4th International Symposium on Teaching about Extremism, Terror and Trauma:
Communities as agents and spaces for counter-radicalization education
July 9-10-11, 2018, Montreal, Canada
Call for proposals
Concordia University is pleased to announce 4th International Symposium on Teaching about Extremism, Terror, and Trauma from July 9-11, 2018. The theme for the 2018 symposium is Communities as agents and spaces for counter-radicalization education.
A majority of research on radicalization, and consequently, counter-radicalization is grounded in psychological, national security, and law and order perspectives. This body of research is also often focused on a single community—the Muslims— as the source of radicalization. Thus, not surprisingly most solutions forwarded by such research are also grounded in a securitized perpective and geared towards this community. Lately, however, there is a multi-fold realization that radicalization is not only confined to this community. The Quebec City Mosque attack in 2017 and other such incidents across North America are evidence of multi-faceted dynamics of radicalization that transcends across communities. The predominant focus on law and order and the securitized approach to counter-radicalization have had limited success, thus compelling governments and societal stakeholders to look for solutions at other levels. In the context of ‘soft approaches,’ counter-radicalization through education and communities have emerged as two viable preventative strategies to identify the causes and address issues related to radicalizations of all kind including religious and right wing radicalizations.
Community engagement and involvement is the cornerstone to alleviate extremist tendencies and attitudes. However, the securitized/law-and-order approach in dealing with communities has not yielded positive results. As a matter-of-fact, policing and surveillance tactics have only enhanced mistrust, and as a result alienated valuable stakeholders who could play an important role in countering radicalization. This symposium seeks to create a space where critical issues such as: how to engage communities in ways which generate trust and empathy rather than distrust and doubt? How can communities be involved in a more consultative manner so that they can provide valuable inputs to policymaking? The symposium will offer new ways of thinking about communities by reconceptualizing the changing and diverse nature of communities in current times and the role they can play in countering radicalization.
Specific sub-themes of the symposium include:
• Communities as counter-radicalization spaces
• Parents and families as counter-radicalization agents
• Neighborhoods/Cities as spaces for counter-radicalization
• Knowledge communities against radicalization
• Identifying and building counter-radicalization communities of interest
• Faith communities against radicalization
• Online communities against radicalization
• Community-state partnership against radicalization
• Community policing: Problem or solution?
You are invited to submit proposals for individual presentations addressing the main or any of the sub-themes of the conference.
The symposium will give the delegates the opportunity to engage with a diverse body of experts, scholars, practitioners, students and stakeholders. We ask that you identify the thematic area of your presentation and provide a brief abstract (200-300 words excluding the title) by May 1, 2018. Notification of acceptance will be on a rolling base with the final notifications sent out on May 15, 2018.
The symposium committee welcomes contributions using a variety of scholarly perspectives that include (but are not limited to) empirical, practice-based, and theoretical papers using critical, qualitative and quantitative methodological orientations. Selected papers presented at the symposium will be considered for further development and publication in a special issue of a peer-reviewed journal.
Equal amounts of time will be dedicated to presentations and discussion. This highly interactive design, and your expertise and contributions to the field, we believe, will be of great benefit to all delegates and to our understanding of this urgent topic.
Proposals may be submitted in MS Word by email to the symposium convener:
Dr. M. Ayaz Naseem (ayaz.naseem@concordia.ca)
Dr. Adeela Arshad-Ayaz (adeela.ayaz@concordia.ca)
Participation in the symposium is limited.
We look forward to welcoming you to Concordia University in Montreal, Canada
Dr. M. Ayaz Naseem Dr. Adeela Arshad-Ayaz
Concordia University Concordia University
Convener & Chair: International Symposia on Teaching about Extremism, Terror, and Trauma
Photo courtesy of Concordia University.
Communities as agents and spaces for counter-radicalization education
July 9-10-11, 2018, Montreal, Canada
Call for proposals
Concordia University is pleased to announce 4th International Symposium on Teaching about Extremism, Terror, and Trauma from July 9-11, 2018. The theme for the 2018 symposium is Communities as agents and spaces for counter-radicalization education.
A majority of research on radicalization, and consequently, counter-radicalization is grounded in psychological, national security, and law and order perspectives. This body of research is also often focused on a single community—the Muslims— as the source of radicalization. Thus, not surprisingly most solutions forwarded by such research are also grounded in a securitized perpective and geared towards this community. Lately, however, there is a multi-fold realization that radicalization is not only confined to this community. The Quebec City Mosque attack in 2017 and other such incidents across North America are evidence of multi-faceted dynamics of radicalization that transcends across communities. The predominant focus on law and order and the securitized approach to counter-radicalization have had limited success, thus compelling governments and societal stakeholders to look for solutions at other levels. In the context of ‘soft approaches,’ counter-radicalization through education and communities have emerged as two viable preventative strategies to identify the causes and address issues related to radicalizations of all kind including religious and right wing radicalizations.
Community engagement and involvement is the cornerstone to alleviate extremist tendencies and attitudes. However, the securitized/law-and-order approach in dealing with communities has not yielded positive results. As a matter-of-fact, policing and surveillance tactics have only enhanced mistrust, and as a result alienated valuable stakeholders who could play an important role in countering radicalization. This symposium seeks to create a space where critical issues such as: how to engage communities in ways which generate trust and empathy rather than distrust and doubt? How can communities be involved in a more consultative manner so that they can provide valuable inputs to policymaking? The symposium will offer new ways of thinking about communities by reconceptualizing the changing and diverse nature of communities in current times and the role they can play in countering radicalization.
Specific sub-themes of the symposium include:
• Communities as counter-radicalization spaces
• Parents and families as counter-radicalization agents
• Neighborhoods/Cities as spaces for counter-radicalization
• Knowledge communities against radicalization
• Identifying and building counter-radicalization communities of interest
• Faith communities against radicalization
• Online communities against radicalization
• Community-state partnership against radicalization
• Community policing: Problem or solution?
You are invited to submit proposals for individual presentations addressing the main or any of the sub-themes of the conference.
The symposium will give the delegates the opportunity to engage with a diverse body of experts, scholars, practitioners, students and stakeholders. We ask that you identify the thematic area of your presentation and provide a brief abstract (200-300 words excluding the title) by May 1, 2018. Notification of acceptance will be on a rolling base with the final notifications sent out on May 15, 2018.
The symposium committee welcomes contributions using a variety of scholarly perspectives that include (but are not limited to) empirical, practice-based, and theoretical papers using critical, qualitative and quantitative methodological orientations. Selected papers presented at the symposium will be considered for further development and publication in a special issue of a peer-reviewed journal.
Equal amounts of time will be dedicated to presentations and discussion. This highly interactive design, and your expertise and contributions to the field, we believe, will be of great benefit to all delegates and to our understanding of this urgent topic.
Proposals may be submitted in MS Word by email to the symposium convener:
Dr. M. Ayaz Naseem (ayaz.naseem@concordia.ca)
Dr. Adeela Arshad-Ayaz (adeela.ayaz@concordia.ca)
Participation in the symposium is limited.
We look forward to welcoming you to Concordia University in Montreal, Canada
Dr. M. Ayaz Naseem Dr. Adeela Arshad-Ayaz
Concordia University Concordia University
Convener & Chair: International Symposia on Teaching about Extremism, Terror, and Trauma
Photo courtesy of Concordia University.