If the newsletter does not display properly, please click here.

Dear friends and colleagues,

Next week is the final Screening Religion of this summer semester: On Wednesday we will show the film "The Judge" at naTo. We would also like to remind you of the Annual Conference of the German Association for the Study of Religions from 13–16 September and draw your attention to the panels related to our KFG. Furthermore, we have two announcements for a workshop and a conference for you and conclude our Wednesday Weekly with an Icelandic music highlight for the weekend.

Enjoy and have a great week!

Anja & Lucy

Screening Religion: “The Judge”, 15 September at naTo

After a diverse summer programme in our Screening Religion film series, we will be showing the film “The Judge” next Wednesday, concluding the programme for summer 2021. The film, directed by Erika Cohn, is telling the story of Kholoud Al-Faqih: As a young lawyer, she entered the office of the Chief Justice of Palestine and announced that she wanted to join the bench. At that time, he laughed at her. But just a few years later, Kholoud became the first woman to be appointed as a judge in the Shari'a courts of the Middle East. The documentary portrays Judge Kholoud and accompanies her on her way, in her tireless fight for women's rights and her visits to clients, friends and family. In so doing, “The Judge” sheds light on some of the universal conflicts in Palestinian domestic life – child custody, divorce, abuse – while offering an unvarnished look at women's lives and Shari'a.

The film will be shown in Arabic with English subs and followed by a discussion with scholar of Islam and KFG Associate member Markus Dreßler.

15 September | 7:00 p.m. (CET)

Cinémathèque Leipzig at naTo, Karl-Liebknecht-Straße 46, 04275 Leipzig

Free entry, donations welcome

We are currently knitting the programme for the winter and you are of course the first to find out how our film series will continue from October.

Annual Conference of the German Association for the Study of Religions on "Religion in Relation", 13–16 September: Registration and KFG panel sessions

Already last week we informed you about the Annual Conference of the German Association for the Study of Religions from 13 until 16 September. There will be a variety of panel sessions and discussions during four days on the overall topic “Religion in Relation”, including many with the participation of KFG members. Today, we would like to present the respective presentations to you. If you are interested in attending, you may still register as a participant via this website.

The conference will take place completely virtually, after registration you will receive the access links.

13 September | 6:00 p.m.–7:30 p.m.
Keynote: Karénina Kollmar-Paulenz

14 September | 11:30 a.m.–1:00 p.m.
Panel: Religionsgeschichte neu gedacht (History of Religions reconsidered)
Chair: Christoph Kleine | Speakers: Hubert Seiwert on „Religiöse und andere kulturelle Formationen als Prozesse: Zur Interdependenz von historischer Forschung und Theoriebildung” (Religious and other cultural formations as processes: On the Interdependence of Historical Research and Theory Building), Karénina Kollmar-Paulenz on „Religiöse und andere Zuschreibungen: vom Nutzen einer induktiv vorgehenden Religionsgeschichtsschreibung” (Religious and other attributions: on the benefits of an inductive approach to the historiography of religion) and Christoph Kleine on „Ausdifferenzierung oder Clusterbildung? Plädoyer für ein synthetisch-polythetisches Religionsverständnis und eine induktive Forschungspraxis” (Differentiation or clustering? A plea for a synthetic-polythetic understanding of religion and an inductive practice of research)

14 September | 9:45 a.m.–11:15 a.m.
Panel: (Post)Secular Africa? (1)
Chair: Eva Spies (Bayreuth University) | KFG Contributors: Magnus Echtler on “Socialist Spirits in Zanzibar” and Katharina Wilkens on “Ancestral Relations in Africa and the Diaspora”

14 September | 11:30 a.m.–1:00 p.m.
Panel: (Post)Secular Africa? (2)
Chair: Magnus Echtler | KFG Contributor: Mariam Goshadze on “Secularity or Secularism? Testing the Theoretical Quandary in (Post)Secular Ghana”

Workshop on “Early Modern Translation Cultures Beyond the West” with Naoki Sakai and Katja Triplett, 22–23 September

We would like to draw your attention to a workshop on “Early Modern Translation Cultures Beyond the West”, organised by our Associate Member Katja Triplett and Naoki Sakai, Distinguished Professor of Asian Studies at Cornell University. Most translation theorists focus on Europe and European languages. Looking “beyond the West” represents a great challenge to those who want to locate Translation Studies globally. The workshop will discuss approaches to translation that consider early modern translation cultures in Asia and other world regions in order to meet this challenge and to further enrich translation theory. Naoki Sakai is one of the pioneers in thinking and publishing about translation from the position of cultural critique and post-colonial studies that include East Asian languages and cultures. At the workshop, he is going to introduce his current research on translation and engage in discussion about early modern translation cultures.

Registration is required by 20 September via e-mail

22 September | 2:00 p.m.–6:00 p.m. (CET)
23 September | 9:00 a.m.–2:00 p.m. (CET)

Hybrid format | Strohsack, 4.55 and via zoom

Conference „Von der Physikotheologie zum Vitalismus? Transformationen des Verhältnisses von Naturforschung und Religion im späten 18. und frühen 19. Jahrhundert”

We would also like to mention another event, recommended by our Research Coordinator Johannes Duschka: The Interdisciplinary Centre for Pietism Research at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg organizes a conference on the topic „Von der Physikotheologie zum Vitalismus? Transformationen des Verhältnisses von Naturforschung und Religion im späten 18. und frühen 19. Jahrhundert” (“From physico-theology to vitalism? Transformations of the Relationship between Natural Science and Religion in the Late 18th and Early 19th Century”).

The study of physico-theology as a movement in the history of theology and, in a broader sense, religion as well as natural history, which is said to have had its heyday between 1650 and 1750, has been the subject of interdisciplinary interest for some time. This conference shifts the period of observation and the thematic focus to the processes of transformation and reshaping of physico-theological concepts and figures of thought, practices and objects in the mid-18th century and into the first half of the 19th century. The aim is to investigate both continuities and the continuing impact as well as discontinuities and transformations of thematic fields that are otherwise rarely discussed in the context of physico-theology, such as "enlightened vitalism" or mesmerism.

The conference will take place in a hybrid format: A limited number of participants can attend the on-site event. Registration is requested via e-mail. Online participation is also possible. You will receive the conference link on request. The conference language is German.

Registration Deadline: 9 September

Conference Dates:

12 September | Opening event starting 5:00 p.m.
13 September | 9:00 a.m.–5.30 p.m.
14 September | 9:00 a.m.–5.30 p.m.
15 September | 9:00 a.m.–1.00 p.m.

Venue:
Martin-Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Faculty of Theology, Franckeplatz 1, Haus 30, 06110 Halle/Saale

Concert with Svavar Knútur at Neues Schauspiel Leipzig

This week we have another extraordinary music recommendation for you: The Icelandic singer/songwriter and entertainer Svavar Knútur is coming back on tour. He is an artist with countless facets who has a great love for his audience. Svavar presents his songs in an incredibly touching way and tells the most absurd stories and jokes in between, spiced with a good portion of black Icelandic humour. He likes to call himself a public health troubadour: “You know, I'm the broccoli of singer-songwriters. Not the sexiest of the vegetables, but veeeery good for you!"

The concert will take place at Neues Schauspiel Leipzig and tickets are bookable here.

12 September, 8:00 p.m. (CET) | Doors open 7:00 p.m.

Neues Schauspiel Leipzig, Lützner Straße 29, 04177 Leipzig

If you have any content that you think suits the purpose of the weekly, please feel free to send it to us at multiple-secularities@uni-leipzig.de.