Network Digest – June 2011
Please read below for news and information from our network.
To include any items in next month’s digest, please email m.shaw@gold.ac.uk
News/Events
FaithxChange
The fourth FaithxChange event, Faith, Young People and Higher Education will be held at Goldsmiths on 20th July. The programme for the day includes the following presentations and time for discussion;
- Linda Woodhead, University of Lancaster, Universities: Religious or Secular?
- Kristin Aune, University of Derby, Christianity and the University Experience in Contemporary England
- Jacqueline Stevenson, Leeds Metropolitan University - Religion and higher
education: developing a critical understanding of the experiences of
religious students in UK secular universities
- Anna Strhan, University of Kent, Practising the Space Between: Believing
and Speaking as a Conservative Evangelical Student
- Rebecca Catto & Janet Eccles, University of Lancaster, 'The Young Atheists'
Religion in Education: Findings from the Religion and Society Programme
25 July 11, AHRC/ESRC Religion & Society Programme with Warwick Religions & Education Research Unit (WRERU), Scarman Conference Centre, University of Warwick.
The conference is organised as part of the AHRC/ESRC Religion & Society Programme bringing together research teams which have been awarded grants within the youth call of the Progamme as well as other related projects. The focus of the conference will be on young people of school age (up to 18) and presentations will include topics related to religious education in schools and religious nurture or socialisation within families, communities or peer groups.
Beyond Belief: Religion and Belief in Professional Practice, an international conference, is offered by the University of Bradford with bursaries provided by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, 7-8 September 2011 at Norcroft Centre, The University of Bradford.
This conference aims to stimulate discussion amongst practitioners, service providers, carers, users, policy makers, and academics about the impact of religion and belief on professional practice in social work and health and social care. See website for further details; /www.brad.ac.uk/study/cpd/belief/
7th Annual North American Conference on Spirituality and Social Work, Thunder Bay Ontario, Canada, June 22-24, 2012. The theme for the conference is “The Evolution of Spirituality across the Lifespan; Embracing spiritual diversity from Canadian Northern Communities to Global Localities”
The call for papers in now open. Please see below for further details:
http://socialwork.lakeheadu.ca/projects/sswc2012/
The Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu’s article for the Guardian, Solidarity is a Virtue (June 24th) focuses on the continuing fight against poverty in the UK. He stresses that the 'big society' cannot work unless we see value in everyone, and ease the burden on the poorest. He calls on people to give more, both financially and in time to help those in need. The Archbishop is supporting Church Urban Fund’s “Poverty Sunday”, which encourages people to put time aside to think about what practical steps we can take to tackle these problems as a society. Read the article at http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/jun/24/poverty-society-britain-children-justice
The Tony Blair Faith Foundation's Faith and Globalisation Initiative Bookstore has recently opened.
The Faith and Globalisation Initiative is a partnership between universities worldwide, including Durham in the UK, seeking to ensure that emerging and current leaders understand the major trends in faith and globalisation. http://www.tonyblairfaithfoundation.org/bookshop
A Faith and Globalisation course considers questions such as;
§ What role does faith play in today's increasingly
interconnected world?
§ When conflicts have taken on religious dimensions, is it essential that religion play a part in the de-fusion of these conflicts?
§ How can the wisdom of the faiths influence the great global corporations so that their "bottom line" includes environmental responsibility and human flourishing - the Global Common Good?
§ What are the unique issues brought to bear on a society that experiences a large influx of migrants of a particular faith with which they have had little if any prior interaction?
§ What resources are women today finding in their faith to enlarge their choices and to lead fulfilling lives?
§ How is religion similar and dissimilar from 'secular' ideologies?
Materials from the course are available from the bookshop.
News from RELIGIONS for PEACE:
European Council of Religious Leaders annual meeting, held in Moscow in June, addressed human rights and traditional values in Europe. The Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill, a founding member of ECRL, underlined the importance of interreligious dialogue. He said that every side in the dialogue should be able to represent themselves without compromise to their own religious identity. The Patriarch underscored that in order to bring about peace, religious leaders should engage in a just and fair dialogue with each other and the society as a whole. The dialogue should produce strong intellectual results, communicate with the communities and connect with people to generate peace and justice, and promote human rights, dignity and responsibility. To read the full text please visit http://www.rfp-europe.eu/index.cfm?id=352240
Courses
Durham University is taking applications for their exciting MA in Faith and Globalization through its School of Government and International Affairs and Department of Theology and Religion, with the participation of staff from across the faculties of the Social Sciences & Health and the Arts & Humanities departments. Find out more and apply here:
http://www.dur.ac.uk/faithglobalisation/mafg/structure/
Publications/Research
Religion and belief in higher education: the experiences of staff and students - The report of research for the Equality Challenge Unit by Paul Weller, Nikki Moore & Tristram Hooley, University of Derby. This study examines the experiences of staff and students with a religion or belief in higher education through four themes: Participation & access, accommodating religious observance, discrimination & harassment and good relations. The report makes recommendations to HEIs to help them to develop strategic plans to address the issues raised in the research. Full report available from the Equality Challenge Unit.
St Ethelburgas’ Tandem Dialogue Interfaith Project. This project is being made available as a training/workshop model for University Chaplains, and students. The project was developed at Leeds University and has been piloted in eight group sessions by St Ethelburgas. Both as in-house and outreach models. With diverse groups including a partnership with the NUS that involved London University students and Chaplains.
For more details please check out: http://stethelburgas.org/multifaith/projects
Equality Challenge Unit: The public sector equality duty England: Specific duties
The government has laid the Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties) Regulations before Parliament for approval. Subject to parliamentary approval, the government expects the regulations to come into force before 19 July 2011.
The specific duties regulations are intended to support higher education institutions (HEIs) to meet the requirements of the public sector equality duty. The equality duty means that HEIs need to have 'due regard' to the need to eliminate unlawful discrimination, advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations. The equality duty covers age, gender reassignment, disability, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion and belief, sex and sexual orientation. Marriage and civil partnership is covered in relation to the need to eliminate discrimination in employment.
The specific duties regulations require higher education institutions to publish one or more measurable equality objectives by 6 April 2012, and thereafter at least every four years. They must also annually publish information to demonstrate their compliance with the equality duty.
ECU and the Higher Education Equal Opportunities Network recently ran four events to help equality and diversity practitioners and HR staff in England get to grips with the forthcoming specific duties for England. The presentations from these events are now available online. The presentations reflect the changes resulting from the GEO announcement of
the new draft regulations.
Equality Act: meeting the specific duties
http://www.ecu.ac.uk/news/equality-act-meeting-the-specific-duties-event-materials
You can find further information about the Equality Act on the Equality Act 2010 homepage.
http://www.ecu.ac.uk/subjects/equality-act-2010
ECU will be looking to support HEIs in the coming period and will be providing updated frequently asked questions on their website
http://www.ecu.ac.uk/subjects/equality-act-2010
Religion and Belief Guide. 5 April 2011 marks a milestone in equality law with the introduction of the new public sector equality duty (PSED). The new duty is encompassed in section 149 of the Equality Act 2010. The nine protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010 are age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation. This new updated guide gives employers and managers practical help in complying with the Equality Act 2010 and in creating a fair working environment in which no one is put at a disadvantage because of religion or belief.
http://multifaiths.com/pdf/Acas2010religion.pdf
Also available from Multifaiths.com are;
- the 2011 - 2012 Multifaiths eBook. This includes information on festivals and annual events that people celebrate once during the course of a solar or lunar year, information on the primary sacred times for world religions and information on national and international days of significance See the link for demo pages. http://www.multifaiths.com/demo/pageflip.html
- Sample A3 Multi Faiths Monthly Planner for quick reference.
For Membership to the site, e-Book and Monthly Planner, please visit http://multifaiths.com/membership/membership-plan