“FORB and Vulnerability”

In 2025, the fifth ISFORB international conference will take place at ETF Leuven. This annual conference organized by the Institute for the Study of Freedom of Religion or Belief (ISFORB) brings together scholars from a variety of disciplines and interested practitioners active in the field of Freedom of Religion or Belief in a warm atmosphere.

The 2025 ISFORB conference on “FORB and Vulnerability” builds on Emmanuel Lévinas’s insight that our shared experience of vulnerability serves as the foundation for inter-human understanding and responsibility. Integrated into a human rights framework, this insight complements the importance of equality among free individuals with a necessity for empathy and attention to difference (Fineman 2015). Concretely, this means that persons and their rights are to be considered carefully with attention to their physicality and socio-economic situatedness, both of which may render some people more susceptive to discrimination and injustices than others. In line with our research focus on freedom of religion or belief (FORB), we seek to explore together how the right to FORB intersects with vulnerability.

The conference will focus on a variety of subthemes, including but not limited to:

• theological or philosophical explorations of how conscience, religion, or belief engage with the most vulnerable aspects of the human person and may render us vulnerable in social interactions;
• empirical observations and analyses of the impacts of FORB policies on vulnerable persons or populations, both positively and negatively;
• the experiences of individuals facing multiple vulnerabilities, i.e., those who suffer from intersectional discrimination (e.g., discrimination based on religion or belief combined with marginalization due to socio-economic status, disabilities, SOGI, age).

Keynote speakers

The following keynote speakers have confirmed at this time:

• Dr. Nazila Ghanea, Professor of International Human Rights Law at the Univers ity of Oxford and UN Special Rapporteur on FORB
• Dr. Steven van den Heuvel, Professor of Systematic Theology & Ethics at ETF Leuven and Director of the Institute for Leadership and Social Ethics

Other researchers join this conversation and present papers on each of these sections or related topics. Academically interested practitioners are also warmly invited to participate in the conference. You can find the Call for Papers here!

Practical Information and Registration

Location
The conference will take place in the Leuven Center for Christian Studies, St. Jansbergsesteenweg 95-97, 3001 Leuven, Belgium (at the premises of ETF Leuven).

Conference fee
Because socializing, peer discussion and networking are key aims of this conference, regular participation in the conference includes two lunches and several coffee breaks. The regular fee for this inclusive participation is € 130. PhD students and ETF alumni can participate with a reduced fee of € 80. ETF Leuven MA students can participate for free (excluding meals). Participation in the conference dinner costs € 40.

Accommodation
Leuven has a broad variety of hotels in different price categories. You can find more information here.

Registration
Registration closes on 21 April.