Public Lectures 2024
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?
Academia & Activism
Albert Einstein was a theoretical physicist and campaigned for the civil rights of African Americans and called for resistance to war. Jane Goodall was a leading Biologist and Animal Rights Activist...
In the academic world, research is undertaken, theories are developed, topics are being discussed. In the Humanities as well as in the field of Theology and Religion, 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.
In which way are these different realms (dis-) connected? And why? Do “academic standards” require some necessary distance to the studied contexts? Are the laboratories of the universities detached from political realities? Are activists always biased? – Or, could academia and activism support each other – for example by providingare more research into complexities of societal conflicts?
Given the relevance, the urgency, and the massiveness of today´s crises, we invite a conversation here, about academi and activism. Are their worlds as separated as it sometimes seems? To start this process, we are interested in the personal motivation of people who embody academia and activism in diverse ways. What drives them? How are they defining the goals of their engagement? Do they negotiate the tension between academia and activism? – Or is this tension an artificial one from the start? And: What are their spiritual roots – if they have some – and, in how far is that an indispensable, integrative foundation that holds everything together?
Schedule
Dates and Time: Thursdays in April 2024 | 16.30 - 18.00
Location: Filmzaal (1E24), Vrije Universiteit and online
April 04, 2024
Racism
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
April 11, 2024
War and Peace
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.
April 18, 2024
Climate Change
Time: 16.30-18.00
Location: Filmzaal (1E24), Vrije Universiteit
Speakers:
Timothy Stacey
Timothy is researcher at University of Utrecht. In his research, he is currently exploring how we can use tools from culture and religion to inspire sustainability transformations in the centres of Western power. He argues for a "spirited" instead of rationalized approach to problem-solving and policy implementation. What role, he asks, might magic, myths, rituals, and tradition play in inspiring action? Timothy describes himself as an 'activist researcher', and has engaged in a number of activist causes from the fight for a living wage in London, UK to resisting old-growth logging in Vancouver, Canada.
Lysanne van de Kamp
Lysanne van de Kamp is author, storyteller and mother. She works for Micha Nederland, which is a network of Christian organizations who are committed to address social and ecological justice. In her recently published book Scheppings(t)rouw she investigates how to deal with the fact that the climate crisis is affecting our mental health.
Moderator:
Eline van der Kaaden
Eline van der Kaaden is Student-Assistent of the Amsterdam Centre for Religion Peace and Justice studies
April 25, 2024
Migration
Time: 16.30 - 18.00
Location: Filmzaal (1E24), Vrije Universiteit
Speakers:
Rikko Voorberg
Rikko Voorberg is a public theologian, working with creativity to bring religion into the public space. He is actively involved with migration issues, and is involved with the setting up of different projects that take responsibility for the suffering that us caused by our political systems. As a theologian, he advocates for more outrage for unjustice.
Dorottya Nagy
Dorottya is professor of Theology and Migration at the PThU. She has an interest in migration studies, mission studies, ecclesiology, Christiainity in post-communist Europe, and innovative ways of theologising. With her research, she seeks to create more awareness about the complexity involved in migration dynamics and to contribute to a theological praxis within and beyond ecclesial settings. Relationality and connectivity are at the center of her theological approaches.
Moderator:
Peter-Ben Smit
prof. Peter-Ben Smit co-director of the Center for Contextual Biblical Interpretation.
