Programme

The European Conference on Ethics, Religion & Philosophy (ECERP) is a multidisciplinary conference held concurrently with The European Conference on Psychology & the Behavioral Sciences (ECP). Keynote, Featured and Spotlight Speakers will provide a variety of perspectives from different academic and professional backgrounds. Registration for either conference will allow participants to attend sessions in both.

This page provides details of presentations and other programming. For more information about presenters, please visit the Speakers page.


Conference Programme and Abstract Book

The online version of the Conference Programme is now available to view below via the Issuu viewing platform. Alternatively, download a PDF version. The Conference Programme can also be viewed on the Issuu website (requires a web browser). An Issuu app is available for Android users.

The Conference Programme contains access information, session information and a detailed day-to-day presentation schedule. All registered delegates who attend conference receive a printed copy of the Conference Programme at the Registration Desk on arrival. Only one copy of the Conference Programme is available per delegate, so please take good care of your copy.


Conference Outline

Friday, July 05, 2019Saturday, July 06, 2019

09:30-10:00 Conference Registration & Morning Coffee | Renaissance Foyer

10:00-10:15 Announcements & Welcome Address | Renaissance Hall
Brian Aycock, IAFOR, Japan
Joseph Haldane, IAFOR, Japan
Recognition of IAFOR Scholarship Winners | Renaissance Hall

10:15-11:00 Keynote Presentation | Renaissance Hall
Difficult Conversations: Respecting Values & Changing Behaviors
Amy Szarkowski, Harvard Medical School, USA

11:00-11:45 Keynote Presentation | Renaissance Hall
Valuing Religion
Stephen E. Gregg, University of Wolverhampton, UK

11:45-12:00 IAFOR Documentary Photography Award | Renaissance Hall

12:00-12:15 Conference Photograph | Renaissance Hall

12:15-13:30 Lunch Break | 2F Restaurant

13:30-14:15 Keynote Presentation | Renaissance Hall
Practise What You Preach? Views on Values from Social Psychology
Bas Verplanken, University of Bath, UK

14:15-15:15 Coffee Break & Poster Session | 2F Restaurant

15:15-17:15 Parallel Session I

17:30-18:30 Conference Welcome Reception | Library Terrace

19:15-21:30 Official Conference Dinner (optional extra)
Meet at the Hotel Lobby near the Bartholomew Square (back) entrance at 18:45

09:30-10:00 Conference Registration & Morning Coffee

10:00-12:00 Parallel Session I

12:00-13:00 Lunch Break

13:00-14:30 Parallel Session II

14:30-15:00 Coffee Break

15:00-16:30 Parallel Session III

16:30-16:45 Closing Session


Featured Presentations

  • Practise What You Preach? Views on Values from Social Psychology
    Practise What You Preach? Views on Values from Social Psychology
    Keynote Presentation: Bas Verplanken
  • Difficult Conversations: Respecting Values & Changing Behaviors
    Difficult Conversations: Respecting Values & Changing Behaviors
    Keynote Presentation: Amy Szarkowski
  • Valuing Religion
    Valuing Religion
    Keynote Presentation: Stephen E. Gregg

Previous Programming

View details of programming for past ECERP conferences via the links below.

Practise What You Preach? Views on Values from Social Psychology
Keynote Presentation: Bas Verplanken

In this talk I will take a social psychology perspective on values. I will first address how values are defined and structured. The main part of the talk will focus on the question how values relate to behaviour. We are all too familiar with a gap between our values and our behaviours: we don't always practise what we preach. I will discuss a range of viewpoints and factors which may explain why that is the case, and conditions under which behaviours are more likely to be in line with our values. This brings us to the relationship between values and the self, what it means to adhere to a value, and how this may be important in making behaviour change interventions more effective.

Read presenter biographies.

Difficult Conversations: Respecting Values & Changing Behaviors
Keynote Presentation: Amy Szarkowski

Regardless of our respective professions, or the dynamics involved in our interactions with the networks of family, friends and community that comprise our personal lives, at some point, we all must engage in difficult conversations. Delivering ‘bad news,’ arguing an alternative approach to addressing a problem, or engaging in conversation with people who are highly emotional can certainly be challenging. For many, these situations are, at a minimum, uncomfortable; at their more extreme, these situations may be perceived as dreadful. However, identifying and considering the values of others with whom you are communicating can be a crucial step toward reaching a resolution. Incorporating lessons from fields as diverse as medicine, business, education, communication sciences, and psychology, Dr Szarkowski will distill the evidence into powerful ‘take home messages.’ Audience members will benefit from learning how to better engage in difficult conversations in order to obtain their desired results.

Read presenter biographies.

Valuing Religion
Keynote Presentation: Stephen E. Gregg

What place does religion have in 21st century societies, and why should we study it academically, rather than confessionally? Why are religious views protected under law, and what are the limits of free speech critiquing or attacking religion? How fit-for-purpose are educational approaches to religions, and why is it important to be “religiously literate” in the modern world?

In this paper, I will use new approaches to the academic Study of Religion to analyse and explore the multi-faceted experiences of religious people, critics of religion, and scholars of religion as they each test and contest the boundaries of their worldviews and values. Using the Living Religion approach, which preferences people over texts, practices over beliefs, I will examine real-life instances of religious values leading to actions that often put individuals at odds with majority societal views, and even sometimes the law. I will analyse the implicit value-judgements in definitions of religion in UK equality laws and education curriculae, and trace a history of ridicule and attack by non-religious public intellectuals who, in so doing, display their own values and worldviews. I will conclude with observations upon the current state of public discourse and scholarship on religion, noting the problem of the preferencing of confessional approaches over academic approaches by many public bodies and institutions.

Read presenter biographies.