Europe’s society is a melting pot of various cultures and religions, not least because of the movement of workers within the European Union and the current migration from the East and the South, which leads to an increasing contact between Christians and other religious adherents, especially Muslims. In this sense, interreligious education might be an instrument of integration policy within the educational system. The learning from and with each other serves the understanding of each other’s religious beliefs and might create a proper peaceful and constructive coexistence in the long run.Therefore we want to discuss the following themes:1. Conditions for interreligious education in different countries: national law, the role of religion in different constitutions; the status of religious education; different institutions forming teachers of religion: universities, religious congregations, academic schools, summer universities; content of religious education: curricula, handbooks, workbooks.2. Empirical studies of religious education on behalf of interreligious aspects: quantitative research on private and state schools; qualitative research on religious lessons; (empirical) case studies on teachers’ education; best practice examples.3. Concepts of interreligious education: dialogue of religions from a confessional point (Feldtkeller, Sundermeier); discussion of theological profiles (Woppowa); didactics of interreligious correlation (von Stosch) - didactics of interreligious respect (Jäggle); new concepts, coming out from empirical methods: Grounded Theory.
Co-Chair:
- Michael Kramer (Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz)
- Antje Roggenkamp (Seminar für Praktische Theologie und Religionspädagogik)
Panelists:
- Cristian Simoni (Università di Padova) - Religious culture at school: fronting the misunderstandings
- Carlo Macale (Università di Roma “Tor Vergata”) - The Catholic religious Teaching in Italian Schools and the challenge of religious pluralism
Language: English (German and French are possible languages, too)