​The Oxford Education Research Symposium is a forum for the presentation of papers and discourse by scholars who have a particular interest in the theory and practice of universal education. For Symposium purposes, the nature of education research is defined broadly, encompassing the various aspects of the productive expansion of knowledge.

 

You are invited to make a presentation and lead a discussion on an aspect of education, or you may wish to participate as a non-presenting observer. Your disquisition must adhere to an abstract of about 150 words approved by the Programme Committee of the Symposium.

 

You are also encouraged to submit a full paper, in keeping with your abstract, which may be published in an appropriate journal or book of conference proceedings. All papers presented for publication or inclusion in books or sponsored journals will be subject to peer review by external readers.

The Oxford Symposium on Religious Studies brings together scholars of religion from a wide background, both internationally and in terms of their specific religious interests. This allows for broad engagement and is different from narrowly specialist conferences. The great majority of past participants have found this approach rewarding and professionally helpful.
 

In a global situation where religion is culturally and politically predominant for many, yet marginalised and diminishing for others, and where spirituality is frequently disengaged from institutional religion, the Symposium regularly explores the place of religion in contemporary society: the nature of belief, the place of ritual, the place of family, the significance of community, the balance between Faith (belief, doctrine, and creed) and Practice (ritual, sociology, ethics, politics).
 

Typically, our delegates hail from different faiths, and discussion is conducted with openness and mutual respect. We do not shy away from controversy, either, regularly thinking about religion and politics – how religion affects political life, for example, in the USA, UK, Israel, and Muslim fundamentalist states, and how to enable pluralism and tolerance between societies with clashing ideologies.