Religious Literacy and Religious Pluralism: New Directions for Research

21–23 October 2026, University of Helsinki, Finland

We are organizing a multidisciplinary symposium in October 2026, bringing together international experts on religious literacy and religious pluralism to discuss future directions in the field. Questions we seek to examine include (but are not limited to): How to best define religious literacy? Does religious literacy work and how can we know if it works? What is the relationship between religious literacy and religious pluralism? How are religious literacy and power intertwined?

You can find more information on the symposium website. You can also see the programme below.

Programme

Wednesday, 21 October 2026

15.00–16.30: Registration (Main Building, side: Unioninkatu 34)

16.15: Opening words (U3032)

16.30–18.00: Keynote: Key Considerations for Religious Literacy in Action (U3032). Alice Chan, Centre for Civic Religious Literacy. Respondent: Paul Bramadat, University of Victoria. Chair: Zeinab Karimi.

18.15–19.45 Reception (U2084, U2085)

Thursday, 22 October 2026

9:00–10:00: Registration and coffee (Main Building, side: Unioninkatu 34, 2nd floor, between the old and the new side)

10:00–11:30: Keynote: Does Religious Literacy Work? Testing Key Claims in the Field (F3003). Titus Hjelm, University of Helsinki. Respondent: Douglas Ezzy, University of Tasmania. Chair: Martin Ubani.

11:30–12:30: Lunch (Main Building, side: Unioninkatu 34, 2nd floor)

12:30–14:00: Parallel sessions 1, see Session Timetable.

  • Critical Religious Literacy: Case studies in theory and practice (F3003)
  • Conceptual 1: What is RL? (U4072)
  • RL in Education 1: Teacher education (U4075)
  • Operationalising RL: From concepts to empirical research (U4078)

14:00–14.30: Coffee (side: Unioninkatu 34, 2nd floor)

14:30–16:00: Parallel sessions 2, see Session Timetable.

  • RL in Education 2: From methodological innovation […] (F3003)
  • Conceptual 2: Beyond traditional conceptualisations (U4072)
  • Empirical 1: Intersections of nationalism, pluralism, and RL (U4075)
  • Empirical 2: Historical approaches to RL (U4078)

18:30: Symposium dinner (for participants registered for dinner). Hima & Sali, Tallberginkatu 1 C.

Friday, 23 October 2026

9:00–9:30: Coffee (Main Building, side: Fabianinkatu 33, 3rd floor, Studium)

9:30–11:00: Parallel sessions 3, see Session Timetable

  • Empirical 3: Does RL influence attitudes? (F3003)
  • RL in Education 3: Secularity, secularisation, and RL (F3004)
  • Applied 1: RL and contemporary media (F3006)
  • Applied 2: Dialogue, extremism and discrimination (F3010)

11:00–12:00: Lunch (side: Fabianinkatu 33, 3rd floor, Studium)

12:00–13:30: Parallel sessions 4, see Session Timetable

  • RL in Education 4: Critical approaches (F3003)
  • Religious Literacy through genocide education? (F3004)
  • Applied 4: RL and power (F3006)
  • Applied 3: RL in work life (F3010)

13:30–14:00: Coffee, closing the symposium (3rd floor, Studium)