Conference Programme, IARECR 2012
Inter-disciplinary dialogue about reality, knowledge and the pursuit of truth
Canterbury Christ Ch urch University/ King’s College London/ Oxford Brookes University
This conference was made possible by a gift from the Farmington Institute, http://www.farmington.ac.uk/
Friday 7 th September
17.00 – 18.00 Register at Oxford brookes University, Marston Road Campus, Jack Straws Lane,
Marston, Oxford OX3 0FL
Delegates can check in to accommodation from 14:00 pm, at Clive Booth
Postgraduate Centre, John Garne Way, Marston, Oxford OX3 0FN
18.00
– 19.30 Introduction and Keynote Address
Professor Roy Bhaskar
The Spiritual Turn in Critical Realism and MetaReality as a basis for
Interfaith Dialogue and Education
19.30 – 20.30 Buffet Meal
20.30
– 21.30 Parallel Session One
Parallel Session 1.1 Parallel Session 1.2 Parallel Session 1.3
Ontology, Phenomenology and
Truth: False Friends and
Unlikely Allies
David Aldridge, Oxford Brookes
University
Loosening the Grip of the
Technological Hermeneutic
David Lewin, Liverpool Hope
University
Does Critical Religious
Education conflict with the
‘social cohesion agenda’?
Christina Davis, Surbiton High
School
Religious Education, Social
Cohesion, the Big Society and
Religious Truth
Colin Lawlor, University of
Brighton
Critical Realism and the theologically conservative
Christian teacher
Trevor Cooling, Canterbury
Christ Church University
Is Critical Religious Education impossibly hubristic?
John Tillson, Dublin City
University

Saturday 8 th September
08.00 - 09.00 Breakfast
09.00 - 10.00 Keynote Address
Professor Ference Marton
Meaning originates from difference
10.00 - 11.30 Parallel Session Two
Parallel Session 2.1
How do we decide what should be learned about reality?
Stephen Boulter, Oxford
Brookes University
Indirect Realism with a Human
Face
John M DePoe, Marywood
University
Education, Secularism and
Other Ways of Knowing
Saila Poulter, University of
Tampere
Parallel Session 2.2
Chair: Christina Davis
Why Truth and Reality should not be matters of concern for
RE
Roger Butler, Freelance RE consultant
Assessment and Critical
Religious Education: An
Analysis of GCSE Religious
Studies
Ciro Genovese, Canterbury
Christ Church University
Islamic Critical Realism: an
Educational Philosophy for
Contemporary Islam
Matthew Wilkinson, Curriculum for Cohesion
11.30 - 12.00 Coffee
12.00 - 13.00 Keynote Address
Professor Alister McGrath
C.S. Lewis on Realism and Education
Parallel Session 2.3
Mysticism from a
Wittgensteinian Perspective
Eliezer Malkiel, Ben-Gurion
University
Rationalism, Religion & the
Paranormal
Mark Plater, Bishop Grosseteste
University College
Critical Realism and Miracles
Tim Rutzou, Institute of
Education

13.00 - 14.00 Lunch
14.00 - 16.00 Parallel Session Three
Parallel Session 3.1
Praxis makes Perfect
Maureen Ellis, Institute of
Education
Parallel Session 3.2
Bungled Bhāvanā: Can
Buddhist meditation in the classroom ever be an experience rooted in authenticity?
Rae Hancock, Cherwell School
Learning Relativity: creating knowledge in the cosmic world
Arthur Brogden Male, Institute of Education
The Irreducibility of Reality into Factuality
Cenk Özdağ, Boğaziçi
Üniversity/ Maltepe University,
Istanbul
Between East and West:
Dialoguing Schleiermacher and
Ibn Sina on matters of Education,
Reality and Meta-Reality
Mujadad Zaman, University of
Cambridge
Towards a Richer Epistemology of Religious Education Inspired by Critical Realism
Matthew Wilkinson and Basma
Elshayyal, Curriculum for
Cohesion
How can we research, teach and learn about God and religion? An application to the education of social workers about specialist communication skills with parents who are Christian.
Johanna Woodcock Ross,
Oxford Brookes University
What is critical in Critical
Religious Education?
Elina Wright, University of
Oxford
16.00 - 17.00 Keynote Address
Professor Andrew Wright
Only Connect: Metaphysics, Theology, Pedagogy
Parallel Session 3.3
REality: what is real in
Religious Education?
Martin Lee, Presdales School/
University of Cambridge
Religious Metaphysics and
Critical Realism
Kevin Schilbrack, Western
Caroline University
A ‘Divine’ Family Resemblance
Khai Wager, University of
Birmingham