Formichi, Chiara : Small Grant, 2014-2015

Dr. Chiara Formichi (Cornell University) and Dr. Kikue Hamayotsu (Northern Illinois University), in collaboration with Dr. Tom Patton (City University of Hong Kong), will organize a two-day international workshop centred on the theme of religious minorities in Asia. Hosted by the SouthEast Asia Research Centre at the CityUniversity of Hong Kong (on June 12-13, 2015) the workshop will bring together scholars from Australia, China, Malaysia, New Zealand, the UK and the US . The papers will present country cases from South, East, and Southeast Asia (including India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Burma, Cambodia, China, Japan, Indonesia, and Malaysia) to comparatively investigate broader questions of diversity, accommodation and integration, multi-culturalism and pluralism. Amidst a surge of new conflicts – both political and physical - involving religious minorities across Asia and beyond, the workshop will offer a valuable opportunity to discuss empirical research experiences, research methodologies, and findings. The broader aim is to contribute to theoretical as well as policy debates on religious minority rights, religious conflict, and freedom in general. Participants will address key issues pertaining to minorities in religiously divided societies across Asia from historical, legal, political and social perspectives.