Public Lectures 2024 – Climate Change
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:
Kirsten van der Ham
Kirsten van der Ham is PhD Candidate at the Protestant Theological University. Her research focuses on congregants’ lived experiences of and views on racism and local partnerships between white majority and people of colour majority Christian congregations in the Netherlands.
Amisah Bakuri
Amisah Bakuri (PhD) is currently a post-doctoral fellow at the Faculty of Religion and Theology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. With more than ten years of research experience, she specialises in various fields such as religion, migration, well-being, sexuality, gender, and the health of minority groups, particularly the Black and African diaspora.
Dion Forster
Dion Forster is a Professor of Public Theology in the Faculty of Religion and Theology at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. He also serves as a Research Fellow in the Faculty of Theology, Stellenbosch University and at Wesley House, Cambridge University. Dion’s research focuses on the intersections of faith and public life viewed through the intersectional lenses of social and political identities. He has been active for different societal issues and seeks to facilitate reflection, learning and interaction between the various ‘publics’ of society – particularly the publics of the academy, the Church and society at large.
Moderator:
Andrés Pacheco Lozano
dr. Andrés Pacheco Lozano is assistant-professor in the field of Peacetheology and Ethics, and is co-director of the Amsterdam Centre for Religion Peace and Justice studies