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Invitation to the lecture by Prof. Dr. Slavica Jakelić “Pluralizing Humanism”

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The Institute of Historical Studies and the Institute of Philosophical and Religious Studies ZRS Koper cordially invite you to a lecture by Prof. Dr. Slavica Jakelić entitled

The Pluralisation of Humanism

followed by a discussion on the possibilities of interdisciplinary research on religion.

The event will take place on Tuesday, 8 October 2024 at 11:00 AM (with the possibility of online participation) in the conference room of the Centre for Humanities ZRS Koper (Kreljeva 6, Koper).

Humanism is often invoked today when dealing with the conditions of dehumanisation in the contemporary world. However, for humanism to be successful in the 21st century, it must be pluralised. Drawing on studies of the Polish Solidarity movement and the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa, Prof. Jakelić will demonstrate the central role of humanist traditions in the formation of religious-secular solidarities that have transformed the political landscapes of the world. As a challenge to critiques of humanism that often define it solely as a Western legacy, an anti-religious discourse, or limit it to power dynamics, the lecture will highlight the rich plurality of humanist discourses and the need for their cooperation.

Prof. Dr. Slavica Jakelić is Professor of Humanities at the Honors College of Valparaiso University, USA. Her research and publications focus on religion and nationalism, religious and secular humanism, theories of religion and secularism, theories of modernity, and interreligious conflict and dialogue. Jakelić has worked or taught at several interdisciplinary institutes in Europe and the USA, including the Institute for the Study of Economic Culture at Boston University, the Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna, the Martin Marty Center at the University of Chicago, the University of Notre Dame, Fordham University, and Yale Divinity School. She was also a faculty member and co-director of the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture at the University of Virginia.

Professor Jakelić is the author of Collectivistic Religions: Religion, Choice and Identity in Late Modernity (Routledge), Pluralising Humanism: Religions and Secularisms Beyond Power (forthcoming from Routledge), and both Freedom and Belonging: Essays on Religion, Nationalism, and Solidarity (forthcoming from TIM Press). She is also co-editor of The Future of the Study of Religion and Crossing Boundaries: From Syria to Slovakia. She is currently working on a book entitled Ethical Nationalisms and is co-editing The Routledge Handbook of Religion and Nationalism in Interdisciplinary Perspective with Damon Berry.

To join the lecture online, please register by email: .

The lecture and discussion will be held in English and are organised in the framework of the project N6-0173 “Religious Changes in Slovenia and Yugoslavia: Religious Conversions and Processes of Atheisation”.