Religious Education Association

This call seeks to explore the interplay between religious education and freedom. Proposals exploring how religious traditions conceptualize freedom, how these conceptualizations embodied in beliefs, theologies, interpretations, and practices shape the practices of religious education, and the impact of these practices on learners and society, are welcome. In addition, it invites examination of how other disciplines and cultures understand freedom and how these perspectives can inform religious traditions' views on the concept.

Submissions are encouraged to utilize interdisciplinary or interreligious approaches, consider local or global contexts, and engage with various theories and practices within and beyond the field of religious education. Themes such as freedom, conscientization, human rights, diversity, compulsory religious education, and emancipatory pedagogies are welcomed for exploration and discussion. 

Possible questions for exploration include, but are not limited to:

• In what ways can religious education enable students to freely discover their own religious identity?
• How can disciplines such as sociology, psychology, and political science contribute to the debate on religious education and freedom?
• How does religious education in faith-based schools align or conflict with students' freedom of religion?
• Can educators' identities or their religious or political stances ever limit or conflict with students' freedom, affecting their pedagogical methods and relationships with students?
• How can religious education address the values of human rights and freedom to promote social peace and equality?
• What do specific religious traditions teach about the value and experience of freedom, and how can these teachings be applied and taught in religious education?
• In what ways does interreligious teaching shape students' understanding of freedom?
• Could we say, what emancipatory pedagogical methods can be employed to promote a creative tension between religious tradition and freedom? 

Proposals should include a concise overview of the topic, research question, methodology, potential contribution to the field, and a bibliography.

Our goal is to select 3-4 proposals and allocate approximately 15 minutes for each presentation. After that, we will have time for questions and answers, followed by a brief discussion if possible.

We look forward to receiving thought-provoking and innovative proposals that advance dialogue on freedom within the context of religious education.