Headline:
Workshop: Across the Divides - Gender & Foundational Beliefs
In this one day workshop we would like to engage participants in analysis of their own foundational beliefs using tools from the field of religion. As a background, it will share some methods various scholars of religion have used to analyze how belief systems impact personal actions and societal movements. It does not, however, presuppose any particular religious affiliation but rather considers “religion” more broadly, to encompass any foundational belief which directs our actions, behaviors and commitments.
Analysis of one’s own foundational beliefs could help us work with greater effectiveness, co-creativity and compassion across disciplines and ideological lines because it may:
- reveal what religious-level values or beliefs are at stake in conflicts or cooperative work,
- reveal the individuality and historical context of one’s own basic commitments and therefore we are less likely to generalize an entire movement or group or discipline or make wide, general claims for our own traditions or disciplines. In other words, it could work against “fundamentalist” thinking about ourselves or others which might block understanding and co-creativity toward common goals,
- heighten compassion toward the other by uncovering points of connection or passion between disparate stakeholders.
From this starting point, we would then like to explore together how greater self-reflection about one’s own primary beliefs might help us design transdisciplinary processes that can be attentive to the role “religious” commitments play in these interactions.
Guest Speaker:
Prof. Marit Trelstad, Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma, Washington, USA
When?
June 22, 10.00 a.m. to 4.30 p.m.
Where?
IASS Potsdam
Who is Marit Trelstad?
Marit A. Trelstad (PhD, Philosophy of Religion and Theology, Claremont Graduate University) is Professor of Constructive Theologies at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington and is currently staying at IASS as a research fellow in the context of the AMA project. Her scholarship combines feminist, process and Lutheran theologies and philosophy of religion. She has publications focused on Christology, theological anthropology, the doctrine of God, and science and religion (including economics, geoengineering and ecology).