2022 Lisbon Annual Seminar
The 2022 Annual Seminar will take place on 5-9 September in Lisbon, hosted by the Catholic University of Portugal (UCP), under the umbrella title “Integral Human Development”.
Integral Human Development (IHD) is a concept first coined by Pope Paul VI in his Encyclical Populorum progressio signaling that the focus of development should be in “the development of each man and of the whole man” (n. 14). Pope Francis has renewed this intention for a focus on IHD by encouraging to seek ways that “may better meet the needs of the men and women whom they are called to serve”. In institutional terms, the creation of a Dicastery of Integral Human Development bringing together all the activity related to this theme is a strong affirmation of a renewed attention to the field.
In line with this focus on IHD, the 2022 annual seminar of the International PhD Program & Research Network Contemporary Humanism in cooperation with the Postdoc-Fellowship Program in Integral Human Development at UCP seeks to discuss issues concerning the three main areas of concern in IHD: Faith and Integral Development, Fringes of Humanity and Care of Creation. The seminar will allow to enrich the research frameworks and insights around the multiple dimensions that constitute integral human development by challenging society’s preconceptions of development, poverty and inequality and debating knowledge on concepts, notions and realities of the world we live in. On the assumption that “authentic development is the development that makes every person ‘more human’ and seeks to promote the good of the whole person and of every person”, the seminar seeks to understand what a New and Contemporary Humanism might mean and how it could help to transform 21st century’s culture and society.
Keynote Speakers:
Andrew McKenzie-McHarg (Australian Catholic University): “Modes of Understanding the Margins”
Michael Bourgatte (Institut Catholique de Paris): “Video Empowerment in the Digital Age”
Chiara Pesaresi (Université Catholique de Lyon): “A Philosophical Perspective on Integral Human Development in the Light of Vulnerability”
João Duque (Universidade Católica Portuguesa): “Monist Posthumanism or Analogue New Humanism?”
Alejandra Carrasco (Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile): “Justice, Respect and Care”
A Call for Papers is open until 21 June for all interested PhD students and Postdoc researchers, even outside the Contemporary Humanism network.
