Conferences in Bratislava, Slovakia, and Volgograd, Russia

October 2009 – Bratislava and Volgograd

International Center for Law and Religion Studies Associate Director Elizabeth Sewell and ICLRS Director W. Cole Durham, Jr. participated in recent conferences in Slovakia and Russia respectively.  Professor Sewell presented a paper,”State Funding and Autonomy of Religious Groups,” at the conference “Financing of Churches and Religious Societies in the 21st Century,” an international conference held under the auspices of the Minister of Culture of the Slovak Republic, 14-15 October 2009 in Bratislava.  Professor Durham traveled to Volgograd, Russia, to participate in a “Dialogue between the State and Religious Associations in Contemporary Culture,” an international scientific practitioners’ conference held 20-23 October 2009 and sponsored by the Expert Council under the Commissioner for Human Rights in Russia, the Administration of Volgograd Region, Volgograd State University, The “Knowledge” Society of Russia (an All-Russia Public Organization), The Volgograd Branch of the Scientific and Educational Cultural Society, and the Association of Researchers of Religion.  Along with Andrei E. Sebentzov, Executive Secretary of the Commission on Religious Associations of the Government of the Russian Federation and State Councilor of Russia 1st Class, Professor Durham participated in the plenary session, “Civil-Law Relations of Religious Organizations as Legal Persons.”