The European Association for the Study of Religions (EASR) invited to the 21st annual conference. Over 500 participants from 38 countries will come to Sweden and the University of Gothenburg to discuss how interpretations of religions can have an impact in a time of climate change. The conference is organised by scholars of religion, culture and folklore from the Department of Literature, History of Ideas and Religion, the Department of Cultural Studies and the Institute of Languages and Folklore.
- "EASR is the largest organisation in the field of religious studies, so it is a great honour but also a great responsibility to host the conference," says Göran Larsson, professor of religious studies and member of the conference's working committee.
The relevance of religious studies in the climate crisis
This year's theme focuses on nature, ecology and climate change. Through lectures and discussions, it explores how religious beliefs and spirituality can contribute to solving or preventing the ongoing climate crisis.
- It is a theme that is broad, topical and demonstrates the relevance of religious studies. The presentations range from those that highlight religious notions of apocalypse and dystopia, to more utopian ideas of a better world, to the major religions' view of humans as God's stewards on earth. All of this raises major existential questions," says Göran Larsson.
Environmental terrorism, victimised minorities and historical graffiti
Among the 400 different presentations this week and the wide range of keynote speakers, he cites Bron Taylor, professor of religion and environmental ethics at the University of Florida, and Siv Ellen Kraft, professor of religious studies at the Norwegian Arctic University, as two of the programme's highlights:
- Bron Tayler has worked on everything from popular culture and the Avatar films to issues of environmental terrorism. Siv Ellen Kraft is researching how environmental degradation affects Norway's indigenous population and the conflicts that can arise between the majority society and minorities. Something that also feels relevant in our Swedish environmental debate.
The Gothenburg Research Infrastructure for the Digital Humanities (GRIDH) will be present to talk about the project documenting the thousand-year-old graffiti of the Sofia Cathedral in war-torn Kiev. They will also participate in more interactive round-table discussions to show and inspire how to visualise different research results.
The conference working committee consists of: Göran Larsson, Henrik Bogdan, Daniel Andersson, Elin Thorsén, Andreas Nordin, Fredrik Skott, Lydia Heinevik and Maggie Kastlund. In addition, students, colleagues and doctoral students participate as volunteers.
Text: Hanna Erlingson
