Chicago, Illinois—The historic Religious Education Association (REA) will convene its 110th annual meeting in Chicago, November 7-9, 2014, addressing the theme “Religion and Education in the (Un)Making of Violence.”
Founded in 1903 by William Raney Harper, the first President of the University of Chicago, the Religious Education Association today is an interreligious, international association of scholars, researchers, and practitioners who work in a wide variety of institutional settings. The REA fosters interreligious and interdisciplinary dialogue and efforts to address exigent issues in societal and global arenas; and at the intersections of religion and education, interrelates practices of scholarship, teaching, and leadership in faith communities, academic institutions, and the wider world.
The 2014 theme, “Religion and Education in the (Un)Making of Violence,” is rooted in pressing and practical concern for escalations of violence witnessed daily in local and global events. Through scholarly presentations, breakout discussions, the arts, and site visits to anti-violence groups in Chicago neighborhoods, participants will explore specific forms of violence at the individual, cultural, and structural levels, raising questions about religious, cultural, and socio-political mechanisms that breed the matrix of violence in question. The ultimate concern is to generate insight into pedagogies, practices, and strategies needed to facilitate the “un-making” of violence.
The meeting features the much-acclaimed one-woman play, “Unveiled,” performed by Chicago-based playwright and actress, Rohina Malik, in which she explores the significance of the hijab, the traditional Muslim headscarf, in the lives of five contemporary women.
The REA invites local members of diverse faith traditions and interreligious organizations; groups combatting violence; professors and students in local theology schools; and teachers in religiously-affiliated high schools to attend all or parts of the meeting–and asks that this information be forwarded to such constituencies.
Local on-site registration is available for just $50 per day.
The meeting site is the Doubletree Hotel, 1909 Spring Road, Oak Brook, IL 60523. Details can be found at http://www.religiouseducation.net/rea2014 .
