“Religion in a Changing World” – Vladivostok, Russia, 17-19 June 2014

Report by Ryan Andersen

On June 17 through June 19, a seminar entitled “Religion in a Changing World” was held in Vladivostok, Russia. The International Center for Law and Religion at Brigham Young University’s J. Reuben Clark Law School, the Far-East Federal University’s School of Humanitarian Sciences, the Russian Association for the Study of Religion, and the Slavic Legal Center organized the event. Among those present were representatives of different faiths, local government entities, and members of the press. During the three-day seminar, round-table discussions included topics such as “Religion in the Modern World”, “Legal Freedom of Conscience in Russia”, “The Religious Situation in the Russian Far-East”, and “The Philosophical Understanding of Religion.” Russian academics presented more than fifteen papers during the seminar, and the Far-East Federal University’s School of Humanitarian Sciences conducted a refresher course entitled “Religion and Culture in the Modern World” in the days just following the seminar.