Lecture & Conversation “Religious discrimination, racism, neither or both?”
Please join us for a conversation on race, racism and religion in Belgium with academics and activists! Prof. dr. Anya Topolski introduces her pioneering work on the ways in which race and religion may intersect in a European context. Together with activists and artists we subsequently discuss how these dynamics manifest themselves in Belgium.
Speakers: prof. dr. Anya Topolski (Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen, the Netherlands), Jean-Luc Rwogera (VUB), Arthemis Imaan (BOEH!) and Anissa Boujdaini (spoken word). Moderation: Dounia Bourabain (VUB)
About the speakers:
Dr. Anya Topolski is an associate professor in ethics and political philosophy at the Radboud University Nijmegen, the Netherlands. She obtained her PhD in Philosophy at the KU Leuven (2008), for which she was awarded the Auschwitz Foundation Prize, with a focus on the political thought of Hannah Arendt and the ethics of Emmanuel Levinas and contemporary Jewish thought. Her current pioneering research brings the conversation on the intersections of race and religion to the European continent. Some of her recent published articles are: ‘Breaking the Post-Shoah Silence About Race in Europe: Whiteness, Antisemitism and Islamophobia’ in Critical Philosophy of Race (forthcoming) and ‘Good Jew, Bad Jew: ‘Managing’ Europe’s Others’ in Ethnic and Racial Studies (2017). Anya Topolski is, in addition to her academic work, the coordinator of the association Another Jewish Voice (Een Andere Joodse Stem) in Belgium.
Arthemis Imaan is representative of BOEH! – Baas over eigen hoofd. BOEH! is a feminist and anti-racist activist platform in Belgium.
Anissa Boujdaini is a spoken word artist. She is known for her critical voice in Belgium debates when it comes to race and racism.
Jean-Luc Rwogera is a PhD student at the Political Science department of the VUB. His doctoral research concerns the position and experiences of black Muslim young people in Brussels.
Dounia Bourabain is a PhD student and teaching assistant at the Sociology department of the VUB. Her doctoral research concerns the position and experiences of women in academia in Flanders.
This event is part of the course “Introduction to Gender & Diversity Studies” and is co-organized by RHEA, EDGE, BIRMM and the Race and Research Network.
Attendance is free but registration is required. Please register on Thursday 19 March the latest.
Questions? Please send a message to Mariska Jung via mariska.jung@vub.be.