Newsletter 24 December 2014
Dear Friends,
As 2014 comes to a close, we at the International Center for Law and Religion Studies look back on a busy and productive year. We are constantly conscious of how much of our success depends on collaboration with others, particularly those receiving this newsletter, and for that collaboration we express our gratitude. We are working on an annual report for 2014, which will provide a more comprehensive review of activities, but we did not want to let the Christmas and New Year’s season pass without sharing greetings and appreciation.
Most notable as we look back is the impressive series of conferences in which the Center has participated, often as a co-sponsor. In addition to our annual International Law and Religion Symposium in Provo, we participated in or co-organized more than twenty-five other conferences this year. These included conferences held on every continent except Antarctica. Particularly significant... more
Newsletter 21 December 2013
Dear Friends,
On behalf of all of us working at the International Center for Law and Religion Studies at BYU, I want to extend our warmest personal holiday greetings. We approach the conclusion of another year of endeavor with gratitude for new friendships made and longtime friendships strengthened and renewed.
Reviewing the events of the past year while preparing our 2013 Annual Report has reminded me of the remarkable opportunities we have had to collaborate with others. This year we held our 20th Annual International Law and Religion Symposium, devoted to discussions about "Religion and Human Rights."... more
Newsletter 24 December 2012
Wishing You Peace and Joy
in this Season of Worship and Renewal
International Center for Law and Religion Studies
2012 Year in Review
Newsletter 16 January 2012
Reflecting on the endeavors of 2011 and plans and hopes for the coming year, it is fitting that we send this New Year's Greeting on January 16, Religious Freedom Day in the United States. This is a traditional day of celebration for our nation's commitment "to religious liberty not only for all Americans, but also for individuals around the world." As we celebrate this day, at the beginning of the 12th year of the official existence of the International Center for Law and Religion Studies, we recall 2011 as a year of exceptionally hard work, with exceptionally gratifying results.
During 2011, Center personnel, with the help of many friends and colleagues, organized, sponsored, and otherwise participated in some 48 conferences, training sessions, and other events worldwide, including the 18th Annual International Law and Religion Symposium here in Provo. In addition, the first Religious Freedom Discussion Series, co-sponsored by the J. Reuben... more
Newsletter of 11 November 2011
"The Center held its Eighteenth Annual International Law and Religion Symposium, "Religious Freedom in a Pluralistic Age: Trends, Challenges, and Practices," October 2-4, 2011. This event continued the tradition of bringing together a diverse group of figures involved in issues of law and religion and religious freedom to address trends, concerns, and best practices. Participants brought insights from their experience as members of the judiciary, government officials, NGO activists, media personalities, religious leaders, and scholars.... more
Newsletter of 13 July 2011
The first half of 2011 saw unprecedented activity at the International Center for Law and Religion Studies of the J. Reuben Clark Law School, Brigham Young University. Center representatives participated in some two dozen conferences, lectures, roundtables, constitution- and capacity-building endeavors, and other presentations in the United States and in fifteen countries worldwide. In addition to those reported in this newsletter were events in Utah, California, Texas, Nevada, Britain, Poland, Belgium, Austria, Serbia, Hungary, Turkey, Indonesia, and Nepal. ... more
Newsletter of 25 January 2011
At the beginning of 2011, we at the International Center for Law and Religion Studies at Brigham Young University mark the opening of the second decade of the Center's formal existence. This is a time of both reflection and recommitment, of both gratitude and hope. As we ponder what we have attempted to accomplish during the past decade in service to the people and the causes we hold dear, we remember and cherish associations with our friends in many lands who are likewise engaged in promoting what is to us a most fundamental human freedom: the freedom to think and to express those thoughts, the freedom to believe and to manifest beliefs, alone or in peaceful association with others, according to the dictates of... more
L-R: Oleksandr Zaeits (Ukraine), Qianfan Zhang (China), Tahir Mahmood (India), Kamal Hossain (Bangladesh)
Newsletter of 10 November 2010
"We urgently need to build bridges with the Islamic world. I can think of few projects that are more crucial at the present time." – Author Karen Armstrong, quoted by Dr. Kamal Hossain
At the close of the Seventeenth Annual International Law and Religion Symposium at Brigham Young University on Tuesday afternoon, 5 October 2010, ICLRS Director W. Cole Durham invited several of the conference's distinguished participants – from Columbia, Canada, Ukraine, China, Bangladesh, and India – to join him on the dais in the Moot Court Room of the J. Reuben Clark Law School for concluding remarks.... more
Newsletter of 24 September 2010
Summer 2010 has been extraordinarily busy for everyone at the International Center for Law and Religion Studies. Conferences, presentations, book launches, and training sessions have taken Directors Cole Durham, Brett Scharffs, and Elizabeth Sewell away for much of the summer, concluding with a first-of-its kind three-week training program on religion and the rule of law conducted at Peking University by Professors Durham and Scharffs. Meanwhile, other Center personnel, assisted by student research fellows, visiting student externs, and an expanding network... more
Newsletter of 30 June 2010
The second quarter of 2010 has been productive and rewarding for the scholars and supporters of the International Center for Law and Religion Studies. As you will read in this newsletter, important conferences have taken Center personnel, associates, and friends into fruitful discussions in the United Kingdom, Europe, and Far-Eastern Russia. In Provo, we have enlisted student researchers from the J. Reuben Clark Law School as well as Summer Research Externs from nine other law schools to assist with our numerous ambitious publishing projects. The 2010 Student Research Fellows are in the midst of their various assignments at the Center, in Salt Lake City, and abroad.... more
Newsletter of 16 April 2010
The first quarter of 2010 has been eventful and productive at the International Center for Law and Religion Studies. Already this year Center representatives have traveled to Malaysia, Belgium, Switzerland, Ghana, and most recently to Como, Italy, where the Center co-sponsored the workshop "Law and Religion in Mediterranean Islam" with Università dell’Insubria. Center personnel made presentations in Salt Lake City in February at the J. Reuben Clark Law Society Conference "Service for Good through the Law" and in March participated in a symposium on "The Future of Rights of Conscience in Healthcare" held at Brigham Young and co-sponsored by the BYU Law School, Ave Maria Law School, and the University Faculty for Life. Also in March, Cole Durham... more
Gary Doxey, Bob Smith
Newsletter of 25 January 2010
Greetings to our friends around the world, from all of us here at the International Center for Law and Religion Studies at Brigham Young University! As we take this opportunity to recall important events and accomplishments, we send warmest wishes to all of you for an even brighter new year to come.
This month marks ten years since the official launch of the Center in January 2000, following upon another decade of laying groundwork, making contacts, and organizing conferences through the Law... more
Elizabeth Sewell, Aidar Abuov
Newsletter of 19 October 2009
As we at the International Center for Law and Religion Studies reflect upon the just-concluded and very successful 16th Annual International Law and Religion Symposium, we wish to share a report of the conference with our many friends worldwide and to express our deep gratitude for those who traveled from 44 countries of Europe, Asia, Africa, the Middle East, North and South America, and the Pacific to be with us in Provo, Utah. "Connecting Communities of Discourse: How the Judiciary, Academia, Government and International... more
Newsletter of 28 September 2009
To our friends of the J. Reuben Clark Law Society:
This special edition of the Newsletter of the International Center for Law and Religion Studies (ICLRS) at J. Reuben Clark Law School has been created for you, to inform you of activities of the Center that might be of interest to you, and to invite you to join with us in our upcoming 16th Annual International Law and Religion Symposium, in person at the Law School, or by receiving the live broadcast of the opening session on Sunday evening, 4 October 2009.
Many of you who have affiliation with or interest in the Center will have heard from us already this week. We are sending this special edition to reach the rest of you, and to provide more information... more
Newsletter of 22 September 2009
This publication, the 22 September 2009 Newsletter of the International Center for Law and Religion Studies at Brigham Young University, signals the beginning of a new era in communication with our colleagues around the world. For more than a year the Center has been busy updating and modernizing its websites and developing a new proprietary software that permits electronic newsletters to be more easily created from information already posted to any of our four sites. We hope that you enjoy this trial newsletter, offering in advance of the 2009 Symposium but a sampling of the Center's activities since last you heard from us. Look for more information soon about... more