#EUARE2020 CONFERENCE PROGRAM David Hamidovic (Université de Lausanne) and Eleonora Serra (Université de Lausanne) Magic in Ancient Near East and Middle East The panel aims to discuss (1) theoretical issues about "magic" and "religion" in Ancient Near East and Middle East with precise examples, (2) ancient texts discussing the so-called "magic", (3) inscriptions and objects relating to "magic". The panel is mainly focused on Ancient Judaism, Early Christianity, Islam, but it accepts papers on other examples in Ancient Eastern Mediterranean Worlds. Chairs: Eleonora Serra (Institut Romand des Sciences Biblique) and Philippe Therrien (Université de Lausanne) Session 1 – Speakers: Philippe Therrien (Université de Lausanne), Simon Magus’s multiple faces in the Pseudo-Clementines Georgios Gaitanos (Logos University), Religion, Magic and Superstition in Early Christian Literature Evy Johanne Håland (Norwegian Government Scholar), Greek Healing Rituals Session 2 – Speakers: Eleonora Serra (Université de Lausanne), The use of scriptural quotations in Jewish apotropaic magic Matteo Silvestrini (Université de Lausanne), Magical elements in the Book of Enoch and his reception David Hamidovic (Université de Lausanne), Love, Magic and Synagogue in Ancient Judaism Eunate Mirones-Lozano (Universidad de Salamanca), Exorcism in Jewish tradition: a case study Valerie Fickert (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin) Determination of life Referring directly to “Determination of Death” (i.e. “Controversies in the Determination of Death”. A White Paper of the President’s Council on Bioethics, Washington DC, December 2008), the reformulation “Determination of Life” hints at a basic issue which is fundamental for all the definitions we find in the classical universitarian disciplines – theology, law and medicine: The fact, that life actually cannot be termined in any way objectively or neutrally. Vivere viventibus est esse, says Aristotle (De anima, II, 4, 415 b 13). Conceptions of life including all definitions of its beginning and end such as the neurological determination of death in the United States in 1968 (“brain deathˮ) may be considered as normative constructions embedded in their respective cultural, historical and contemporary contexts, i.e. as expressions of societies how they currently realize themselves as human beings living in a spatio-temporal continuum. The aim of the panel is to create spaces for an open, interdisciplinary dialogue and for the fundamental-ethical debate that is actually needed considering exemplarily the definition of brain death – underlying moral, ethical and cultural dimensions. Chair: Valerie Fickert (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin) Speakers: Rainer Beckmann (Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg), Our Image of the Human Being and ”Brain Death” Valerie Fickert (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin), Human dignity, medical practice and the need for a new philosophy of medicine within the medical discipline Angus Menuge (Concordia University Wisconsin), The Illusions of Techno-anthropology John Warwick Montgomery (University of Bedfordshire), Human Dignity in Birth and Death: A Question of Values Friedrich Toepel (Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn), The political process of defining life: avoiding pitfalls Davide Dainese (Alma Mater-Università di Bologna) Scriptural Exegesis and Political Thought in War Times The panel aims to focus on the use of Holy Scriptures to set the idea of just war and to metabolize wartime experience. The panel's chronological framework is mostly early modern, but hints to Contemporary History are also accepted. Chair: Davide Dainese (Alma Mater-Università di Bologna) Speakers: Gianmarco Braghi (Fscire) Cornel Zwierlein (Freie Universität Berlin) Peter Schröder (University College London) Alberto Scigliano (Università del Piemonte Orientale) Fulvio Accardi (Università di Padova) Volodymyr Verbytskyi (Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv) The emergence and formation of the issue of gender relations in the religious sphere This panel is devoted to the religious analysis of gender relations in the religious sphere. Accordingly, the main purpose of the topics are to reveal, on the basis of an interdisciplinary approach, the peculiarities of the formation of the specificity of the transformation of the perception of the gender perspective in Protestantism. In order to achieve this goal a number of tasks were set, among them: the desire to disclose the content and to analyze the methodology of research of gender relations on the basis of historical, sociological, philosophical, cultural and religious studies; the analysis of the peculiarities of the application of the main directions of gender theory; the need to clarify the role of the Christian tradition in the problem of stereotyping gender relations in Protestantism; analyze, respectively, the practical aspects of implementing gender equality in the practices of Protestant organizations as an opportunity for the emergence of the phenomenon of women’s ordination; and also the reconstruction and analysis of the peculiarities of interpreting gender problems, for example, of the functioning of Protestant churches in Ukraine. Chair: Volodymyr Verbytskyi (Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv) Speaker: Volodymyr Verbytskyi (Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv) Discussants: Mariia Bardyn (Department of Culture, Nationalities and Religions of the Kyiv Regional State Administration) Iryna Starovoit (Department of Culture, Nationalities and Religions of the Kyiv Regional State Administration) Hlib Starovoit (Department of Culture, Nationalities and Religions of the Kyiv Regional State Administration) Diletta Guidi (Université de Fribourg / GSRL) The power of Art. Governing religion through culture / Art as an empowerment and self-governance tool This panel proposes to explore the links between power and religion through the prism of culture. The speakers will address two main axes. At first, they will explore the place and treatment of religion in public policies of culture. Starting from the postulate that culture is the mirror (Levitt, 2015; Kazerouni, 2017) and the tool of the nation-state (Anderson, 1983; Ronsanvallon, 1990) and its mutations (Guidi, 2019), the treatment of religion in cultural policies thus becomes a means of studying political power in action. While the first part of this panel focuses on cultural regulation of religion, on the power exercised over the other by cultural knowledge (Foucault 1975, Bennett 1995) and on what this framing tells us about politics and society, the second part is interested in the actors of culture and their reactions to this framing. At least as early as the 2000s there has been a boom of religious topics in culture. New labels such as “Muslim artist”, “Jewish stand-up", “Hindu show”, “New Age performance”, etc., are emerging. What are the reactions of the individuals and religious groups involved in this booming trend? Are they using it, accepting it, rejecting it or reinventing it? Thus, culture is at the same time approached as an instrument of categorization, stereotyping and reification of the other as well as a tool of empowerment (Levine, 1995) for religious communities or individuals. Chair: Diletta Guidi (Université de Fribourg / GSRL) Speakers: Clara Turpin (Université du Québec à Montréal), Islam and contemporary art in French cultural institutes. Analysis of two case studies of the exhibition of Islam of France Diletta Guidi (Université de Fribourg / GSRL), God(s) a user’s guide. Visiting an art exhibition as a way to better understand secularism and its political, social and academic definitions Agnieszka Tes (Jesuit University Ignatianum in Krakow), Religion as taboo or religion as indisputable authority. Making endeavor to overcome polarities in presenting religious questions in the chosen exhibitions and art magazines in Poland Urszula Tes (Jesuit University Ignatianum in Krakow), Representations of religion in contemporary Polish cinema Katri Ratia (Université de Fribourg), Art, power and the Mother Earth: Photography in a temporary spiritual community Mattia Geretto (Ca’ Foscari-Università di Venezia) Post-humanism, mythology and religion in contemporary society In our “NBIC” era, we are witnessing a paradox regarding the role of humans. On the one hand, one of the strengths of the posthuman vision consists of a constant reduction of the hierarchical position of humans in nature. On the other hand, this downsizing leads to a more “democratic” view of the relationship between humans and all the other living beings. Posthumanism proposes itself as a decisive overcoming of the traditional “supremacist” vision and of the hierarchies of the past. However, the hyper- sophisticated technologies with which it is possible to alter the surrounding world and human nature are unequivocally an exclusive competence of humans, which therefore surreptitiously affirms their primacy over nature. This leads to tangible consequences, not only in the field of economics and politics, but also in the field of religion. Humans have never felt so omnipotent, almost god-like. If it seems that traditional religion cannot find a space in the posthuman vision, all this is denied by the reality of the facts. Religious discourse is rich in simple dualisms and proliferates in an unsuspected way through new myths and new religions. The category of “new Gnosticism” seems to adequately describe this paradoxical situation. The philosophy of religion is called more urgently than ever to promote criticism