European Academy of Religion Annual Conference 2019

Religious diversity and integration issues are undoubtedly amongst the most salient ones on today’s political agenda in particular because of the challenges posed by migrants and refugees. In search for fair accommodations of contemporary religious diversity in western societies, this panel aims to bridge studies conducted in the field of historical, religious minorities and among new religious communities stemming from more recent migration flows. In particular, this panel addresses the question whether it is beneficial and meaningful to compare and extend to religious migrant communities policies, institutional accommodations and legal frameworks conceived by and/or for old religious groups such as the Jewish rabbinical court (Beth Din), the Muslim Sharia councils in Western Trace or the UK, and the Catholic Roman Rota in Italy. The panel is open to contributions from different disciplines in a comparative and/or single case perspective.

Co-Chair:
• Roberta Medda-Windischer (EURAC Research / Institute for Minority Rights)
• Kerstin Wonisch (EURAC Research / Institute for Minority Rights)

Speakers:
• Eduardo J. Ruiz Vieytez (University of Deusto) - Religious diversity and minorities: definitions and gaps between freedom of religion and (human) rights of religious minorities 
• Yuksel Sezgin (Syracuse University) - Shari‘a in Non-Muslim Courts: Challenges, Opportunities and Prospects of Reform 
• Marcella Ferri (University of Bergamo; University of Firenze) - The European Court of Human Rights faced with the Sharia Law: some considerations in the light of universal human rights 
• Christos Tsevas (University of Strasbourg; University of Thrace) - Religious Diversity in Greece: Recent Developments and the Challenges of the MollaSali Case 
• Alicino Francesco (Libera Università Mediterranea-Jean Monnet; LUISS Guido Carli University) - The System of Bilateral Legislation Tested by ‘Neo’ Religious Groups. The Case of Italy
• Daniele Ferrari (Siena University) - Religious minorities from the past to the future: a new legal definition in international framework?