The Senator George J. Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice hosted a collaborative Workshop with the University of Notre Dame on Turbulent Religions, Alternative Futures, bringing together scholars from Queen’s University Belfast and Notre Dame’s Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies and Ansari Institute for Global Engagement with Religion, on 10 and 11 August 2023 at Queen’s University Belfast.

The scholars’ expertise in ‘turbulent religions’ includes the study of how religious actors, institutions, and discourses can disrupt societies and politics, whether that is by contributing to violence or peacefully challenging injustices and inequalities. They are also interested in how religious actors have conceived of the future across time and space, including apocalyptic and utopian thinking. These religiously-informed ‘alternative futures’ are rooted in complex histories, yet also impact on current debates. The scholars’ research analyses the significance and impact of religions in polarizing contexts, including the roles of religion in violence, polarisation, peacebuilding, and imagining alternative futures on the island of Ireland, Palestine/Israel, and the United States.

To enable higher level engagement during the Workshop, delegates submitted papers, all of which were read in advance. 

Panel discussions explored the themes of:

• Zionism, Pilgrimage and Tourism;
• Religions – Pasts and Futures;
• Religions, Violence, and Polarisation;
• Religion and Identity; and
• Religions, Environmentalism, and Sustainability.

Other lines of inquiry emerged from the discussion, including competing conceptions of apocalypse, differing approaches to time, the role of the past in imagining the future, and contested relationships between religion, ethnicity, and politics.  

An edited book or special edition journal will be produced based on the discussions at the Workshop and scholars will pursue further collaboration on the research themes.  

The Notre Dame delegation visited the Corrymeela Community in Ballycastle on 11 and 12 August.  Corrymeela is one of Ireland’s leading faith-based peace and reconciliation organisations who support people from different backgrounds to live well together.  Corrymeela leader Alex Wimberly provided the group with a history of the community and tour of its facilities.  Corrymeela staff Jonny Clark and Shona Bell discussed Corrymeela’s public theology and anti-sectarianism programmes.

Mitchell Institute Director, Professor Richard English commented:

'Research-led debates on major global themes are at the heart of what the Mitchell Institute supports. I'm grateful to Professor Ganiel, and to QUB and Notre Dame colleagues, for this pioneering and important work in partnership.'

Participants included:

• Dr Veronique Altglas, Mitchell Institute Fellow: Religion, Arts and Peacebuilding and Senior Lecturer, School of Social Sciences, Education and Social Work (QUB),
• Dr Merav Amir, Mitchell Institute Fellow: Legacy; Senior Lecturer, School of Natural and Built Environment (QUB),
• Dr Gülseli Baysu, Senior Lecturer, School of Psychology (QUB),
• Dr Jocelyn Dautel, Mitchell Institute Fellow: Religion, Arts and Peacebuilding and Senior Lecturer, School of Psychology (QUB),
• Dr Darren Dochuk, Andrew V. Tackes College Professor of History; William W. and Anna Jean Cushwa Co-director, Cushwa Center for the Study of American Catholicism (ND),
• Prof Richard English, Mitchell Institute Director (QUB),
• Prof Gladys Ganiel, Mitchell Institute Fellow: Religion, Arts and Peacebuilding and Professor, School of Social Sciences, Education and Social Work (QUB),
• Hannah Kramer (QUB),
• Professor David Livingstone, Professor of Geography and Intellectual History, School of Natural and Built Environment (QUB),
• Dr Josh Lupo (ND),
• Prof Cathal McManus, Mitchell Institute Fellow: Legacy and Senior Lecturer, School of Social Sciences, Education and Social Work (QUB),
• Prof Atalia Omer, Professor of Religion, Conflict, and Peace studies (ND),
• Dr Tristan Sturm, Mitchell Institute Fellow: Rights and Social Justice and Senior Lecturer, School of Natural and Built Environment (QUB),
• Prof Thomas Tweed, Harold and Martha Welch Professor of American Studies and Professor of History (ND).

The Workshop was co-ordinated by Professor Gladys Ganiel, Mitchell Institute Fellow: Religion, Arts and Peacebuilding and Professor in the School of Social Sciences, Education and Social Work at QUB, and Professor Atalia Omer, Professor of Religion, Conflict, and Peace studies at the University of Notre Dame

It was supported by Notre Dame, The Senator George J Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Security, and Justice and was funded by the Queen’s University Belfast Global Research Partnerships Development Fund.

_{Left to right: Thomas Tweed, Gulseli Baysu, Merav Amir, Cathal McManus}

_{Left to right: Jocelyn Dautel, Gladys Ganiel, Josh Lupo, Darren Dochuk}

_{Left to right: Richard English, Tristan Sturm, Veronique Altglas, Atalia Omer}