Programme

Saturday 6 September

Sat 14:00-19:00, Faculty of Arts, Main building, Dean’s conference room

IAHR Executive Committee I

Sunday 7 September

Sun 9:00-16:00, Faculty of Arts, Main building, Dean’s conference room

IAHR Executive Committee II

Sun 12:00-18:00, Faculty of Arts, Main building, Entrance hall

Registration

Sun 19:00-20:00, Faculty of Law, Auditorium Maximum of Masaryk University

Opening lecture

Peter Antes
The Study of Religions on Demand

Sun 20:00-22:00, Faculty of Law, Entrance hall

Welcome party under the patronage of the rector of Masaryk University, Petr Fiala

Monday 8 September

Mon 9:00-10:00, Faculty of Social Studies, P31

Plenary session

Martin Baumann
Re-negotiating the Public Sphere: Minority Religions, Conflict and Academic Modelling

Mon 10:00-10:30

Coffee break

Mon 10:30-12:00

Mon 10:30-12:00, Faculty of Social Studies, P21

Is Theory and Methodology of the Academic Study of Religions in Crisis? I

Chair: Brian Bocking (University College Cork, Ireland)

  • David Vaněk
    Reflexivity and the Study of Religion
  • Radek Chlup
    On Non-Reductive Explanations of Religion
  • Willem Hofstee
    No Crisis: In Praise of Theoretical and Methodological Pluralism

Mon 10:30-12:00, Faculty of Social Studies, P22

Crossroads in the History of Academic Study of Religions (Events, Turning Points, Persons) I

Chair: Thomas Hase (Universität Leipzig, Germany)

  • Giorgio Ferri
    Religion as Culture: The Lesson of Angelo Brelich
  • Ondřej Sládek
    From Prague to Paris and Back: Structuralism Revisited
  • Jesper Sørensen
    The Construction of Ritual Efficacy: Why Magic Won’t Go Away

Mon 10:30-12:00, Faculty of Social Studies, P23

Academic Study of Religions in Central and Eastern European Countries and Its Place in European Research I

Chair: Eugen Ciurtin (Romanian Academy, Romania)

  • Luboš Bělka
    Creation versus Evolution: The Role of the Academic Study of Religions in the Controversy
  • Zhargalma Dandarova
    Cultural-historical Perspective in Psychology of Religion

Mon 10:30-12:00, Faculty of Social Studies, P32

Contemporary Religious Situation in Europe and Its Reflection from the Point of View of the Academic Study of Religions I

Chair: Milan Fujda (Masaryk University, Czech Republic)

  • Martin Klapetek
    Religious Organisation as an Equivalent of Social Structure of Family: The Example of Turkish Muslims in Germany

Mon 10:30-12:00, Faculty of Arts, J21

Experience and Reflection: Religious Experience and Experience in the Academic Study of Religions I

Chair: Hrvoje Čargonja (Institute for Anthropological Research, Croatia)

  • Vladimír Smékal & Irena Ocetková & Ladislav Koubek & Josef Stuchlý & Jiří Vander
    Spirituality and the Quality of Life
  • Helmut Maassen
    Religious Experience in William James and Whitehead and the Question of Truth

Mon 10:30-12:00, Faculty of Arts, J22

Religion in the Public Sphere I

Chair: Franz Winter (University of Vienna, Austria)

  • Isabelle Rieben
    Spiritual Coping and Attachment in Schizophrenia
  • Pierre-Yves Brandt
    Religion, Spirituality and Schizophrenia

Mon 12:00-14:00

Lunch break

Mon 14:00-15:30

Mon 14:00-15:30, Faculty of Social Studies, P22

Religions in Contact: Encounter, Communication and Mission I

Chair: Attila Kovács (Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia)

  • Jana Rozehnalová
    Exploring the Theories of “the Other” in the Context of European Medieval Travel Accounts
  • Jenny Berglund
    Translating Islam: Admitting the Power of Educational Choices
  • Csongor Sarkozy
    Sunny Life: A Case Study of a Bricolage Religious Group

Mon 14:00-15:30, Faculty of Social Studies, P23

Reading between the Lines: Textual Sources and the Study of Religions I

Chair: Graham Harvey (The Open University, United Kingdom)

  • Maya Babkova
    Some Methodological Reflections on Translating of the Sacred Texts
  • Chelsey Vargo
    The Disservice of Favouring Canon
  • Britta Rensing
    Individual Expression in Practitioners’ Poetry

Mon 14:00-15:30, Faculty of Social Studies, P21

Approaches of the Academic Study of Religions in the Study of Archaic Religions I

Chair: Luther H. Martin (University of Vermont, USA)

  • Ina Wunn
    Methods of Natural Sciences in the Humanities: A Way to Reconstruct the Religion of Non-literate Societies of the Past
  • Panayotis Pachis
    Redescribing the Oriental Cults of Graeco-Roman Age according to the “Modes of Religiosity”
  • Aleš Chalupa
    Why Did Greeks and Romans Pray Aloud? A Cognitive Perspective

Mon 14:00-15:30, Faculty of Social Studies, P32

Reconsidering Identities: Religion, Nation and Politics I

Chair: Francisco Díez de Velasco (University of La Laguna, Spain)

  • Stephanie Frank
    Mauss, from Sacrifice to Gift: A French Post-Theology for the Third Republic
  • Eleonóra Hamar
    Memory and Post-Memory in 2nd Generational Jewish Identity Narratives: Secular and Religious Self-Understandings

Mon 14:00-15:30, Faculty of Arts, J31

Is Theory and Methodology of the Academic Study of Religions in Crisis? II

Chair: David Vaněk (Masaryk University, Czech Republic)

  • Bulcsu K. Hoppal
    From the Phenomenology of Religion to the History of Religions: The Pathway of Religious Studies
  • Monika Recinová
    Study of Religions as a Philosophical Discipline

Mon 14:00-15:30, Faculty of Arts, J21

Rethinking Religion in India: Socio-Political Predicaments

Chair: Jakob De Roover (Ghent University, Belgium)

  • Marianne Keppens
    The Case of the Aryans
  • Iris Vandevelde
    Hindutva’s Discourse on Hinduism: A Western-Indian Blend
  • Sarah Claerhout
    A Doubtful Match: Freedom of Religion and Anti-Conversion Legislation in India

Mon 14:00-15:30, Faculty of Arts, J22

The Political Temptations of Western Esotericism I

Chair: Marco Pasi (University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands)

  • Gian Mario Cazzaniga
    From Lodges to Political Secret Societies: The “Vendite” of Italian Carbonari
  • Anna Corrias
    The Enochian: A Language for Heavenly and Earthly Paradises
  • George Sieg
    Illumination and Enlightenment

Mon 15:30-16:00

Coffee break

Mon 16:00-17:30

Mon 16:00-17:30, Faculty of Social Studies, P22

Crossroads in the History of Academic Study of Religions (Events, Turning Points, Persons) II

Chair: Jesper Sørensen (University of Southern Denmark, Denmark)

  • Thomas Hase
    The Legacy of Joachim Wach
  • Roman Kečka
    Can the 21th Century Study of Religions Be Inspired by the 20th Century Crisis of Theology?

Mon 16:00-17:30, Faculty of Social Studies, P23

Academic Study of Religions in Central and Eastern European Countries and Its Place in European Research II

Chair: Luboš Bělka (Masaryk University, Czech Republic)

  • Eugen Ciurtin
    Professional Desiderata and Institutional Dynamics in the Academic Study of Religions in post-1989 Eastern Europe
  • Gabriel Pirický
    Academic Interpretations of Islam in Communist Czechoslovakia: Rudolf Macúch, Karel Petráček and Ivan Hrbek

Mon 16:00-17:30, Faculty of Social Studies, P32

Contemporary Religious Situation in Europe and Its Reflection from the Point of View of the Academic Study of Religions II

Chair: Roman Vido (Masaryk University, Czech Republic)

  • Christian Euvrard
    New Religious Movements and State Relations in France: The Case of Mormonism, 1850-2000
  • Milan Fujda
    Secularization and New Religiosity: Media as an Agent of Transformations of Religions in Modern Societies
  • David Václavík
    Religious Pluralism in “Atheistic” Society after 1989: Social and Religious Process, Trends and Legislation

Mon 16:00-17:30, Faculty of Arts, J31

Experience and Reflection: Religious Experience and Experience in the Academic Study of Religions II

Chair: Vladimír Smékal (Masaryk University, Czech Republic)

  • Hrvoje Čargonja
    From “Krishna’s Arrangements” to “Cultivated Consciousness”: Religious Experience in Vaishnava Community in Zagreb, Croatia
  • Barbora Spalová
    Reflexive Steps During an Anthropological Research in the Christian Communities

Mon 16:00-17:30, Faculty of Arts, J22

Religion in the Public Sphere II

Chair: Steffen Dix (University of Lisbon, Portugal)

  • Susanne Olsson
    Egypt Between Privatisation and Islamisation

Mon 16:00-17:30, Faculty of Arts, J21

Reading between the Lines: Textual Sources and the Study of Religions II

Chair: Annika Hvithamar (University of Southern Denmark, Denmark)

  • Ionut Daniel Bancila
    Iranian Dualism, “Spontaneous Generation” and Theodicy in the Manichaean Attitude towards the Insects
  • Michael Aeschbach
    Narrative and Vision: The Pilgrim Vision of Nicholas of Flüe (1417-1487)
  • David Zbíral
    The Inquisitorial Concept of Religious Group and Its Resonance in European Historiography

Mon 16:00-18:00, Faculty of Social Studies, P21

Review Panel: Gregory D. Alles (editor, 2008), Religious Studies: A Global View

Chair: Steven Sutcliffe (University of Edinburgh, Scotland)
Respondent: Gregory D. Alles (McDaniel College, USA)

  • Tim Jensen
  • Morny Joy
  • Donald Wiebe
  • Gerard Wiegers

Mon 18:00-19:00, Faculty of Arts, J31

General Assembly of the Czech Society for the Study of Religions

The assembly will be held in Czech.

Mon 18:00-19:30, Faculty of Arts, J21

EASR Executive Committee

Mon 20:00-22:00, Red Church, next to the Faculty of Social Studies

Concert

Le Duo Krist Nouveau (Stefan Krist & Josef Novotny)

Tuesday 9 September

Tue 9:00-10:30

Tue 9:00-10:30, Faculty of Social Studies, P21

Approaches of the Academic Study of Religions in the Study of Archaic Religions II

Chair: Jörg Rüpke (University of Erfurt, Germany)

  • Charles Guittard
    From Mythology to History: New Prospects in Roman Religion
  • Pavel Titz
    Pompeian Archaeology and Pompeian Religion
  • Dalibor Papoušek
    Christian Origins in Perspective of Academic Study of Religions: The Concepts of Heikki Räisänen and Burton L. Mack

Tue 9:00-10:30, Faculty of Social Studies, P22

Reconsidering Identities: Religion, Nation and Politics II

Chair: Rosalind Hackett (University of Tennesee, USA)

  • Alex Ntung
    The Influence of Beliefs in Witchcraft and Prophecy on Modern Political Processes in the Conflicts in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC): Case Studies from South Kivu
  • Jan Záhořík
    Ethiopia: Christian or Muslim Identity? Some Historical Views on Religion and Ethnicity in the Horn of Africa
  • Gatis Ozoliņš
    The Set of Values in the Contemporary Latvian “Dievturi” Movement

Tue 9:00-10:30, Faculty of Social Studies, P32

The Study of Religions and Syllabuses for School Education about Religion I

Chair: Tim Jensen (University of Southern Denmark, Denmark)

  • Wanda Alberts & Tim Jensen
    Introduction to the Panel
  • Andrea Rota
    Religious Education in the French-Speaking Switzerland
  • Francisco Díez de Velasco
    Teaching Religious Education in the Spanish Schools: Some Non Religio-Centric Proposals
  • Wanda Alberts
    The Syllabus for Compulsory Education about Religion in Norway

Tue 9:00-10:30, Faculty of Arts, J31

The Problem of Second Order Tradition in Religious Studies

Chair: Kim Knott (University of Leeds, United Kingdom)

  • Veikko Anttonen
    Disciplinary Matrix in the Study of Religion: Rethinking Ideology, Theory and Practice
  • Steven Sutcliffe
    Second Order Tradition as an Epistemological Problem: “Culturalists” Versus “Naturalists”
  • Gwilym Beckerlegge
    The Study of Religions – A Vehicle for Promoting “Cultural Competence”?

Tue 9:00-10:30, Faculty of Arts, J22

The Political Temptations of Western Esotericism II

Chair: Willem Hofstee (Leiden University, The Netherlands)

  • Jacob Senholt
    Sinister Strategies: Political Insight Roles in the Order of the Nine Angles
  • Jean-Pierre Laurant
    Politica Hermetica: A Laboratory for the Study of Esotericism and Politics
  • Egil Asprem
    “Neutrality” vs. Critical Approaches in the Study of Western Esotericism?

Tue 9:00-10:30, Faculty of Arts, J21

Discussion Panel: Genetics and the Study of Religions

Chair: Aleš Chalupa (Masaryk University, Czech Republic)

  • Ugo Perego
    Introduction to the Panel
  • Ugo Perego
    Using Genetic Testing Techniques in Religious Studies: Examples from Mormon History
  • Ugo Perego
    DNA, Genealogy, and Religious Identity: Overcoming the Concept of Race while Exploring Our Unique Heritage

Tue 10:30-11:00

Coffee break

Tue 11:00-13:00

Tue 11:00-13:00, Faculty of Social Studies, P21

Contemporary Religious Situation in Europe and Its Reflection from the Point of View of the Academic Study of Religions III

Chair: David Václavík (Masaryk University, Czech Republic)

  • Ingvild Sælid Gilhus
    The Return of Angels: Contemporary Religious Processes in Norway
  • Frans Jespers
    A Paranormal Offensive?
  • Christopher Alan Lewis
    Religion and Life Perspectives among Young People in the Republic of Ireland

Tue 11:00-13:00, Faculty of Social Studies, P22

Rethinking Religion in India: Historical and Methodological Issues

Chair: Sarah Claerhout (Ghent University, Belgium)

  • Raf Gelders
    Indian Traditions and the Lexicographic Project
  • Esther Bloch
    The Caste System: The Results of the European Search for Religion in India?
  • Martin Fárek
    “The Right Thing To Do”? On Restructuring the “Hindu Law” in India under the British Rule
  • Jakob De Roover
    Desperately Seeking Manu: Protestant Christianity and the Creation of Hindu Law

Tue 11:00-13:00, Faculty of Social Studies, P23

Is Theory and Methodology of the Academic Study of Religions in Crisis? III

Chair: Eleonóra Hamar (Masaryk University, Czech Republic)

  • Lieve Orye
    In Search of Metatheoretical Reflexivity Type Theories of Religion: The Parochialism of Religious Studies Lies in Its Global Outlook
  • Baira Dyakieva
    New Media as the Tool of Political and Religious Participation
  • George Jarvis
    Hope for Religious Freedom

Tue 11:00-13:00, Faculty of Social Studies, P32

The Study of Religions and Syllabuses for School Education about Religion II

Chair: Wanda Alberts (University of Bergen, Norway)

  • Galina Rousseva-Sokolova
    Teaching Religion in Bulgarian Schools: A Psychodrama in Search of a Plausible Ending
  • Jenny Berglund
    Islamic Religious Education adapted to Swedish “fundamental values”?
  • Mariachiara Giorda
    Educating People to Be Citizen through the History of Religions
  • Concluding discussion about the panel and about the EASR working group on religion in secular education

Tue 11:00-13:00, Faculty of Arts, J31

Religion in the Public Sphere III

Chair: Pierre-Yves Brandt (University of Lausanne, Switzerland)

  • Franz Winter
    Religion in Pictures: The Use of Manga and Anime in Japanese New Religious Movements
  • Maria John Bernardin
    Religion Comes to Public Sphere: The Experience of People in a South Tamil Nadu Village
  • Csilla D. Farkas & Gabriella Pusztai
    Anthropological Approach to the Church Maintained Higher Education Research in CEE
  • Olga Breskaya
    Social and Symbolic Boundaries in Religious Field: Transdisciplinary Inquiry

Tue 11:00-13:00, Faculty of Arts, J22

Religions in Contact: Encounter, Communication and Mission II

Chair: Jana Rozehnalová (Masaryk University, Czech Republic)

  • Attila Molnar
    Peace and/or Truth Claim of Religion
  • Kryštof Trávníček
    Cham: Are There Any Transformatory Processes of the Tibetan Religious Dances under the Influence of Western Contacts?
  • Milos Hubina
    Christians in Buddhist Land

Tue 11:00-13:00, Faculty of Arts, J21

Reading between the Lines: Textual Sources and the Study of Religions III

Chair: Hubert Seiwert (Universität Leipzig, Germany)

  • Ivar Maksutov
    Reconstruction of Anthropological Lexicon as a Method for the History of Religions
  • Andrej Mentel
    Folk Model of the Mind in the Contemporary Christian Orthodox Hagiography
  • Annika Hvithamar
    Textual Pictures: Icons in the Orthodox Church

Tue 11:00-13:00, Faculty of Arts, G31

Approaches of the Academic Study of Religions in the Study of Archaic Religions III

Chair: Ina Wunn (University of Bielefeld, Germany)

  • Radek Kundt
    Can Cognitive Science of Religion Help Us to Better Understand the Reasons for Nestorius’ Downfall?
  • Barbora Polifková
    Issue of Primogeniture in the Sagas of the Hebrew Patriarchs: Possibilities and Limits of Anthropological Approaches

Tue 11:00-13:00, Faculty of Arts, G32

Ex Oriente Lux: The Presence of Western Esotericism in Eastern Europe I

Chair: Marco Pasi (University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands)

  • Hermann E. Stockinger
    Esotericism in the Habsburg Empire under the Emperor Leopold I (1658-1705): A Survey
  • Jason Rose
    Astronomical Astrology: Calculation and Conjunction in the Work of Cyprian von Leowitz

Tue 13:00-14:30

Lunch break

Tue 14:30-15:00, Faculty of Social Studies, P31

Various announcements (upcoming conferences etc.)

Tue 15:00-17:00, Faculty of Social Studies, P31

EASR General Assembly

Tue 17:00-17:30

Coffee break

Tue 17:30-18:30, Faculty of Social Studies, P31

Public lecture

Donald Wiebe
Beyond Apologetic Modes of Theorizing

Tue 19:00-21:00, New Town Hall

Social evening under the patronage of the mayor of Brno, Roman Onderka

Wednesday 10 September

Wed 9:00-10:00, Faculty of Social Studies, P31

Plenary session

Harvey Whitehouse
Explaining Religion

Wed 10:00-10:30

Coffee break

Wed 10:30-12:00

Wed 10:30-12:00, Faculty of Social Studies, P21

Is Theory and Methodology of the Academic Study of Religions in Crisis? IV

Chair: Peter Antes (University of Hannover, Germany)

  • Heiko Grünwedel
    Tracing Shamans in Two Worlds: Some Theoretical Conclusions for the Study of Religions Based on the Linking of Methodological Experiences from a Bicontextual Investigation
  • Mar Marcos
    The Debate over Religious Persuasion and Religious Coercion in Ancient Christianity
  • Anna Yudkina
    Shifting Boundaries of Sacred in “Folk Orthodoxy” in Post-Soviet Russia

Wed 10:30-12:00, Faculty of Social Studies, P22

Contemporary Religious Situation in Europe and Its Reflection from the Point of View of the Academic Study of Religions IV

Chair: Steven Sutcliffe (University of Edinburgh, Scotland)

  • Roman Vido
    The Concept of Secularization in the Academic Study of the Modern Religious Situation
  • Jan Váně
    Adaption and Implantation of Non-Institutionalized Religious Communities in Public Sector
  • Eva Szolar
    Church-Owned Higher Education and the Democratization of Romania

Wed 10:30-12:00, Faculty of Social Studies, P23

Religion in the Public Sphere IV

Chair: Attila Kovács (Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia)

  • Steffen Dix
    The Reaffirmation of Traditional Catholicism in a Secularized Society: A Case Study in Portugal
  • Lucie Hlavinková
    Social Work as a Churches’ Strategy for Finding Its Own Place
  • Kalle Toivo
    Desirable Rituals, Acceptable Rituals and Uninteresting Rituals – Remoulding Public Religious Practices within Hegemonic Religious Organization: The Case of Evangelical Lutheran Church in Finland

Wed 10:30-12:00, Faculty of Social Studies, P32

Reading between the Lines: Textual Sources and the Study of Religions IV

Chair: Maya Burger (University of Lausanne, Switzerland)

  • Michael Berman
    The Shamanic Story: An Armenian Example
  • Xicotencatl Martinez Ruiz
    108 Verses (Ślokas) in Context: Mapping Methodological and Theoretical Scenarios for a Tenth Century Sanskrit Text

Wed 10:30-12:00, Faculty of Arts, J31

Approaches of the Academic Study of Religions in the Study of Archaic Religions IV

Chair: Dalibor Papoušek (Masaryk University, Czech Republic)

  • Vladimír Bahna
    Disgust and Religious Beliefs
  • Ülo Valk
    Were-Tigers and Magic of Mayong: Contextualizing the Belief Legends of Assam

Wed 10:30-12:00, Faculty of Arts, J21

Reconsidering Identities: Religion, Nation and Politics III

Chair: Stephanie Frank (University of Chicago, USA)

  • Teresa Gómez Cerdeño & Luisa Marco Sola
    “Caudillo by God’s Grace”: A Critical Linguistic Analysis of the Political Use of Catholicism in Franquist Discourse during the Spanish Civil War and Postwar (1936-1945)
  • Tiina Mahlamäki
    A Study of Swedenborgian Elements in the Spiritual Orientation of the Finnish National Poet J. L. Runeberg

Wed 12:00-14:00

Lunch break

Wed 14:00-15:30

Wed 14:00-15:30, Faculty of Social Studies, P22

Religion in the Public Sphere V

Chair: Attila Molnar (Eötvös University, Hungary)

  • Boniface Omatta
    Constructing Yoruba Religion Through the Internet: Between Authenticity and Fakeness
  • Tatiana Folieva
    Social Doctrine of the Russian Orthodox Church in Modern Politic Conditions in Russia
  • Janis Priede
    Educational, Cultural and Political Engagement of the Theosophical Groups in Latvia

Wed 14:00-15:30, Faculty of Social Studies, P23

Reconsidering Identities: Religion, Nation and Politics IV

Chair: David Václavík (Masaryk University, Czech Republic)

  • Attila Kovács
    Picturing Hamas: Palestinian Islamic Movement and Visual Representation
  • Tomas Gal
    Exploring Identity of Religious Group on the Internet
  • Kaarina Aitamurto
    Conservative Politics and Egalitarian Utopias

Wed 14:00-15:30, Faculty of Social Studies, P32

Reconsidering Identities: Religion, Nation and Politics V

Chair: Teresa Gómez Cerdeño (Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain) & Luisa Marco Sola (Universidad de Zaragoza, Spain)

  • Paul van der Velde
    White Elephants, Kings and “Buddhist Animism” in Myanmar
  • Zdeněk Trávníček
    The Role of the Buddhist Monk in Contemporary Sri Lanka
  • Jakub Havlíček
    Religion, Politics and Identity in Modern Japan: Examining the Case of Yasukuni Shrine

Wed 14:00-15:30, Faculty of Arts, J21

Ex Oriente Lux: The Presence of Western Esotericism in Eastern Europe II

Chair: Egil Asprem (University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands)

  • Anita Stasulane
    Yoga of the Roerichs in Practice
  • Sara Møldrup Thejls
    Esoteric Yoga: The Case of Gregorian Bivolaru and MISA

Wed 15:30-16:00

Coffee break

Wed 16:00-18:00, Faculty of Social Studies, P31

IAHR International Committee

Wed 18:00

End of the academic programme

Thursday 11 September

Departure