The Significance of Religions and Worldviews in Education for Social Cohesion
13.-15.09.2022
Dortmund (Germany)
Today, many societies around the world are confronted with problems of polarisation and fragmentation. Social conflicts about overcoming the climate crisis, about freedom and equality or about ethnic and cultural borders are breaking out and mixing with cultural and ideological differences. The question of how to strengthen social cohesion is therefore becoming increasingly urgent. In many countries, the introduction of compulsory education was also linked to the idea that education itself contributes to social cohesion. In school, students from different social, cultural and religious backgrounds should learn together and acquire common values, knowledge and skills in order to be prepared for participation in society. Religions and world views play a special role here, because in their ambivalence they can both promote and disrupt social cohesion. They convey prosocial values and raise questions about social justice. At the same time, they are used to promote exclusion and discriminatory behaviour based on certain ideologies. The question therefore arises as to what significance religions and worldviews have in an education for social cohesion.
Today, this significance is reflected in many ways. On the one hand, intensive work has been and is being done on the question of what perspectives arise from religious and worldview traditions on the pressing crises of our time and how the positive potential of religions and worldviews can be used to strengthen social cohesion – for example, by imparting knowledge to pupils, encouraging them to form critical judgements and practising dialogue between different religious and worldview positions. On the other hand, there is a growing body of research showing that social conflicts over religions and worldviews also have an impact on educational processes, for example when the secular perspective is implicitly set as the norm or religious identity becomes the distinguishing factor as to who belongs to a society and who does not. It is this tension – wanting to make an educational contribution to solving social problems and at the same time being part of the conflict – that poses major challenges for education for social cohesion.
Today, this significance is reflected in many ways. On the one hand, intensive work has been and is being done on the question of what perspectives arise from religious and worldview traditions on the pressing crises of our time and how the positive potential of religions and worldviews can be used to strengthen social cohesion – for example, by imparting knowledge to pupils, encouraging them to form critical judgements and practising dialogue between different religious and worldview positions. On the other hand, there is a growing body of research showing that social conflicts over religions and worldviews also have an impact on educational processes, for example when the secular perspective is implicitly set as the norm or religious identity becomes the distinguishing factor as to who belongs to a society and who does not. It is this tension – wanting to make an educational contribution to solving social problems and at the same time being part of the conflict – that poses major challenges for education for social cohesion.
The EARLI SIG 19 conference in Dortmund will explore these challenges through invited keynote presentations in plenary sessions and single papers, poster presentations, and symposia in parallel sessions.
On behalf of the organising committee,
Alexander Unser
Chair of SIG19 Conference 2022
Co-Coordinator of EARLI SIG19
Search & People Search
Location & approach
The campus of TU Dortmund University is located close to interstate junction Dortmund West, where the Sauerlandlinie A 45 (Frankfurt-Dortmund) crosses the Ruhrschnellweg B 1 / A 40. The best interstate exit to take from A 45 is “Dortmund-Eichlinghofen” (closer to South Campus), and from B 1 / A 40 “Dortmund-Dorstfeld” (closer to North Campus). Signs for the university are located at both exits. Also, there is a new exit before you pass over the B 1-bridge leading into Dortmund.
To get from North Campus to South Campus by car, there is the connection via Vogelpothsweg/Baroper Straße. We recommend you leave your car on one of the parking lots at North Campus and use the H-Bahn (suspended monorail system), which conveniently connects the two campuses.
TU Dortmund University has its own train station (“Dortmund Universität”). From there, suburban trains (S-Bahn) leave for Dortmund main station (“Dortmund Hauptbahnhof”) and Düsseldorf main station via the “Düsseldorf Airport Train Station” (take S-Bahn number 1, which leaves every 15 or 30 minutes). The university is easily reached from Bochum, Essen, Mülheim an der Ruhr and Duisburg.
You can also take the bus or subway train from Dortmund city to the university: From Dortmund main station, you can take any train bound for the Station “Stadtgarten”, usually lines U41, U45, U 47 and U49. At “Stadtgarten” you switch trains and get on line U42 towards “Hombruch”. Look out for the Station “An der Palmweide”. From the bus stop just across the road, busses bound for TU Dortmund University leave every ten minutes (445, 447 and 462). Another option is to take the subway routes U41, U45, U47 and U49 from Dortmund main station to the stop “Dortmund Kampstraße”. From there, take U43 or U44 to the stop “Dortmund Wittener Straße”. Switch to bus line 447 and get off at “Dortmund Universität S”.
The AirportExpress is a fast and convenient means of transport from Dortmund Airport (DTM) to Dortmund Central Station, taking you there in little more than 20 minutes. From Dortmund Central Station, you can continue to the university campus by interurban railway (S-Bahn). A larger range of international flight connections is offered at Düsseldorf Airport (DUS), which is about 60 kilometres away and can be directly reached by S-Bahn from the university station.
The H-Bahn is one of the hallmarks of TU Dortmund University. There are two stations on North Campus. One (“Dortmund Universität S”) is directly located at the suburban train stop, which connects the university directly with the city of Dortmund and the rest of the Ruhr Area. Also from this station, there are connections to the “Technologiepark” and (via South Campus) Eichlinghofen. The other station is located at the dining hall at North Campus and offers a direct connection to South Campus every five minutes.
The facilities of TU Dortmund University are spread over two campuses, the larger Campus North and the smaller Campus South. Additionally, some areas of the university are located in the adjacent “Technologiepark”.
Site Map of TU Dortmund University (Second Page in English).