Wickedness Conference - Australian Association for the Study of Religions

Perspectives on Evil and Human Wickedness Conference
20 to 25 March 2003, Anglo-American College, Prague, Czech Republic

This inter-disciplinary and multi-disciplinary conference seeks to examine and explore issues surrounding evil and human wickedness. Perspectives are sought from those engaged in the fields of anthropology, criminology, cultural studies, legal studies, literature, philosophy, psychology, sociology, and theology. Perspectives are sought from those working in the caring professions, the media, prison services, politics, psychiatry and other work-related and vocational areas.

Papers, reports, work-in-progress and workshops are invited on issues related to any of the following themes:

* the concept and language of 'evil' and 'wickedness'
* the nature and sources of evil and human wickedness
* moral intuitions about dreadful crimes
* psychopathic behaviour - mad or bad?
* choice, responsibility, and diminished responsibility
* social and cultural reactions to evil and human wickedness
* the portrayal of evil and human wickedness in the media and popular culture
* suffering in literature and film
* individual acts of evil, group violence, holocaust and genocide; obligations of bystanders
* terrorism, war, ethnic cleansing; the evils of terrorism, fear of terrorism, international relations especially with regard to the modern nation state, superpower interventionist strategies, post-war reorganisation following the evils of war
* the search for meaning and sense in evil and human wickedness
* the nature and tasks of theodicy
* religious understandings of evil and human wickedness
* postmodern approaches to evil and human wickedness
* ecocriticism, evil and suffering
* evil and the use/abuse of technology; evil in cyberspace

Papers will be considered on any related theme. 300 word abstracts should be submitted by Friday 13th December 2002. If an abstract is accepted for the conference, a full
draft paper should be submitted by Friday 14th February 2003.

The conference is part of a larger series of ongoing conferences, run under the general banner 'At the Interface'. It aims to bring together people from different areas and interests to share ideas and explore various discussions which are innovative and exciting.

Following the first 'Perspectives on Evil and Human Wickedness' conference, an e-mail discussion group was created and an ISSN e-journal launched supporting the work and research of the conference series.

Five themed volumes have and are in the process of being published; selected papers accepted for and presented at this conference will also be published in themed volumes. In addition, all papers accepted for and presented at the conference will appear in an ISBN eBook. For further details and information, please contact:
Dr Rob Fisher - theodicist@wickedness.net
or see the conference website at - www.wickedness.net/pehw4.htm