dimanche 22 septembre 2013

McGill Symposium : Religious Freedom in Education (3-5 October)

Education is one of the chief interests of families, of religious communities, and of society and the state; it is both a field of cooperation between private and public bodies and, by nature, a primary cultural and political battleground. It has long been a legal battleground as well, particularly where religious issues arise. From the famous 1940 Minersville case in the USA, for example, to the current Quebec case, Loyola v. Courchesne, the courts have been asked to adjudicate the boundaries between family, religion, and the state. The UDHR (art. 26), the Toledo principles, and various international covenants seek to provide guidance in negotiating these boundaries. The purpose of this symposium will be to explore the question of religious freedom in both public and private education.

The purpose of this symposium will be to explore the question of religious liberty in both private and public education.

NB: The information that follows is subject to correction or change.

List of Contributors
  • Iain Benson (Global Center for Pluralism) *
  • Benjamin Berger (Law, York)
  • Janet Epp-Buckingham (Political Studies, TWU)
  • Dia Dabby (Law, McGill)
  • Paul Donovan (Loyola High School)
  • Douglas Farrow (Arts and Religious Studies, McGill)
  • Asif Iftikhar (Islamic Studies, McGill)
  • Ian Jamison* (Tony Blair Faith Foundation)
  • Solange LeFebvre (Religious Studies, U. Montréal)
  • Ian Leigh (Law, Durham) *
  • Ian Linden (SOAS, London) *
  • Blair Major (Law, McGill)
  • Kevin McDonough (Education, McGill)
  • Eugene Meehan, QC (SupremeAdvocacy LLP)
  • Victor Muniz-Fraticelli (Political Science and Law, McGill)
  • Mawlana Ammar Naasir (Al Shari‘ah Academy, Gujranwala) *
  • David Novak (Religion and Philosophy, Toronto)
  • Mark Phillips (BLG Montreal)
  • Ayaz Sadiq, (Speaker of the National Assembly, Pakistan) *
  • Saleem Khan Safi (Geo Television Network, Pakistan) *
  • Charles Taylor (Philosophy, McGill)
  • Shauna Van Praagh (Law, McGill)
  • Mary Anne Waldron, QC (Law, Victoria)
  • Daniel Weinstock (Law, McGill)
  • Jonathan Waind (Religious Studies, McGill)

* via Bluejeans video conference, courtesy the Tony Blair Faith Foundation

For registration: http://www.newmancentre.org/rfec.shtml.

If you have any questions regarding registration, please contact Linda Diez: 514-398-4106 or newmancentre@mail.mcgill.ca or juli.gittinger@mail.mcgill.ca


Symposium Schedule
 
Thursday 3 October McGill University
 
3:15–4:15 Registration (Newman Centre)

4:45 pm Religion, Education, and the ‘Crisis’ in State Neutrality (Moot Court)

Welcome
Address: Benjamin Berger
Respondent: Solange LeFebvre
6:15 pm Reception (Newman Centre)

7:45 pm Secularism, Religion, and Societal Values (Moot Court)

Chair: Paul Donovan
Panel: Charles Taylor; respondent TBA

How do we determine our collective ‘values’ and principles? What role does religion play in such determinations in societies that regard themselves as 'secular'? And how far is it the responsibility of teachers and educators to reinforce (rather than re-engineer) collective values?

Friday 4 October McGill University (Birks Chapel)
 
9:30 am International Perspectives on Freedom in Education

Welcome: Ellen Aitken
Chairs: Paul Donovan, Dia Dabby
Panel: Iain Benson, Ian Leigh, Ian Linden, David Novak
Tensions respecting education in socially and religiously diverse environments exist in many nations. How are the competing interests of the state, the family, and religious communities being negotiated in other western countries? What are the best resources and strategies for finding a solution to difficult issues? Have the Toledo Principles proved useful? Should the discourse of human rights (per UDHR art. 26, ICCPR art. 18.4, ICESCR art 10.1 and 13) be our focus or should our attention be turned elsewhere, perhaps to more locally devised solutions based on the principle of subsidiarity?

11:00 am Religious Education as a Site of Violence

Chair: Asif Iftikar
Panelists: Mawlana Ammar Naasir, Saleem Safi, Ayaz Sadiq
Violence has been cultivated both by certain forms of religious education (in Pakistan, e.g., or London) and by the suppression of religious education (in Tibet, e.g.). What principles and protocols can be followed in liberal democratic societies to negotiate successfully between the Scylla of an anti-pluralist demand for conformity and the Charybdis of an unregulated pluralism?

12:30 pm Lunch

1:15–2:15 A Place at the Table?

Lunch-time Forum on the Voices of Children and the Role of Families
Chair: Blair Major
Presenters: Dia Dabby, Jonathan Waind
Are the voices of children being heard? How are they recognized and interpreted at law, by educational institutions, by government bodies, etc.? What about parent’s voices? This forum will seek to locate children and families in the discussion of religious freedom in education.

2:30 pm Culture Wars: Majority v. Minority Values

Address: Mary Anne Waldron
Respondent: Daniel Weinstock

4:00 pm What can be taught neutrally? (Can religion, ethics, sex, or law?)

Chair: Douglas Farrow
Panel: Janet Epp-Buckingham, Ian Jamison, Kevin McDonough, Shauna Van Praagh
The claim is made by the Quebec Ministry of Education that ethics and religious culture must be taught neutrally or non-confessionally. An analogous claim is made in various places that sex education should be delivered without reference to any particular moral framework. Again, the claim is made (by the Canadian Council of Law Deans) that a confessional school is no place for a recognized law program. How are we to understand such claims? What does it mean to teach ‘neutrally’? Are public institutions more likely to achieve objectivity, at least, than private or religious ones?

Saturday 5 October Loyola High School (Atrium)
 
9:30 am The Supreme Court of Canada on ‘Religious Law’: where we’ve been, where we are, where we’re going

Welcome: Fr Michael Murray
Address: Eugene Meehan
Respondent: Mary Anne Waldron

11:00 am Loyola v. Courchesne: What really is at stake?

Chair: Victor Muniz-Fraticelli
Panel: Paul Donovan, Daniel Weinstock, Mark Phillips
This case, currently before the SCC, brings together questions about the nature of religious freedom, the role of religious institutions in public education and their relation to the state, whether such entities can qualify as legal persons claiming rights and freedoms, and much more. What are the competing ideas of religious freedom in play in Loyola? How might the Court's decision affect religious education throughout the country?

12:30 pm Lunch

1:30 pm Does it still make sense to speak of religious freedom?

Address: Douglas Farrow
Respondent: Victor Muniz-Fraticelli

2:45 pm General Forum