The 19th Annual International Law and Religion Symposium was held 7-9 October 2012 at the J. Reuben Clark Law School on the campus of Brigham Young University.
The Symposium – "Religion, Democracy, and Civil Society" – opened as delegates, invited guests, hosts, students, and friends of the university, as well as viewers worldwide accessing the live Internet stream, heard keynote addresses by Professor Silvio Ferrari, Ambassador Suzan Johnson Cook, and Commissioner Katrina Lantos Swett. Professor Ferrari also received this year's Distinguished Service Award.
During the two days following, more than 75 experts – including government and religious leaders as well as leading academics, from the United States and more than 40 other countries – met in plenary sessions to consider the topics "The Role of Religion in Democratic Transformations", "Religious Organizations, Civil Society, and Pluralism", "Religion in Public and Private." Regional breakout sessions featured delegates from Armenia, Australia, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Cape Verde, China, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Guatemala, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Laos, Liberia, Mexico, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Norway, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Russia, Samoa, South Africa, South Korea, Ukraine, United Kingdom, and Vietnam.
During the concluding plenary session Professor W. Cole Durham, Jr., Director of the International Center for Law and Religion Studies invited ten Symposium delegates to join him in reflecting upon Symposium themes.
The Symposium is sponsored, organized, and hosted by the International Center for Law and Religion Studies.
For more information about the Symposium, please see the links below: