Religion and Society Research Centre

Symposium: Religious Change and Indigenous Populations in the Antipodes

13 March 2012. This symposium explored some of the religious and spiritual changes which have been taking place among Indigenous populations in Australia, New Zealand and some Pacific Islands.  It focused on changes in religious affiliation over the last 15 years.  The analytical focus draws on both local social and political debates on these matters, while contextualising the discussion in a wider global discourse on changing religious affiliation, especially the growth of Islam.

Sufism for a New Age: Twenty-first Century Neo-Sufism,  Cosmopolitan Piety and Traditionalist Responses

29-30 September 2011. This conference sought to survey innovation in contemporary cultures drawing on the Sufi heritage, both in its strictly and self-consciously Islamic contexts and among non-Muslims drawn to it as a personal practice and source of ethical inspiration. It was open to both empirical studies of innovation in the Sufi heritage in the Muslim world, and to studies of Sufism among non-Muslims today.  It also provided a forum for the exploration of the potential of the Sufi heritage to inspire new forms of spiritual humanism and cosmopolitanism as a counter to religious and ethnic exclusivism.

Shari' a and Legal Pluralism

7 July 2010. Legal pluralism has often been associated with post-colonial legal developments especially where common law survived alongside tribal and customary laws. Focusing on Sharī‘ah, this conference examined the legal policies and experiences of various societies with different traditions of citizenship, secularism and common law. Where large diasporic communities of migrants develop, there will be some demand for the institutionalisation of Sharī‘ah at least in the resolution of domestic disputes. This one-day event was aimed at testing the limits of multiculturalism by exploring the issue that any recognition of cultural differences might imply a recognition of legal differences.

Centre Sponsored Conferences

2012 Australian Association for the Study of Religion & Australasian Association of Buddhist Studies Conference

September 28 - 30, 2012

At the local and global level, religion is changed through social processes, but religion also impacts on societies at the structural and grass roots level. As modernity and (de)secularisation are multilateral processes, the conference explores the multiple types of (de)secularisation, pluralism and voluntarism of religious life.

2011 National Social Cohesion Conference

October 9 - 11, 2011

'Enrichment through a Socially Inclusive Society: Challenges and Solutions' 

The Australian community has undergone great changes in the last 25 years, including our emerging Muslim communities. However, this reality has not always been well understood or accepted. As a framework for living with cultural diversity, the idea of multiculturalism has lately come under increasing criticism, both in Australia and overseas. Should Australia narrow its diversity and multiculturalism? Or do we choose to enrich it towards a universal pluralism, building on the challenges presented to us by the multi-faith and multi-cultural nature of our societies?This conference seeks to explore how to work towards a socially cohesive society in the context of contemporary realities and challenges.