Conferences of interest to EFTRE members

We are happy to publicise conferences of organisations linked to EFTRE, or conferences that might be of interest to EFTRE members. Please contact us with any relevant details.

• Two Nations and Three Religions in Israel and Palestine” - December 30th 2009 – January 11th 2010 - go
• A tribute for Pille Valk - Religious Education in Estonia - September 10th-12th, 2010 - go

The "two state solution" Galillee College, Isreal - Winter Programme

• What does it mean?
• Are all Israelis against it?
• Are all Palestinians in favor?
• What led to both the extreme right and extreme left wing Israeli political parties uniting against this idea?
• Why are the Israeli Arabs not happy with this solution?

These questions and more will be discussed from different perspectives and points of view at The Galillee College upcoming seminar:

“Two Nations and Three Religions in Israel and Palestine”
December 30th 2009 – January 11th 2010.

This short and intensive programme will provide the participants with knowledge about Judaism, Christianity and Islam, their respective roots in Israel and domestic relations. In addition, the Israeli – Palestinian conflict; past, present and future, will be discussed.

For additional information about this upcoming seminar and the summer semester (July 7 – August 10, 2010) please contact:

Mrs. Shoshi Norman
Programme Director (web page: http://www.galilcol.ac.il/page.asp?id=344 )
International Centre of Middle East and Religious Studies
Galillee College
Israel
snorman@galilcol.ac.il

Kind regards & SHALOM

Religious Education in Estonia - A tribute to Pille Valk

The 21st of December, was 50th anniversary of Pille’s birth.

Her colleagues from Tartu University and from different higher education institutions in Estonia are planning an academic conference in her honour on the 10-12th of September 2010 – exactly one year after her death. The conference will be organised in co-operation with the Estonian Association for Teachers of Religious Education. Pille was the founder and one of the leaders of this organisation. The conference will be held in Tartu, a city she loved, and in which she lived and worked for many years.

Religious Education (RE) in Estonia, as it is organised today, has been very much shaped by Pille. Nowadays it is a subject which takes the religious and cultural context seriously. It is a subject which values narratives, and is concerned with learning about religion, but also takes the spirituality of every child seriously.

As you may know from Pille’s presentations over the years, the status of RE in Estonia is far from being secure or clear. The conference is a tribute to Pille, but also an encouragement for our Estonian RE teachers to be confident in continuing Pille’s work , and for teachers, academics and policy makers to take forward the debates Pille started . There are many colleagues in various European and international networks to which Pille belonged who shared our love for Pille and our interest in her work. Therefore we would like to invite colleagues from other countries to the conference .

We are planning three keynote lectures in the general field of spirituality and religious education, a series of workshops and also a commemoration of Pille’s life and work. There will be a possibility to visit Pille’s grave, and to be shown around the city of Tartu, which Pille loved so much.

We know that diaries for next year are already being filled, so it is important to sound colleagues and friends out about the idea of the conference and to give people time to raise the necessary finance to attend. Would you please react to this email to help us to see whether there are people who would like to participate in the conference.