The American Experiment: Religious Freedom University of Portland, Garavanta Center for Catholic and Intellectural Life

Dates: April 12-14, 2007
Location: University of Portland
Call for Submissions Deadline: January 15, 2007
Website: http://www.up.edu/garaventa/conference

Call for Papers

The American Experiment: Religious Freedom University of Portland April 12-14, 2007 The purpose of the conference is to examine the religious propositions in the first amendment - their history, their tension, and their power. The theme of the conference has its source in the identity of the University of Portland as a Catholic, Holy Cross, and American institution of higher learning. This triple identity claimed by Oregon's Catholic University calls the university to acknowledge that its flourishing has been made possible by the religious freedom provided by this nation; that its flourishing and the nation’s flourishing are rooted in the recognition of the intrinsic dignity of all human life; and that the spirit of freedom and spirit of religion that together marked the founding of this nation can guide its future.

Topics:

One nation under God • the history of the inclusion of religious liberty in the first amendment • tension and conflicts of the past • aspirations for the future • famous trials and significant rulings • charitable choice • school choice • conscience clauses • comparison to other nations • social issues and religious freedom • religious symbols on government property • conscientious objection • proselytizing • the challenge of the changing religious profile of America and the assimilation of these groups into American culture

Speakers: Justice Antonin Scalia will give the keynote address on April 12.

Other invited speakers include Jean Bethke Elshtain, Judge John T. Noonan, Jr., Judge Diarmuid O’Scannlain, Colin Diver, John H. Robinson, Nicole S. Garnett, Richard W. Garnett, Judge Virginia Kendall.

The conference welcomes submissions of one page abstracts from a wide range of specialties. The conference welcomes submissions from established scholars as well as from graduate and undergraduate students.

Submit one page abstract for papers by January 15, 2007 (notification of acceptance by February 15, 2007) by e-mail to powell@up.edu or mail to

Margaret Monahan Hogan, Ph.D.
McNerney-Hanson Professor of Ethics
Executive Director, The Garaventa Center for Catholic Intellectual Life and American Culture University of Portland 5000 N. Willamette Boulevard Portland, OR 97203

For more information visit our website at www.up.edu/garaventa/conference