2015 Parliament of the World’s Religions, OCT 15-19

2015 is the Year of the Parliament!

The Parliament of the World’s Religions invites proposals for programs for presentations at the 2015 Parliament of the World’s Religions in Salt Lake City, Utah, October 15-19, 2015.

Share Your Wisdom at the 2015 Parliament!

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CALL FOR PROGRAMS

Thousands of people submit program proposals for the Parliament and a team of interfaith and subject experts select about 10% of those proposals to be a part of the Parliament programming. Everyone who attends the Parliament has wisdom to share – from those who are having their first interfaith experience to those who are steeped in interfaith.

The purpose of this gathering is to support relationships, connections, and inspired calls to action which can then ripple out from the Parliament into hundreds of grassroots organizations, networks, and communities. And, the Parliament is a real place for “discourse.”

Program types may include any of the following:

• lecture,
• academic paper,
• seminar,
• panel discussion,
• religious or spiritual observance,
• workshop,
• training session, or
• artistic performance.

Regular programs will be 90 minutes in length, although other durations are possible. Symposia (1-3 day series of programs on a particular topic) may also be considered. Download this Document

The theme of the 2015 Parliament is Reclaiming the Heart of Our Humanity: Working Together for a World of Compassion, Peace, Justice, and Sustainability.

Most of the 2015 Parliament programming will be around three critical issues and three constituencies.

Three Critical Issues for 2015 are the following:

1. Climate Change and Care for Creation
2. War, Violence and Hate Speech
3. The Widening Wealth Gap and Wasteful Consumption

Three Focused Constituencies of 2015 Parliament are these:

1. Women
2. Indigenous Communities
3. Youth

We are interested in the following program components:

A] Observances – enactments of rituals from diverse religious and spiritual traditions
B] Engagement programs – creative approaches by people from different religious or spiritual traditions for working together to explore and address key topics that relate to the Parliament theme
C] Intra-religious programs – sessions in which people from a single religious tradition express their identity, discuss their challenges, and explore future opportunities
D] Interreligious and inter-spiritual programs – engagements by people from two or more religious or spiritual traditions who model new ways to move beyond understanding and into collective impact
E] Training workshops – instruction in specific skills (e.g., organizing, leadership, conflict resolution, and listening) related to carrying out the Parliament themes
F] Cultural expressions and spiritual arts – performances of music, dance, or drama

Special attention will be given to programs that use creative methods of communication, involve members of two or more religious or spiritual communities or groups, offer interactive approaches to engage participants, model gender balance or those that use new models of collaborative leadership.

Program proposals are now being received. The form for submission may be accessed and submitted online in the form below. The deadline is January 15, 2015. We will review proposals on an ongoing basis, with final decisions to be made by April 1, 2015. We encourage the early submission of proposals.

Programs and presenters will be evaluated according to the following criteria: Relationship to the main themes of the parliament, contribution to the overall balance of the parliament in terms of religious and spiritual traditions, new and well-known voices, academic and experiential formats, and gender balance and those offering evidence of strategies that successfully engage and interact with participants

The Guiding Principles of the 2015 Parliament are: (1) respectful dialogue: we listen and speak with respect (2) non-proselytizing: we do not attempt to convert others or speak derogatorily about any tradition (3) willingness to explore a wide variety of topics: we embody compassion as we engage in difficult conversations

Please note:
~ Presenters will need to register and pay the registration fee.
~ We offer a reduced registration fee for students.
~ Early registration is reduced in price.
~ Based on needs, we anticipate subsidizing some of the participants on a “first-come first- served” basis.

We encourage you to explore possible sources of funding from within your community and/or external grant programs

Timeline
October 1, 2014 Call for Programs and beginning of ongoing review

NOTE: January 15, 2015 Program proposal submission deadline

April 1, 2015 Final confirmation of program acceptance
October 15-19, 2015 The 2015 Parliament of the World’s Religions

Language: English will be the official language of the 2015 Parliament. Information regarding translation will be made available at a later date. We encourage you to consider seeking a co-presenter who will be able to assist with any language issues.

Important Note: Proposals may be submitted only on the form linked below. No fax, email or paper submissions will be accepted.

Click Here for the 2015 Parliament Program Prosposal Submission Form