HIGHLANDS INSTITUTE FOR AMERICAN RELIGIOUS AND PHILOSOPHICAL THOUGHT

International Conference

August 4 — 7, 2008
Assisi, Italy

The Highlands Institute is pleased to invite proposals for a Conference on

The Impact of Worldviews — Secular
and Religious — on the
Sustainability of Democracies

Some Relevant Topics:

  • Is the concept of worldviews defensible? Is the distinction between secular and religious worldviews useful? Is the notion of a particular religious worldview (Judeo-Christian, Christian, Muslim, etc.) justifiable?
  • Which worldviews or what kinds of worldviews support healthy democracies? Why? What do they have in common?
  • Are the outspoken advocacy of religious worldviews and the conflicts among them incompatible with democratic processes? Are secular worldviews necessarily more compatible with sustainable democracies?
  • How can democracies sustain themselves against threats from extremist worldviews?
  • The United Nations produced two statements on universal values—the Declaration of Human Rights (www.un.org/Overview/rights.html), and the 2005 Millennium Development Goals (www.un.org/millenniumgoals). How are these related to religious and secular worldviews?

 

Plenary Speakers

Marjorie Suchocki, Professor of Theology Emerita, Claremont School of Theology
Andrei Marga, Professor of Contemporary Philosophy and Logic, Babeş-Bolyai University
Gary Dorrien, Reinhold Niebuhr Professor of Social Ethics, Union Theological Seminary
(topics to be announced)
 

Contact the conference co-chairs, Delwin Brown mailto:dbrown@psr.edu and Robert Tapp mailto:tappx001@umn.edu, for additional information, and to submit a registration request and paper proposal.  To download a registration request form as a Microsoft Word document that can be filled out, saved, and emailed to the conference co-chairs as an attachment, click here. To download the same form in Rich Text Format (which can be opened by word processing programs other than MS Word), click here. For information on lodging in Assisi at the conference rate, please see the section on “Lodging and General Information” below.  The conference registration fee is $160 (or Euro equivalents) for participants and $140 for their guests.  Financial subsidies may be available to participants who live outside North America and Western Europe, and to all younger scholars whose papers contribute to the research agenda described on the HIARPT website. Scholarship applications, paper proposals, and registration fees are due no later than January 15, 2008. Refer to the present web page for continuously updated information.

Lodging and General Information

Assisi was selected as the site for the 2008 HIARPT international conference for the following reasons:

  • it is a beautiful city, set on a hillside overlooking a picturesque valley in Umbria;
  • it is an ancient city, the birthplace of St Francis, and location of the Basilica of St. Francis and other historic sites;
  • it is accessible by train from Rome, Florence, and Milan;
  • cars are unnecessary and driving is prohibited within the city itself;
  • there are numerous good restaurants, small hotels, and shops within the city;
  • the city provides attractive lodging accommodations and conference facilities;
  • a friend of HIARPT members, Ana and Bob Tapp, is director of the Centro Francescano Internazionale per il Dialogo (CEFID - Franciscan Center for Inter-religious Dialogue) located in Assisi. He and his assistant have been extremely helpful to us in arranging for our meeting.

 


Plaza in Assisi

ACCOMMODATIONS

Three and possibly four attractive small hotel/conference sites within close proximity to one another, and near the town square, will provide lodging for the 2008 meeting. They offer a range of accommodations, giving participants several options depending on their budget and personal preferences. Each lodging/conference site has given HIARPT until January 2008 to confirm the number of rooms to be reserved for HIARPT conference attendees. No later than mid-February, we will send to those who have indicated a hotel preference, HIARPT-specific information for making their own reservations at the conference rate directly with one of these hotels. In order to attend the entire conference, which ends Thursday night, you will need Assisi accommodations for four nights, arriving Monday, the 4th, and departing Friday, the 8th. Please read the lodging information below. As soon as possible, send an email to Nancy Brown mailto:njdbrown@comcast.net and/or Ana Martinez Tapp mailto:anamay15@comcast.net indicating your name and first and second lodging choices. Also, indicate the number of people and the beginning and ending nights (both day and dates, please) of your stay in Assisi. This is not a reservation! Your response is only for the purpose of allowing us to reserve plenty of rooms of the type desired at the conference rate. It does not commit you to attend the conference (though for planning purposes it assumes a likelihood that you will do so), nor does it commit you to follow through with the indicated hotel preference(s).

The hotel/conference sites for the 2008 conference are:

1.     Casa Papa Giovanni is a very pleasant lodging and conference center. It has two or three break-out rooms that would accommodate 25 to 40 people each. The hotel rooms include 13 doubles, 15 singles, and 5 triple rooms, housing a total of 56 persons. Here the price per person is 50 euros for full board accommodations (3 meals plus bed), 40 euros for half board (2 meals) and 30 euros for B&B. Service and tax is included. These prices are for 2006 but we were assured that for our conference they would not increase substantially by 2008. The rooms here are quite comfortable and tastefully furnished. The dining room, that can seat up to 100 people, and one conference room are beautifully restored rooms with frescos on the ceilings. There is no internet access on site, but there is an internet café about a half block away. There is an elevator for those who do not like to climb stairs. This site also has a garden and a rooftop patio.

2.     CEFID is a large and very attractive interreligious conference center run by the Franciscans. It has a large conference room (seating up to 80+ people) and a somewhat smaller Chapel to be used as a break-out room. Housing accommodations here include 8 single and 2 double rooms, all with private bath. The rooms are small but quite comfortable. There is no food service available but there is a kitchen where one can prepare breakfast and lunch (if desired) to enjoy on the beautiful rooftop patio with lovely views of the valley. Those staying at CEFID, however, can also eat in the dining room at Papa Giovanni’s, located just across the street—the price quoted was 3 euros for breakfast and 10 euros for lunch or dinner. CEFID does not charge for the sleeping rooms, but donations are expected. We urge that those who stay at CEFID contribute 20-25 euros per night. The sleeping rooms are one floor down from the entry level and there is no elevator. There are a couple of computers available for use by guests. Note: At the present time (Fall 2007) we are unsure whether this site will be available for our use. If you wish to indicate a preference for this site for lodging, be sure to indicate a second choice in case it is not available.

3.     Posta Panoramic Hotel is half a block down the street from Papa Giovanni’s and CEFID, toward the square. This 2 star hotel has one small conference room that we can use for meetings, seating 15 to 20 people. For lodging, it offers 18 double rooms, 4 single rooms and 10 rooms that accommodate 3 or 4 people. The prices they quote for a double room in 2008 are 31 euros per person for B&B, 45 euros per person for half board and 54 euros per person for full board. There is a single supplement charge of 13 euros per person for half board and full board. These prices include service and tax. This hotel has a lovely roof top garden where one can have lunch or drinks or simply view the sunset. Many of the rooms have great views of the valley below. The hotel has an elevator and provides internet access. Many of the rooms have just been renovated and the remaining ones are to be renovated during the winter of 2007/08 (in an effort to reach a 3 star rating). The hotel is nicely located and the rooms we saw were quite comfortable. The dining room is quite pleasant.
   In addition to the rooms described above Posta Panoramic Hotel has a newer, smaller unit (Camere Santa Rosa) with 1 single, 5 double, 2 triple, and 1 quad room(s). This unit is located up the hill a bit from the other hotels (a 5-10 minute walk). The rooms are quite nice and it is a little more off the beaten path than the other hotels. The price for these rooms is the same as for the other rooms at the Posta Panoramic.

4.     Hotel Umbra is just off the central plaza and about 2 short blocks from CEFID and Papa Giovanni’s. Umbra is a 3 star hotel with a lovely dining room and a romantic garden dining area. It has no conference rooms. It offers 21 double rooms and 4 singles. This hotel is air-conditioned, has an elevator and provides wireless internet. Their prices for a single are 75 euros for B&B and 98 euros for half board. Pricing for a standard double is 49 euros per person for B&B and 72 euros per person for half board. A superior double is 58 euros per person for B&B and 81 euros per person for half board. These prices include service and tax.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

August is usually hot, but the fact that Assisi is on a hillside means that evening brings cooler breezes, normally making air conditioning unnecessary. Our advance visit was in mid-September when the evenings/nights were very pleasant (without air conditioning).There are numerous restaurants, sidewalk cafes, wine and/or coffee bars, and historic churches and other sites in this area, all within walking distance. One thing to keep in mind when deciding between B&B (breakfast only), half board (breakfast and one other meal), and full board (all meals provided) is whether you wish to experience some of the many different restaurants available to you. Most of the restaurants are moderately priced and the food is excellent.

This international meeting will be somewhat different from HIARPT international meetings in 2003, 1998, and before, because we will not all be staying and eating in one place. However, the three plenary presentations and daily social events will assure that the group can be together at least once daily.

The registration fee--$160 for participants and $140 for their guests—will include coffee/refreshment periods between concurrent sessions, a light buffet on Monday, a guided tour of Assisi on Tuesday, wine and hors d’oeuvres hours on Tuesday and Wednesday, and the Thursday banquet dinner, as well as other significant conference expenses including rental of the beautiful town meeting hall on the central plaza (where the City Council meets) for one or more plenary sessions. Participants may wish to arrange on their own travel in the region of Assisi—e.g., a wine tour, or a trip to Cortona with its extraordinary Etruscan museum—before or after the conference.   

The dates for the conference are August 4–7, 2008 (Monday, beginning at 5:00 p.m., through Thursday evening). If you wish to arrive in Assisi before the 4th or stay after the 8th please indicate that when you send your lodging preference email to Nancy Brown and/or Ana Martinez-Tapp. It should include your name(s), first and second hotel preferences, number of people, and first and last night’s dates.


View from Assisi


Typical Italian market


Village of Cortona, near Assisi
photos by David Conner

 

HIARPT Board
President: W. Creighton Peden
Vice-Presidents: Nancy Howell and Tyron Inbody
Secretary: Jerry Soneson
Treasurer: Jon Taylor

Directors: Susi Pangerl, Michael Raposa, Robert Mesle, Robert Neville, Les Murray, Donald Klinefelter, Randy Auxier, Vaughn McTernan

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