Mohammed bin Zayed University for Human Sciences is organizing the International Conference on Religious Studies in Italy next October
Abu Dhabi, May 24 / WAM / Mohammed bin Zayed University for the Humanities is organizing the First International Conference on Religious Studies under the title “Religion and the Human Common: Contemporary Approaches in Theology and Religious Studies,” over the course of two days and October 3, 2026 in Italy, in cooperation with the Italian University of Padova and the University of Eastern Piedmont.
The event embodies the university’s approach towards moving beyond traditional and unilateral approaches to studying religious phenomena, by opening broader spaces for deep critical research, and promoting dialogue between religions and cultures, with the participation of an elite group of thinkers, academics, and experts from various countries of the world, belonging to multiple fields of knowledge.
The conference’s agenda is topped by a group of intellectual issues and major existential questions related to religion and its relationship with society, knowledge and technology, including the interaction between religion and science and the dialectics of the relationship between them, the transformations witnessed by religious discourse in digital environments, in addition to issues of religious diversity, dialogue and coexistence, and the renewed role of religious institutions in modern societies.
The conference seeks to establish an advanced international platform for academic and cognitive dialogue between disciplines, enhance the production of knowledge in religious studies, and expand aspects of research cooperation between global academic institutions, in a way that supports the development of contemporary intellectual models that consolidate the values of tolerance and coexistence, and work to formulate a balanced humanitarian discourse that responds to the challenges of contemporary reality.
In the context of its endeavor to open a broader global horizon of knowledge to understand religion, its transformations, and its renewed questions, the university invited researchers and academics from various parts of the world to participate with their scientific papers in the conference, noting that full details regarding the conditions for participation, dates, and application mechanisms are available on the university’s website.
His Excellency Dr. Khalifa Mubarak Al Dhaheri, Rector of the University, stressed that the conference represents a qualitative shift in the approach to religious studies, and a departure towards formulating an educational and humanitarian discourse that keeps pace with the present, anticipates the future, and responds to the rapid changes around the world, in a way that consolidates values and supports the stability and cohesion of societies.
He pointed out that the real challenge is no longer in producing knowledge, but in transforming it into a driving force for behavior and awareness, stressing the importance of transferring it from the level of interpretation to the space of influence, and translating it into thinking tools that have a tangible societal impact.
He added: “We do not look at studies of religions as a field of knowledge isolated from reality, but rather a space for understanding humanity, its existential questions, its moral challenges, and its cultural transformations. In a world where divisions and misunderstandings are increasing, the need becomes more urgent for a sober cognitive discourse that rediscovers human commons and promotes the values of dialogue, coexistence, and mutual respect.”
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