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SUMMARY:Reimagining Humanism | McDonald Centre Annual Conference 2026
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260611T170000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260613T143000
DTSTAMP:20260602T234857Z
UID:d535d293-6219-f111-8342-7c1e522d9057
CREATED:20260306T140239Z
DESCRIPTION:From Diogenes the Cynic onwards\, talk of shared humanity and 
 articulations of humanism challenge the boundaries of citizenship and unse
 ttle established patterns of meaning and identity. But from the early mode
 rn period\, humanism as a term became associated with secular and anti-rel
 igious philosophies. And recent critical treatments of modern western huma
 nism identify how it was aligned with and contributed to colonial and raci
 st projects of domination. However\, there are moves to recover and repair
  humanism as a moral and political framework\, moves that also point to it
 s varied religious forms and how humanism was never just western\, but is 
 articulated in different ways in multiple traditions around the world.  Hi
 storians also identify how different humanisms developed as part of and ov
 erlapped within varied projects of liberation and social healing ranging f
 rom the abolition movement\, the origins of humanitarianism\, and the anti
 -apartheid struggle in South Africa.   \n\nThis conference contributes to 
 these debates by examining religious traditions of humanism and how they f
 orm a point of connection between divergent and often conflicting religiou
 s and philosophical frameworks. In particular\, it focuses on how Christia
 n humanism intersects with other religious humanisms\, most notably those 
 within Judaism and Islam\, tracing their entangled histories\, overlapping
  conceptions of the human\, and interwoven expression in contemporary demo
 cratic movements and humanitarian initiatives. At its core\, the conferenc
 e explores whether theologically grounded humanisms can serve as analytica
 l\, critical\, and constructive frameworks for addressing pressing ethical
  and political questions\, especially those concerning the ordering of our
  common life nationally and internationally and the peaceable negotiation 
 of pluralism. A background and implicit question is whether historical and
  contemporary articulations of religious humanism can ground an ethic and 
 politics of responsibility and solidarity that offer alternative pathways 
 to forms of anthropocentric humanism\, secular and other anti-humanisms\, 
 ethnoreligious nationalism\, and civilizational chauvinism that are emergi
 ng around the world. Alongside academic papers\, the program will feature 
 a panel of practitioners whose work speaks to the concerns of the conferen
 ce through initiatives to build bridges between different faith communitie
 s as part of democratic organizing\, civic trust-building\, community deve
 lopment\, or conflict transformation.  \n\nContributions from the 2026 con
 ference will be published in a special issue of the Journal of Religious E
 thics dedicated to religious humanisms as moral and political frameworks. 
 This event builds on last year’s conference\, Christian Humanism and the
  Black Atlantic\, which examined theological articulations of what Paul Gi
 lroy has termed “reparative humanism.” \n\nDates of conference: 11 - 1
 3 June\nLocation: Michael Dummett Lecture Theatre\, Christ Church\, St Ald
 gate's\n\nFor any other queries\, please email mcdonald.centre@theology.ox
 .ac.uk
LAST-MODIFIED:20260415T152732Z
LOCATION:Christ Church - Michael Dummett Lecture Theatre\, Michael Dummett
  Lecture Theatre Christ Church St Aldates Oxford Oxfordshire OX1 1DP Unite
 d Kingdom
SPEAKER:Slavica Jakelić\, Randi Rashkover\, Eric Gregory\, Ufuk Topkara\,
  Professor Joshua Hordern\, Aaron Stalnaker\, Chammah Kaunda\, Rev. Canon 
 Prof. Luke Bretherton
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