modernity, Islamization, and the Making of Islamic Economics
Bahar Tabakoglu (IRCPL, Columbia University & The New School For Social Research)
Religious Catalysis: Constructing Politics, Class and Identity in Turkey and India
Sirine Mechbal (IRCPL, Columbia University & University of Paris IV- La Sorbonne)
“Doing God's Work?” Religion, Labor and Organizing: The Case of New York City's Egyptian and Mexican Street Vendors
Coffee Break // 11:30-11:45am
Panel 2: State-Society Relations, Sovereignty, and Constitution-Making // 11:45am-12:45pm
Discussant: Jessica Roda (Heyman Center, Columbia University)
Navid Zarrinnal (MESAAS, Columbia University)
Safavid Iran and Mughal India: Ulema-State Relations in Comparative Perspective
Matan Cohen (MESAAS, Columbia University)
(Re)thinking the (Post)Secular: Disaggregated Sovereignty and Post-National Constitution-Making in Palestine-Israel
Lunch Break // 12:45pm-1:45pm
Panel 3: Making of Identities, Social Space, and Cultural Practices // 1:45pm-3:15pm
Discussant: Soraya Batmanghelichi (IRCPL, Columbia University)
Jessica Roda (Heyman Center, Columbia University)
Beyond Blood and Filiation? Solidarity, Affinity and Caring Among Ex-Haredim
Gabi Abramac (Steinhardt, New York University)
Hasidic Negotiations with Digital Media: Prohibition, Restriction and Legitimization
Daniela Moisa (Sudbury University)
Religion Behind Closed Doors: Housing, Authenticity and Everyday Life in Orthodox Community, Quebec, Canada
Coffee Break // 3:15pm-3:30pm
Panel 4: Texts, Ethics, and Narratives of Devotion // 3:30pm-5:00pm
Discussant: Bahar Tabakoglu (IRCPL, Columbia University & The New School For Social Research)
Manpreet Kaur (IRCPL and Department of Religion, Columbia University)
Genre and Affect In Early Modern South Asian Devotional Poetry
Robban Toleno (Department of Religion, Columbia University)
Longevity Patterns Among Buddhists, Daoists, and Public Officials in Pre-Modern China
Yuri Contreras-Vejar (City University of New York & Universidad Diego Portales)
Regimes of Happiness: An Intellectual History of Ethical Ideals and Religion