Public Lectures 2024 – War and Peace
Academia & Activism: Opportunities and Tensions of a Strange Relationship
In the academic world, research is undertaken, theories are developed, topics are being discussed. In the Humanities as well as in the field of Religion and Theology, this is very often linked to analyzing existing conflicts – personal, political, public – developing alternative models.
At the same time, we see large movements of activists, who are addressing existing conflicts in society by active and direct engagement – see for example the challenges of climate change, migration, racism, or war. They, too, analyze and develop alternatives, yet aiming at direct change and transformation.
Given the relevance, the urgency, and the massiveness of today´s crises, we invite a conversation here, between academics and activists. Are their worlds as separated as it sometimes seems?
Time: 16.30 – 18.00
Location: Filmzaal (1E24), Vrije Universiteit
Speakers:
Yolande Jansen
Yolande Jansen is professor of Social and Political Philosophy at the UvA, and holds the chair ‘Humanism in relation to religion and secularity’ at the VU Faculty of Religion and Theology. In her research she focuses on secularism and post-secularism, multiculturalism, human rights, and framing of Judaism, Islam, and Christianity. She is involved in several societal issues.
Janneke Stegeman
Janneke Stegeman does research into Dutch identity in relation to colonialism and Protestantism. She is a lecturer at the VU in the Emoena course on interfaith cooperation. She is also president of Kairos-Sabeel Netherlands and a member of the liturgical team of the ecumenical Dominicus Church in Amsterdam. For the past 15 years, she has been working as a public theologian and activist around social issues related to theological legacies, such as gender, racialization and Israel and Palestine.
Moderator:
Fernando Enns
Prof. Fernando Enns is professor of Peacetheology and Ethics, and is director of the Amsterdam Centre for Religion Peace and Justice studies.