Screening Religion: REASON by Anand Patwardhan

In our new event series Screening Religion we will screen international documentaries and movies rarely seen in German cinemas.

Next Screening:

REASON. The war between faith and rationality directed by
Anand Patwardhan

19 June 2019, 5 p.m.
Bibliotheca Albertina, Vortragssaal

In what is perhaps his most urgent and thorough exploration of Indian society yet, renowned documentarian Anand Patwardhan charts his country’s slide away from secular democracy and toward divisions of power, caste, and religious belief — and the violence that has followed.

The screening will be followed by a
Q & A session with the director. The entrance is free.

Workshop Registration: Religion, Civil Society and Personal (Family) Law Reform in Post-Colonial Nation-States

We would like to remind you of our workshop "Religion, Civil Society and Personal (Family) Law Reform in Post-Colonial Nation-States: Interrogating Secularity in India and Beyond ", organized by Anindita Chakrabarti on 25 June 2019 at the KFG. The event is public, the registration deadline for listeners was expanded to 20 June 2019, please write to multiple-secularities@uni-leipzig.de to register.

Public Lecture and Discussion: State without God

2 July 2019
7 - 9 p.m.
Leipziger Stadtbibliothek, Oberlichtsaal

In his book "State without God. Religion in the Secular Modern Age" constitutional rights expert Horst Dreier argues that in modern democracy the state may not identify with any particular religion. Only in a state without God all citizens can live in freedom according to their quite different convictions. The development of Germany towards a multireligious and multicultural society has created new fields of conflict between followers of different faiths and between them and the authorities. The reflection on the basic structures and questions of the secular state, its program, its profile and its problems therefore seems to be necessary.

Horst Dreier is Professor of Philosophy of Law, Constitutional and Administrative Law at the University of Würzburg.

The lecture will be followed by a public discussion, introduced by a commentary by Rochus Leonhardt, Dean of the Faculty of Theology at Leipzig University. the lecture and the discussion will be held in German.

Religion in China. Back to the Center of Politics and Society

3 July 2019
7 - 9 p.m.
Bibliotheca Albertina, Café Alibi

Public Lecture by Ian Johnson

For more than a hundred years, China embarked on a movement of forced secularization, with most religions heavily persecuted or banned. But religion is now back at the center of Chinese society and politics, with the country now awash with new temples, churches, and mosques—as well as cults, sects, and politicians trying to harness religion for their own ends. Churches are being demolished, Muslims forced to attend re-education camps, but also of the government promoting Buddhism and folk religion. How to reconcile these contradictory claims?

Ian Johnson is a Pulitzer-Prize winning writer focusing on society, religion, and history. He works out of Beijing, where he also teaches. Johnson has spent nearly twenty years in the greater China region.