Past Events

"Can We be Done with Original Sin: Political Theology, Legal Interpretation, and the Decision" Prof Paul Kahn (March 19, 2018)

March 19, 2018 “Can We be Done with Original Sin: Political Theology, Legal Interpretation, and the Decision" Prof Paul Kahn (Yale University) 12:30pm to 2:00pm, Room 318, Jackman Humanities Building RSVP Required: www.osgoode.yorku.ca/research/rsvp In Political Theology, Carl Schmitt wrote, "Every political idea in one way or another takes a position on the 'nature' of man […]

"Merely Political or Meaningfully Religious? Indigenous Protest Rituals and Their Legal Afterlives" Prof Greg Johnson (February 7, 2018)

February 7, 2018 “Merely Political or Meaningfully Religious? Indigenous Protest Rituals and Their Legal Afterlives" Prof Greg Johnson (University of Colorado)12:30pm to 2:00pm, Room 2027, Osgoode Hall Law School RSVP Required: www.osgoode.yorku.ca/research/rsvp Standing near the summit of Mauna Kea, two stone ahu (altars) are sites of contemporary Native Hawaiian religious vitality.  The State of Hawai`i, […]

"Finding Religion: Assessing Religion-Based Asylum Claims" Dr Helge Årsheim (November 1, 2017)

November 1, 2017 “Finding Religion: Assessing Religion-Based Asylum Claims" Dr Helge Årsheim (University of Oslo)2:30pm to 4:00pm, Room 2010, Osgoode Hall Law School RSVP Required: www.osgoode.yorku.ca/research/rsvp Asylum seekers around the world frequently base their claims for protection on religious conversion leading to persecution.  This raises a number of difficult issues, including how courts and tribunals understand religious […]

"Institutional or Individual: What is Religious Freedom in the United States Today?" Prof Leslie C. Griffin (March 8, 2017)

March 8, 2017 “Institutional or Individual: What is Religious Freedom in the United States Today?" Professor Leslie C. Griffin (UNLV)12:30pm to 2:00pm, Room 2027, Osgoode Hall Law School RSVP Required: www.osgoode.yorku.ca/research/rsvp This paper will argue that the U.S. government has usually interpreted religious freedom to protect institutions and frequently ignored the interests of religious individuals. Interpreting the […]

"Buddhism, Constitutionalism and the Limits of Law" - Dr. Ben Schonthal (October 5, 2016)

October 5, 2016 “Buddhism, Constitutionalism and the Limits of Law" Dr. Benjamin Schonthal (University of Otago) 12:30pm to 2:00pm, Room 2027, Osgoode Hall Law School RSVP Required: www.osgoode.yorku.ca/research/rsvp Like approximately half of the world’s basic laws, Sri Lanka’s constitution gives preferential status to the country’s majority religion, Buddhism. While this arrangement seems to place public law […]

"The Everyday Life of Religious Difference: Governing Religion in Quebec" - Prof. Amélie Barras (November 2, 2015)

November 2, 2015 “The Everyday Life of Religious Difference: Governing Religion in Quebec" Prof. Amélie Barras (York University)12:30pm to 2:00pm, Room 2027, Osgoode Hall Law School RSVP Required: www.bit.ly/osresearch, Event Code: LRST12 In 2007 during a public audience of the Bouchard-Taylor commission, Gerard Bouchard, one of the commissioners, asked a Moroccan association, whether and how frequently they […]

“The Sexual Politics of Religious Freedom: Protest and Secularism in the Age of AIDS" - Prof. Anthony Petro (October 14, 2015)

October 14, 2015 “The Sexual Politics of Religious Freedom: Protest and Secularism in the Age of AIDS" Prof. Anthony Petro (Boston University) 12:30pm to 2:00pm, Room 2027, Osgoode Hall Law School RSVP Required: www.bit.ly/osresearch, Event Code: LRST11 In December of 1989, several thousand AIDS activists staged a protest at St. Patrick's Cathedral, the seat of the Archbishop of […]

"The Tempting of Europe: a Schmittian Reading of Christianity and Islam in European Constitutionalism" - Prof. Susanna Mancini (March 13, 2015)

March 13, 2015 “The Tempting of Europe: a Schmittian Reading of Christianity and Islam in European Constitutionalism" Prof. Susanna Mancini (Università di Bologna) 12:00pm to 1:30pm Department for the Study of Religion, University of Toronto Jackman Humanities Building, Room 318, 170 St. George Street This talk examines legal and political responses to the growing presence of Islam in the European […]

"Religion, Vaccines, and Violence: Anxiety about the End of 'The World'" - Prof. Paul Bramadat (January 22, 2015)

January 22, 2015 “Religion, Vaccines, and Violence: Anxiety about the End of 'The World'" Prof. Paul Bramadat (University of Victoria) 12:30pm to 2:00pm, Room 2027, Osgoode Hall Law School RSVP Required: www.bit.ly/osresearch, Event Code: LRST9 What happens when our institutions, practices, laws, and norms are challenged by individuals and groups attached to potentially irreconcilable accounts of the world?  Two […]

“Bad Jews and Soft Crimes: Dispatches from the Construction of Masculinity" - Prof. Sarah Imhoff (October 15, 2014)

October 15, 2014 “Bad Jews and Soft Crimes: Dispatches from the Construction of Masculinity" Prof. Sarah Imhoff (Indiana University) 12:30pm to 2:00pm, Room 2027, Osgoode Hall Law School RSVP Required: www.bit.ly/osresearch, Event Code: LRST8 How do cultural assumptions about religion and gender interact with criminality? In their historical attempts to understand crime, biological and racial theories have […]