Symposium

Northumbria University, UK

Organizer: Dr. Nafhesa Ali, Assistant Professor in Northumbria University

This symposium argues for the importance of becoming reflexive researchers and how we share the experiences, practices and negotiations of those we serve to give a voice to - as we as researchers are not separate to the research process. But likewise, we do this to tackle issues of race, discrimination and bias where our positions locate us as researchers of colour, conducting research that is essentially embedded in Western othering. From the vantage point of the social sciences, and historical research methods and approaches, the combination of both history and social science research can be highly useful in locating authority and dismantling hierarchy during the research process through the cultural and historical contexts of everyday experiences - highlighting ‘the world of ordinary experience’, but experiences that can demonstrate how behaviour and values in one society may be dismissed or taken for granted in another.

Saint Mary's College, USA

Organizer: Dr. Kurt Buhring, Associate Professor in Saint Mary's College

This symposium aimed at any student, researchers, and individuals interested in the study of religion, theology, and literature, although we focused on students in their early academic years and discussed foundational concepts and their impact. The aim was to examine the nature of religion and the academic study of religion, theology, and their intersection with literature. We focused on defining, studying, and understanding religion, including sacred action, sacred space, and sacred time, and how these themes are depicted in literary works. Participants explored religion as a fundamentally embodied, physical, and material human enterprise. We also considered how different cultures and religious traditions conceive and experience God, and how these experiences were reflected and interpreted in literary texts. Through attentive reading, critical reflection, thoughtful discussion, and creative writing, our notions of religion, theology, and literature would be both challenged and enriched.