Toleration and Freedom: The American Experience in Context
A day-long conference co-sponsored by the Boisi Center and Boston University's Institute for Philosophy and Religion.
Date: March 25, 2011
Location: Photonics Center Colloquium Room, located at 8 St. Mary's Street, 9th Floor, Boston University.
Conference Schedule
9:45 a.m.: Continental Breakfast
10:15 a.m.: Opening Remarks (Allen Speight, Institute Director)
10:30 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.:
Panel #1: Contemporary and Comparative Questions of Toleration
- Chair: Allen Speight
- The Sustainability of Toleration in Public Discourse"
Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na'im, Emory University School of Law
- Civic Education in Public Schools: Can the State Teach Tolerance?"
Erik Owens, Dept. of Theology, Boston College
- Feathers and Freedom: What the Case of U.S. vs. Wilgus Tells Us about Toleration in America"
Jay Wexler, Boston University School of Law
12:30- 1:30pm: Lunch
2:15-3:45 p.m.:
Panel #2: Early Modern Perspectives on American and European Toleration
- Chair: Erik Owens
- "Apples and Oranges: The Varied Forms of Religious Toleration in Early Modern Europe"
Benjamin Kaplan, Dept. of History, University College, London
- The Appeal to Conscience in Early Modern England and America: Success or Failure?"
David Hall, Harvard Divinity School
3:45-4:00 p.m.: Break
4:00-5:30 p.m.:
Panel #3: Diversity and Toleration
- Chair: Charles Capper Department of History, Boston University
- Evangelical vs. Ecumenical Perspectives on Tolerance and Diversity in the USA Since World War II"
David Hollinger, Dept. of History, University of CA, Berkeley
- "Shari’ah Law in the US"
Noah Feldman, Harvard Law School
Concluding Discussion
5:45-6:30 p.m.: Reception