Interreligious and Interfaith Studies Unit

Weaponization of Religious Freedom

Religious freedom is recognized as an essential human right. Yet claims of religious liberty are also used to justify discrimination against women, lgbtq+ individuals, religious minorities, and others. We sometimes see interfaith alliances collaborating to undermine civil rights protections. High-profile disputes over insurance coverage of contraceptives and abortion raise questions about the individuals' liberties, often sacrificed to the claims of religious institutions or even private companies.

 Lawmakers wield "religious liberty" to impose their own religious beliefs, both explicitly and unacknowledged, restricting the lives and freedoms of others. We have also witnessed concerns about religious bigotry being used as a shield against criticism and a challenge to freedom of speech and assembly. How do we guard individual liberties and group practices while resisting the increasing weaponization of religious freedom?

We invite paper and panel proposals that address these problematic developments. As a unit devoted to Interreligious and Interfaith Studies, we are particularly interested in the impact on our multifaith context and encounters across religious difference. If you are proposing a panel, please ensure that your panelists represent a range of lifestances.

Interactive Workshop

Based on the success of our previous workshops, we invite brief presentations (10 minutes) designed to stimulate substantive conversation on critical issues in Interreligious and Interfaith Studies and engagement. Please submit it as a paper proposal and indicate in your text that you intend it for the workshop.

We will address 4-5 of the following topics:

• Recent Publications in the Field: Discuss your own work or review significant new contributions
• Mysticisms and Multiple Religious Participation
• Secularisms and Religious Diversity
• Nones, Nothing in Particulars, Unaffiliated and Indifferent in religiously diverse societies
• Graduate Student Education in Interreligious Studies
• Syllabus Design and Exchange: Share your own syllabus and/or those of others teaching in the field to examine various approaches.
• Interreligious Studies and Interfaith Engagement in Context: public/private institutions, urban/rural settings, religious/secular universities, religiously diverse/homogenous student bodies
• Interfaith is Everywhere: Discuss interreligious encounter as it unfolds in the workplace, prisons, schools, or the public square
• Building Interreligious Studies on Campus: Examine curricular, co-curricular, interdisciplinary, community partnership and/or other elements; strategies for developing a culture of active engagement, etc.
• New Modes and Models of Interreligious Engagement

Presentations unfold simultaneously at separate tables, with attendees selecting the conversations in which they would like to participate.

60th Anniversary of Nostra Aetate

2025 marks the 60th anniversary of Nostra Aetate, the groundbreaking Vatican II declaration on the Church’s relationship with non-Christian religions. To commemorate this milestone, the Interreligious and Interfaith Studies, Religion in Europe, and Vatican II units invite proposals for a co-sponsored panel that explores the enduring significance, challenges, and future implications of Nostra Aetate in European, North American, and other contexts.

We welcome papers that critically engage with the following themes:

• The historical and political context of Nostra Aetate and its development.
• The impact of Nostra Aetate on Christian-Jewish, Christian-Muslim, or other interfaith relations.
• The role of Nostra Aetate in shaping Catholic and interreligious dialogue today.
• The reception of Nostra Aetate by non-Christian religious communities and secular actors.
• The relevance of Nostra Aetate in contemporary Europe amidst rising secularization, religious pluralism, and global challenges such as Islamophobia and antisemitism.
• Critical perspectives on the limitations of Nostra Aetate, including voices marginalized by its framework.

This panel aims to foster a rich, interdisciplinary dialogue that examines how Nostra Aetate has shaped and continues to shape interreligious dynamics and religious identities in an increasingly pluralistic world.

Proposals from diverse disciplinary and methodological perspectives are encouraged. Please submit your proposal through the AAR’s PAPERS system by the specified deadline.