The Center for Law and Religion (CLR) hosts academic
conferences, symposia, workshops and other programs on a wide range
of subjects related to law and religion. These programs are held at
the Law School and at St. John’s foreign campuses in Rome,
Italy and Paris,
France. Drawing scholars from around the world, our programs
promote an important open dialogue on the relationship between
religion and the state and the role of law in various religious
traditions.
Representative
Programs:
Religious Liberty in the 2012 Election: A Constitution Day
Debate (September 27, 2012) To mark Constitution Day 2012, the
Center hosted this engaging panel program that brought two leading
law and religion scholars together to discuss topics ranging from
the contraception mandate in the Affordable Care Act to the
so-called “ministerial exception” to the civil rights laws --
religious liberty issues that figured prominently in the 2012
presidential campaign.
State-Sponsored Religious Symbols in the U.S. and Europe (June
22, 2012) Co-sponsored in Rome with the Department of Law at Libera
Università Maria SS. Assunta (LUMSA), this event brought together
leading American and European scholars, judges, and politicians to
address the legality of public religious displays in different
nations. The conference took place at LUMSA's main campus in the
Borgo district, near the Vatican. Proceedings were in English and
Italian with simultaneous translation. Papers will appear in a
forthcoming issue of the Journal of Catholic Legal
Studies.
View full program (PDF).
Colloquium in Law: Law and Religion (Spring 2012) This
innovative seminar, taught jointly by CLR Director Mark Movsesian
and Assistant Director Marc DeGirolami, gave selected St. John's
Law students an opportunity to study with some of the most
prominent thinkers in law and religion, including Supreme Court
Justice Antonin Scalia and Professors Philip Hamburger (Columbia),
Cathleen Kaveny (Notre Dame), Michael McConnell (Stanford), Ayelet
Shachar (Toronto), and Joseph Weiler (NYU).
Other past programs
include:
Careers in Law and Religion (October 23, 2012)
Law and religion is a growing practice area. Lawyers in this field
represent religious institutions, private clients, and all levels
of government. They litigate cases, assist with regulatory matters,
advocate for religious liberty and human rights and arbitrate
before religious tribunals. At this panel program co-hosted by the
Center and the Law School's Career Development Office,
practitioners in this vital practice area discussed their work,
their career paths and their predictions for the future.
Religion and Bankruptcy: Perspectives Thereon and Treatment
Therein (September 16, 2011) Co-hosted by the Center
for Bankruptcy Studies, this conference addressed the
Bankruptcy Code’s treatment of religious organizations and
religious understandings of commercial insolvency. Geoffrey Miller
of NYU provided the conference keynote. Papers are published in the
American Bankruptcy Institute Law Review.
View full program.
Religious Legal Theory Conference (November 5, 2010) This
conference offered a range of perspectives on traditional
religion/state questions and the concept of law in different
religious traditions. Plenary speakers included Professor Steven H.
Shiffrin of Cornell Law School and Professor Steven D. Smith of the
University of San Diego School of Law. Papers appear in the
St. John’s Law Review.
View full program (PDF)
Christians in the Middle East: Contemporary Human Rights Issues
(October 21, 2010) This robust panel discussion sponsored by the
Center addressed the human rights concerns of Christian communities
in the Middle East. Panelists spoke about the daily problems
these communities face and the potential for addressing them
through the international human rights regime.
View full program (PDF)
Laïcité in Comparative Perspective (June 10-11, 2010) The
Center held its inaugural conference, Laïcité in Comparative
Perspective, at St. John’s Paris campus. Scholars
from the United States and Europe presented papers and
particpated in robust roundtable discussions that compared the
French model of church-state relations, laïcité, with
models that exist in other countries, including the United States,
Italy and Spain. The conference proceedings are published in the
St. John’s Journal of Catholic Legal Studies.
View full program (PDF)
To learn more about CLR's program offerings and for more
information on any of our past or upcoming programs, please
contact us.