Conference:
Untying the Knots: Theorizing Conflicts between Gender Equality and Religious Laws
Date: Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Time: 8:30am-5:30pm
Location: Hassenfeld Conference Center, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA
An international conference bringing together theorists, policymakers and activists to discuss ways of conceptualizing and engaging with gender and culture/religion conflicts. Speakers will discuss struggles in Canada, Israel, Senegal, South Africa, and the U.S.A.
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Keynote Speaker: Martha Minow, Jeremiah Smith, Jr. Professor of Law, Harvard Law School
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Martha Minow writes about human rights and advocacy for members of racial and religious minorities and for women, children, and persons with disabilities.
Professor Minow is the author of many books including Between Vengeance and Forgiveness: Facing History After Genocide and Mass Violence (1998), which was awarded the American Society of International Law Certificate of Merit, 2000. She served on the Independent International Commission Kosovo and helped to launch Imagine Co-existence, a program of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, to promote peaceful development in post-conflict societies. She recently completed a 5-year partnership with the federal Department of Education and the Center for Applied Special Technology to expand access to the general curriculum for students with disabilities. She directs the Seevak Fund for Facing History at Harvard law School. Professor Minow's research interests include: Equality and inequality; human rights and transitional societies; law and social change; religion and pluralism; civil rights, privatization of governmental activities and the rule of law.
Click here to read Ms. Minow's keynote address.
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Additional Featured Speakers:
Fatou Camara, Université Cheikh Anta Diop de Dakar, (Senegal) on The Temple of Initiated Women: A Framework for Culturally Meaningful Feminist Expression in Rural Areas
Click here to view a slideshow related to her lecture.
Souad Eddouada - UNABLE TO ATTEND -Iben Tofail University on Contextualizing the Family Code Change in Morocco
Ronit Ir-Shai, Bar Ilan University/Harvard Divinity School on Women's Dignity and the Philosophy of Halakhah: What is the Right Question?
Norma Baumel Joseph, Concordia University on Civil Solutions to Religious Problems: A Feminist Perspective
Ruth Halperin-Kaddari, Bar Ilan University on Gender and the Struggle Over Jurisdiction Between Rabbinical Courts and Civil Courts in Israel
Irit Koren, Columbia Univeristy on Orthodoxy, Feminism and the Traditional Jewish Wedding Ritual: What it Takes for Foster Change in a Religious System.
Rashida Manjoo, University of Cape Town on The Recognition of Muslim Personal Laws in South Africa: Implications for Women's Human Rights
Likhapha Mbatha, University of the Witwatersrand Recognition of Polygamous Marriages in South Africa
Linda McClain, Boston University on Marriage Pluralism in the United States
Michal Roness, Nishmat Women's Hotline on Institution of Change: On Being a Yoetzet Halacha
Anne Saris, Université du Québec à Montréal on Between State and Religious Orders: The Resolution of Family Conflicts by Canadian Muslim Women
Susan Weiss, Centre for Women's Justice on How the Tort of Get-Refusal can Help Unravel the Israeli Version of the Multi-Cultural Dilemma: Theory and Practice
This program is free and open to the public.
Seating is limited. RSVP strongly encouraged.
Parking is available next to the Brandeis Univeristy campus in the J lot. Click here for a university map showing lot J. Parking shuttles will be provided to the conference.
Parking is limited. Commuter train service is available from Boston's North Station (Fitchburg / South Acton line) to the Brandeis/Roberts Station that borders the campus.
See MBTA commuter rail schedules
Please RSVP to hbi@brandeis.edu. Please include your full name as well as the name and number of people attending.
This conference is generously funded by gifts from the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Hadassah Endowment and the Dan Fischel and Sylvia Neil Philanthropic Fund.
This conference is co-sponsored by the following:
Fanya Gottesfeld Heller Center for the Study of Women in Judaism at Bar Ilan University, The International Center for Ethics, Justice and Public Life and the Schusterman Center for Israel Studies.
For directions to Brandeis University, please click here
For a map of Brandeis University highlighting the Hassenfeld Conference Center, please click here
Recommended area hotels:
Westin Waltham
Doubletree Waltham
Summerfield Suites
Hilton Garden Inn
Marriot
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