FEMININE GENIUS
Women Leadership for a Just and Compassionate Society
(Jointly Organized by Journal of Dharma, Dharmaram Vidya Kshetram, Bangalore, India & Globetics.net India)
Dates: 29-30 July 2016
Venue: Dharmaram Vidya Kshetram, Bangalore, India
In 1930, Mahatma Gandhi wrote in Young India: “To call woman the weaker sex is a libel; it is man’s injustice to woman. If by strength is meant brute strength, then, indeed, is woman less brute than man. If by strength is meant moral power, then woman is immeasurably man’s superior. Has she not greater intuition, is she not more self-sacrificing, has she not greater powers of endurance, has she not greater courage? Without her, man could not be. If nonviolence is the law of our being, the future is with woman. Who can make a more effective appeal to the heart than woman?"
Fifty years ago, Vatican Council II, in its prophetic message to women, declared: “The hour is coming, in fact has come, when the vocation of women is being acknowledged in its fullness, the hour in which women acquire in the world an influence, an effect and a power never hitherto achieved. That is why, at this moment when the human race is undergoing so deep a transformation, women imbued with a spirit of the Gospel can do so much to aid humanity in not falling."
Journal of Dharma (an international journal of religions and philosophies, published by Dharmaram Vidya Kshetram, Bengaluru) and Globethics.net India (with its headquarters in Geneva and regional office in Bengaluru) jointly organize a three-day international conference involving other Universities and Institutions on “Feminine Genius: Women Leadership for a Just and Compassionate Society.” This conference aims at investigating forms, persons, and institutions promoting Gender Justice and Women Empowerment during 29-31 July 2016. This conference will be covering the following subtopics: (1) Gender and Society examining role of women in the society by scholars from the fields of Economics, Political Science, Law, History and Management; (2) Gender and Philosophy, critically and creatively evaluating the fields of Feminine Ethics, Care Ethics and Environmental Ethics; and (3) Gender and Religion, exploring the role of women in Religions, Interreligious Dialogue, and Peace Initiatives of Religious Women.
Selected papers will be published in Journal of Dharma (ISSN: 0253-7222; with ISI listing, indexed also in Scopus) and later as an edited volume. These papers, both in the article form and in the book form, will be made available on Globetics.net Online Library as well.
It is our hope that if religion and society could harness their own inner powers, significant changes could be brought about in human perception about the gender issues in general and the status of women in particular. From time immemorial, although society and religion have been making claims and initiating various processes to promote women, the overarching patriarchal systems have not yet been capable of according equal status to all members ignoring and nullifying gender differences and biases. In this context, we believe that philosophy can also play a vital role in ensuring that both society and religion are supported and inspired by critical and creative perspectives that philosophy can bring about. Indeed, the confluence of society, religion, and philosophy around the issues of gender discrimination and disparity could lead to new avenues of enlightened thinking and transformative practices by harnessing genuine human powers, which can redeem humanity as a whole by redeeming the ignored, exploited, and ill-treated women who constitute, at least, half of the entire human race.
Hence, the proposed conference on “Feminine Genius: Women Leadership for a Just and Compassionate Society” hopes to pool together women and men of goodwill – from different socio-political backgrounds, religious affiliations, and philosophical perspectives – to critically and creatively deliberate about the prospect of a renewed social and religious understanding that can pave the way for revamping our existing socio-religious structures insisting on the noble principles of truth and love, justice and compassion along with liberty, equality, and fraternity. During this conference, it is our hope that we would be able to celebrate and affirm the greatness of women genius which is many a time neglected in the mainstream discourses, be it secular or religious at national as well as international levels. Thus, we dream of a new ethos in which feminine genius is celebrated and the days in which those women who are being stripped of their dignity and just place become fitting partners and creative leaders who can nurture a holistic ‘womb’ that gives rise to a dynamic but peaceful and caring socio-religious existence of humanity in the twenty-first century.
Registration and Call for Papers: Registration for the conference and call for papers is open from 8 March 2016. Enquiries and requests could be sent by email to femininegenius2016@gmail.com. Interested scholars may send their proposed theme for presentation along with a brief abstract (around 350 words) and a brief CV (150 words) as attached files by email to the above-given email address.
CONTACT DETAILS
Prof. Dr. Jose Nandhikkara CMI Prof. Dr. Saju Chackalackal CMI
Convener of the Conference Convener of the Conference
Mobile: +91 94 48 832280 Mobile: +91 94 80 022339
Email: nandhikkara@dvk.in Email: sajucmi@gmail.com
Conference Email: femininegenius2016@gmail.com
DVK Office: +91 80 41 116333
For updates: http://femininegenius2016.blogspot.in/
