International Network for Interreligious Research and Education – INIRE Summer School and Conference

This seventh annual INIRE conference and summer school, in cooperation with The Catholic Academy in Berlin, will focus on religious attitudes toward the other, primarily within and between the Abrahamic religions.

Religions and their boundaries that identify an “us” also demarcate a “them.” Identity is a key component to belonging, and faith is often marbled into group identity. Religion can promote cohesion, foster community, and facilitate cooperation. However, group cohesion often comes at the expense of those deemed on the outside. The harmful and destructive potential of religion is well-known and has been the subject of past INIRE events. Our approach will be interreligious, interdisciplinary, and global, as in previous gatherings.

Although scholarship has traditionally underlined intolerance, hate, and persecution among the Abrahamic religions, we wish to paint a more variegated and nuanced picture and focus also on religion’s constructive role in containing, welcoming and integrating the other. A complicated assessment of religion is crucial not only for understanding the past but also for comprehending the present and providing resources for building a better future. This conference will explore the development of ideas of toleration within religious traditions, in particular, how religious adherents promote toleration within their own religion in ways that do not undermine it. We aim to examine various theoretical and theological conceptions of “toleration,” how that toleration is extended to outsiders, and when tolerance reaches its limits.

Religious approaches to “the other” are informed by collective memory, religious texts, interpretive traditions, cultural practices, and religious identity. Yet, religious identity itself is shaped through interactions with “the other.” INIRE conference and summer school will explore theories and practices that foster capacious attitudes and policies towards outsiders. We seek to highlight religious ideas and traditions that may serve to cultivate religious tolerance and hospitality towards those of other faiths.

INIRE has been holding an annual summer school in conjunction with its annual conference since 2017. It has welcomed graduate students and postdocs from five continents, and qualified undergraduates from its partner institutions. The week-long summer school includes introductory lectures on the annual theme, student-oriented discussions, participation in the conference, and a final presentation of student projects. Occasionally students are invited to present on conference panels. The summer school offers also social activities and excursions.

The Catholic Academy, Berlin will host this year’s summer school. Our focus will be on “Religious Others” in the Abrahamic Religions. A research team of Duke University faculty and students working on “Diaspora, Exile, and Interreligious Dialogue: Palestinians and Israelis” will be joining the school. The school offers students an outstanding opportunity to explore a current issue from interreligious perspective in association with leading INIRE scholars. Many students admitted to the summer school are supported by partner institutions. There is limited additional support primarily for students from economically less developed countries. This year, the Catholic Academy will sponsor accommodation to all students.