Inform Anniversary Conference
Minority Religions:
Contemplating the Past and Anticipating the Future

New Academic Building, London School of Economics, London
Friday 31 January – Sunday 2 February 2014

Inform is celebrating over a quarter of a century of providing information that is as reliable and up-to-date
as possible about minority religions with an Anniversary Conference to be held at the London School of Economics, UK.

Registration for the full conference (including Friday Ashgate-Inform book launch and reception with refreshments, Saturday and Sunday tea/coffee/lunch) is
£100 standard and £75 concession for students and unwaged. Tickets booked after January 6th will be £120 or £85.
We are offering single day registrations for £45, or £55 after January 6th.

Inform will also be hosting an Anniversary Dinner at Dicken’s Inn, St Katharine Dock, near the Tower of London on Saturday 1 February.
The cost, which is not included in the registration fee, of the three course set meal and coffee is £38.50. The menu for the dinner can be seen here. Dietary requirements can be catered for.
Drinks are not included although there will be a cash bar. Booking and payment for the dinner must be done by January 6^th and is non-refundable.

How to Pay: Registration for the conference and Saturday evening dinner can be completed online here, using a credit/debit card or through a PayPal account if you have one
or by posting a completed booking form and cheque made out to Inform in pounds sterling and sent to ‘Inform, Houghton Street, London, WC2A 2AE’

A full programme will be posted soon.

For more on the Ashgate-Inform book series, please visit the website www.ashgate.com/inform.

Draft Programme Outline (20/11/13)

Friday 31 January 2014

15.00:  Registration opens
15.30: Tour of the LSE campus
16.30: Introductory talk about the LSE
17.30: Welcome and Plenary Panel A: a Word from our “Stakeholders” when representatives of some of the sections of society that have used Inform will briefly describe what they have gained from their association with Inform and what they would like Inform and students of minority religions to focus on in the future:
     The Established Church: The Right Reverend Graham James, Lord Bishop of Norwich
     The Media: Dr Damian Thompson, Editor of Telegraph Blogs and a Director of the Catholic Herald
     Politics: Stuart Hoggan, Deputy Director, Integration Division, Department for Communities and Local Government
     The Police: Ron Gilbertson, former police officer
     The Law: Philip Katz QC, Barrister
     Academia: Professor Conor Gearty, Professor of Human Rights Law, LSE
19.30: Launch of the Ashgate/Inform Series on Minority Religions and Spiritual Movements and a reception with refreshments

Saturday 1 February 2014

Registration from 9.00
9.30–11.15: Plenary Panel B: Members or former members of new religious movements with high visibility in the 1980s. Richard Barlow, former member of the Unification Church; Abi Freeman, formerly a spokesperson and member of The Family International (TFI); Gauri das, executive secretary of ISKCON; and Terrill Park, Scientology Freezone will talk about how their respective movements have changed over the past 25 years and how they envision their future.
11.15–11.40:   tea/coffee
11.40–13.25:  Parallel Sessions I
13.25 –14.15: lunch
14.15 –16.00:  Parallel Session II
16.00–16.30: tea/coffee
16.30–18.15:  Parallel Session III

19.00: Anniversary Dinner (the cost of this is not included in the registration fee. Booking for dinner must be completed by January 6)

Sunday 2 February 2014

Registration from 9:00
9.30–11.15:  Parallel Session IV
11.15 -11.40 coffee/tea
11.40–13.25: Parallel Session V
13.25–14.15: lunch
14.15–16.15: Plenary Panel C:  a Word from the “Cult Watchers” with Dr Michael Langone of the International Cultic Studies Association, Professor Gordon Melton of the Institute for the Study of American Religion, Professor Eileen Barker of Inform, Mike Kropveld of Info-Secte, Professor James T. Richardson of University of Nevada, Reno, Dr Massimo Introvigne of CESNUR
16.15: Conference ends

Church Growth and Decline in a Global City: London, 1980 to the Present

A Colloquium organised by the Centre for Church Growth Research
Cranmer Hall, St Johns College, Durham University and
by the Institute of Historical Research, University of London

Date: 2 May 2014, 10 am to 4 pm

Venue: Room 349 Senate House, University of London

Cost: £50 (£35 for post- and under-graduate students)

Speakers include:

Professor David Martin (LSE)
Professor John Wolffe (Open University)
Dr Peter Brierley (Brierley Consulting)
Dr Lois Lee (University College, London)
Dr Alana Harris (Lincoln College, Oxford)
Dr Andrew Rogers (University of Roehampton)
Rev Dr Babatunde Adedibu (RCCG)

For detailed information and to book a place, visit: www.durham.ac.uk/churchgrowth.research

Symposium on Atheism: the Contemporary Debate

The Florida State University Program for the History and Philosophy of Science, the Friends of the FSU Libraries, the FSU Center for the Humanities and Society and the FSU Libraries will host a symposium titled “Atheism: The Contemporary Debate.” 

This event is a celebration and exploration of major themes addressed by “The Oxford Handbook to Atheism.” The book was edited by Stephen Bullivant, senior lecturer in theology and ethics, St. Mary’s University College, London, who will address the symposium, and Michael Ruse, Florida State’s Lucyle T. Werkmeister Professor and director of the university’s Program for the History and Philosophy of Science, who will serve as the symposium’s master of ceremonies.

The symposium will take place:

FRIDAY, DEC. 6

9 A.M.-4:45 P.M.

STROZIER LIBRARY
SCHOLARS COMMONS READING ROOM

FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY

TALLAHASSEE, FLA.

The schedule, subject to change, is as follows:

8:45-9:15 a.m.: greetings and coffee

9:15-9:30 a.m.: introductions

9.30-10:25 a.m.: John Schneider, Professor Emeritus of Religion, Calvin College, “Aesthetic Goods, God, and Evolutionary Evils”

10:30-11:25 a.m.: Stephen Bullivant, Senior Lecturer in Theology and Ethics, St. Mary’s University College, Twickenham

11:30 a.m.-12:25 p.m.: Kimberly Blessing, Professor of Philosophy and Humanities, SUNY Buffalo State, “Theism, Atheism, and The Meaning of Life”

12:30-1:45 p.m.: lunch

1:45-2:30 p.m.: Jeffrey O’Connell, Ph.D. Student in Philosophy, FSU, “Nietzsche and Atheism”

2:35-3:10 p.m.: Kirk Essary, Ph.D. Student in Religion, FSU, “The Silence of God from Calvin to Cormac McCarthy”

3:10-3:30 p.m.: tea break

3:30-4:25 p.m.: John Kelsay, Professor of Ethics and Religion, FSU, “Atheism in the History of Religions”

For more information contact Sarah A. Buck Kachaluba at sbuckkachaluba@fsu.edu or (850) 645-2600.

You are cordially invited to the NSRN Annual Lecture 2013. It will be given by Professor Emeritus Colin Campbell in conversation with Dr Lois Lee on 5 December at Conway Hall in London. The title of the lecture is The Sociology of Irreligion: Past and Present. The lecture will be followed by a launch for the republication of Toward a Sociology of Irreligion. 

The important details:

• 6.45pm, Thursday 5 December 2013
• Brockway Room, Conway Hall, London

We do hope you will join us. Please RSVP to Dr Stacey Gutkowski, stacey.gutkowski@kcl.ac.uk, if you would like to attend. The event is free but places are limited.