Organized annually at Oxford University, the “Oxford Symposium on Religious Studies” continues this year with broad participation. At the symposium focusing on religious studies, Assist. Prof. Dr. Omneya Ayad and Assist. Prof. Dr. Arzu Eylül Yalçınkaya from Üsküdar University's Institute for Sufi Studies will present their papers.
The Oxford Symposium on Religious Studies annually brings together those working on religion, both on general international topics and specific religious areas of interest.
Unlike conferences that address specific topics, this is a widely attended symposium that allows for each topic to be discussed from a broad perspective. While participants from past meetings have found this approach valuable and professionally beneficial, today, for many, religion is assessed with its cultural and political connotations. For another group, it is marginalized and its influence is progressively diminishing.
In this situation where we face a global context in which spirituality is often separated from institutional religion, this upcoming symposium is significant in its regular exploration of religion's place in contemporary society.
Topics to be addressed at the symposium include the nature of faith, the place of ritual, the role of family, the importance of community, and the balances between belief and practice.
Assist. Prof. Dr. Omneya AYAD presented her paper titled Abū Madyan al-Ghawth and Divine Unity in His Lāmiyya Ode.
And Assist. Prof. Dr. Arzu Eylül Yalçınkaya will take her place at the symposium with her presentation titled Bridging Role of the Sufi Intellectuals between the Late Ottoman Empire and Early Republican Turkey.