Human Development from the Vantage Point of Unity

On December 15, 2010, as part of the Seton Hall University Micah Institute for Business and Economics "To Do Justice" Series, Amy Uelmen presented a paper on Benedict XVI and Chiara Lubich: Human Development and Unity.  The full analysis was published in the March 2010 issue of Theological Studies, Caritas in veritate and Chiara Lubich: Human Development from the Vantage Point of Unity.

Mosques in America: an Exercise in Dialogue

Over the course of Fall 2010, discussions about the location of mosques have at times become a source of tension, particularly in New York City.  In November 2010, the Institute on Religion, Law & Lawyer's Work sponsored an event, as Professor Russell G. Pearce put it, "to provide space for the kinds of dialogue that increase mutual understanding."  With the help of two expert facilitators, Rabbi Justus N. Baird, Director of the Center for Multifaith Education from the Auburn Theological Seminary and Asim Rehman, Esq., Vice-President of the Muslim Bar Association of New York, a group of students, faculty and alumni--Muslims, Jews and Christians--gathered to work through a case-study of how one community faced a similar controversy.  As the participants wrestled with questions such as whether it was appropriate for public officials and citizens bring their religious identity into discussions about public space, and the kinds of approaches which help communities to deal with ethnic and social change, a consensus emerged that communities need to look for creative ways to foster dialogue and understanding in the midst of these kinds of complex and multi-layered issues, and each felt challenged to examine how they might contribute, as lawyers or future lawyers, to fostering this kind of conversation.

Comparing European and North American systems: the client-attorney relationship

In October 2010, Amy Uelmen gave a presentation at a continuing legal education event held at the Roman Court of Appeals.  Sponsored by the international "Communion and Law" project, she gave a North American perspective on "The Role of the Lawyer's Conscience in Client Counseling."  For more information about the event, click here.

Religious Legal Theory: The State of the Field

Resources on the Economic Crisis and Religious Values

The financial and economic crisis is generating deeper reflection on how our social, economic and business structures need to change. Over the past years, the Institute has sponsored programs and scholarship which have explored the extent to which religious values and traditions might shed light on questions of economic justice. 

For an overview on past resources and upcoming events on this topic, see Resources on Economic Justice.

Journal of Law & Religion Symposium on the Global Economic Crisis, Law and the Religious Traditions

The Institute on Religion, Law & Lawyer's Work cosponsored the Journal of Law & Religion Symposium on the Global Economic Crisis, Law and the Religious Traditions, which was held on October 14-16, 2009 at Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota.
The program explored insights from the world's religious traditions on the role of law and legal institutions in stemming the worldwide economic crisis.

The keynote speaker was Dr. Luigino Bruni, winner of a 2008 Templeton Enterprise Award and author of Reciprocity, Altruism and Civil Society (2008), Civil Happiness: Economics and Human Flourishing in Historical Perspective (2007), and A Handbook on the Economics of Happiness (2007).

Panels discussed
- Perspectives of the world's religions on legal responses to the economic crisis.
- Human rights traditions, economic need and the common good.
- Regulating markets through law and the religious traditions.
- Religion, culture and law: how local communities respond to economic need and opportunity.