Event: Calgary - Gender, Culture and Religion:Tackling some difficult questions

[from time to time we publish items of scholarly or general interest in other cities, esp when there are requests for comment or links]

Gender, Culture and Religion: Tackling some difficult questions
The Marsha Hanen Symposium on Ethical Leadership and Gender Equality
October 1 - 2, 2010   Metropolitan Conference Centre, 333 4th Ave S.W., Calgary

The Sheldon Chumir Foundation is concerned with how we organize ourselves so as to live ethically well together – peacefully, with dignity for all and in mutual respect. Equality issues are central to our mandate. This Symposium will provide an opportunity for thoughtful engagement with one set of equality issues – those presented by the tension between gender equality and Canada’s cultural and religious diversity.

Topics and Speakers:

Bedrock in principle, sometimes contested in practice: a framework for thinking about gender equality in Canada today
* Janet Keeping, President, Sheldon Chumir Foundation for Ethics in Leadership
Commentators:
* Tarek Fatah, Founder, Muslim Canadian Congress
* Morton Weinfeld, Professor, McGill University
* Micheal Vonn, Policy Director, BC Civil Liberties Association

Panel: When is state interference with religious or cultural practices justified to advance women's rights? When is it not justified?

* Tarek Fatah, Founder, Muslim Canadian Congress
* Jennifer Koshan, Associate Professor, University of Calgary
* Dan Shapiro, Research Associate, Sheldon Chumir Foundatio

Gender equality and the world we want to live in: Fairness and dignity for women in the developing world
* Lauryn Oates, Projects Director, Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan

Panel: "Honour Killings" in Canada
* Janet Keeping, President, Sheldon Chumir Foundation
* Alia Hogben, Executive Director, Canadian Council of Muslim Women
* Richelle Wiseman, Executive Director, Centre for Faith and the Media

Panel: How do we achieve dignity and respect for all in the face of diversity-inspired challenges?
* Salima Ebrahim, Co-Chair, Religions for Peace, North American Women of Faith Network
* Marilou McPhedran, Principal, University of Winnipeg Global College
* Aruna Papp, Consultant & Counsellor, Cultural Competency
* Morton Weinfeld, Professor, McGill University

Discussion Papers:
After the Symposium, and taking into account the feedback we receive on these discussion papers, we plan to release final versions to the public. Please send us your comments on these papers to feedback@chumir.ca.

* Concept paper on gender equality (stay tuned)
* "Honour" Killings in Canada: What needs to be said? What needs to be done?, by Janet Keeping
* The Honour Killings Debate in Canada, by Richelle Wiseman

Background Resources:
* Culturally driven violence against women: A growing problem in Canada’s immigrant communities, by Aruna Papp
* Religion versus the Charter, by Janice Gross Stein
* Openness to diversity doesn't mean everything "different" is good, by Janet Keeping
* What does misogyny look like?, by Lauryn Oates
* Name honour killings to stop the violence, by Richelle Wiseman