INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON SCIENTOLOGY (AND ANTOINISM)

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON SCIENTOLOGY
             (AND ANTOINISM)
    Scientology in a scholarly perspective.
             24-25 January 2014

Venue: Faculty for Comparative Studies of Religions
                        (FVG) -
             Wilrijk (Antwerpen) Belgium
                website: www.AntwerpFVG.org

Sponsor: The European Observatory of Religion and
               Laïcité (Secularism)
            http://www.observatoire-religion.com/

January 24. 2014

                           8h30-9h30 Welcome

9 h 30 - 9 h 45 : Pr Chris Vonck
Dean of the Faculty for Comparative Studies of Religions
Welcome speech.

9 h 45 - 10 h 15 : Eileen Barker. Keynote speaker

                            10h15 first session :
                      The teachings of L. Ron Hubbard

Chair: Eileen Barker

10 h 30 - 11 h 00 : Marco Frenschkowski
(Universität Leipzig)

- Images of religions and religious history in the works of L. Ron Hub-
bard.

11 h 00 - 11 h 30 : Mikael Rothstein
(University of Southern Denmark, Vytautas Magnus University Kaunas)

- Space, Place and Mythology: The Physical Environment in Scientological
Imaginations

                            11h30 - 11h45 Pause

11 h 45 - 12 h 15 : Régis Dericquebourg
(University Charles De Gaulle-Lille3, CNRS-Paris)

- Scientology and Modern Theosophy. Similarities and differences.

                            13h00 - 14h00. Lunch

                           Second session :
                Sociological aspects of Scientology (1)

14 h 15 Chair : Bernadette Rigal-Cellard

14 h 15 - 14 h 45 : Keynote speaker. Gordon Melton
(Baylor University)

- On doing research on Scientology : Prospects and Pitfalls

14 h 45 – 15 h 15 : Donald Westbrook
(Claremont Graduate University)

- Invitation to Future Research on the Church of Scientology

                           15h15 - 16h00 Pause

16 h 00 - 16 h 30 : James Lewis
(University of Tromsø. Norway)

- The Dwindling Spiral: The Dror Center Schism, the Cook Letter and
Scientology’s Legitimation Crisis.

16 h 30 - 17 h 00 : Kjersti Hellesøy
(University of Tromsø. Norway)

- « Messiah, prophet or religious entrepreneur: Hagiographies of L. Ron
Hubbard. »

17h30 - 18h00 : Marco Ventura
(Katholieke Universiteit Leuven)

- « Religion or not-religion? Turning the dilemma into an advantage ».

January 25. 2014
                             Third Session:
                Sociological aspects of Scientology (2)

Chair : James Lewis

9 h 00 - 9 h 30 Keynote Speech : Massimo Introvigne
(Cesnur, Torino. Italia)

- Does Scientology Believe in Brainswashing ? The strange Story of the
“Brainwashing Manual of 1955

9 h 30 - 10 h 00 : Inga B. Tollefsen
(University of Tromsø. Norway)

- The Cult of Geeks

10 h 00 - 10 h 30 : András MÁTÉ-TÓTH
(University of Szeged)

- Scientologists in Hungary and Germany. Survey data in comparison.

                           10h30 - 10h45 Pause

10 h 45 - 11 h 15 : Peter Åkerbäck
(Dalarna University, Sweden)

- Recently Reborn. To Come Back as Child to Scientology Parents.

11 h 15 - 11 h 45 : Liselotte Frisk
(Dalarna University, Sweden.)
- Applied Scholastics : The Educational Perspective Developed by L. Ron
Hubbard.

11 h 45 - 12 h 15 : Don Jolly
( New York University).
- Religious Privilege and Bricolage in Mark Ra-- thbun’s Scientology Dis-
course.

                            12h15 - 12h30 Pause

12 h 30 - 13 h 00 : Guillaume Roucoux
(Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Group of Sociology of Religion and
Secularism. Paris)

- From The “Org Board” to the “org”: Structural Changes, Staff Profiles
and Careers.
                            13h00 - 14h00 Lunch

Fourth Session :
              The Church of Scientology and the Society

Chair: Chris Vonck

14 h 00 - 14 h 30 : Aled J. LI. Thomas
(MA; University of Wales: Trinity,Saint David)

- Outsider Perspectives of the Auditing Process within Scientology : An
examination of the Influence of the Media

14 h 30 - 15 h 00 : Germana Carobene
(University of Napoli. Italia)

- Problems/ Issues on the Legal Status of the Church of Scientology.

15 h 00 - 15 h 30 : Susan Palmer
(McGill University in Montreal, Canada)

- Government Raids on the Church of Scientology in North America and
Europe: Origins and Aftermaths

                             15h30 - 15h45 pause

15 h 45 – 16 h 15 : Aldo Terrin
(Pontificial Academy of Theology, St. Giustina, Padua. Italy)

- The affinity between Scientology and Gnostic religions.

                            Fifth session:
               The Antoinism, A Belgian Healing Church

Chair : Régis Dericquebourg

16 h 15 - 16 h 45 : Jan Keppler
Student at the Faculty of Comparative Studies of Religions. Antwerpen)

- Antoinism, a New Belgian Healing Religion

                       Conclusions and thankings

INFORMATION
Registration fees to be paid at the conference venue. Re-
servation : mail to
regis.dericquebourg@univ-lille3.fr

50 euros
30 euros for students
Free for speakers and session chairs

                 Address : Bist 164
            B-2610 Wilrijk-Antwerpen
  Rectoraat (Ingang/Entrée via Sint-Bavostraat)
               tel. +32 3 830 51 58
               fax. +32 3 825 26 73

             E-mail: info@antwerpfvg.org
           website: www.AntwerpFVG.org

            Met de auto / En voiture / By car

   Il y a beaucoup de stationnements dans la région
  Er is voldoende parkeergelegenheid in de omgeving.
          Many places for cars near the Faculty

                Met het openbaar vervoer
                les transports en commun
    Bus from the railway station (Anvers-Berchem).
 De Lijn heeft volgende haltes op wandelafstand van de
                          faculteit
           Way to the proximity of the Faculty.
                 (Bist = centre de Wilrijk)

 Busses/ Bus 17, 21, 22, 33, 131, 180, 181, 182 en 18

          http://www.observatoire-religion.com/