We have assembled a wide array of experts who present contributions which focus upon personal trajectories to
and from non-religion. The program covers a broader geographical scope than the traditional European or 'Western' areas. In addition, a variety of contributions tackle both the gender and family dimensions. Speakers are not limited to historians but come from several disciplines, notably anthropology, philosophy, religious studies and sociology. We offer contributions that problematize the intellectual-emotional interface in choices of existential culture. These cover both secular leaders as well as those individuals who have remained in the shadows of historical analysis. All of these papers are based on fine-grained analyses and the problematization of existing literature, such as, for instance, on deconversion trajectories and the question of innate religiousness.
This conference serves to further connect both our research group as well as the individuals presenting with leading scholars in the field (such as our keynote speakers), as well as new researchers from a variety of academic institutions, both domestic and abroad (most notably two speakers from East Asia, a region rarely covered by secular studies).
An earlier Eutopia workshop in Gothenburg (Sweden) has already led to the publication of a special issue on this topic. Given the wide array of speakers and topics and the general quality of this conference, the results will be published in one of the book series of the field.
Keynote Speakers
- Ryan Cragun (University of Tampa)
- Johannes Quack (University of Zürich)
- Sabrina Testa (University of Santiago de Compostela)
- Nella van den Brandt (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven)
Program (download program book here)
Friday 21 November 2025
Morning
Welcome by VUB-rector 9u15-9u30
Keynote 1
9u30-10u00 Chair: Jeffrey Tyssens
Johannes Quack, University of Zürich
Xxx (aan te vullen)
Discussion 10u00-10u15
10u15-10u55 Chair: Jeffrey Tyssens
Lena Dreier, University of Münster
How Can We Find the Non-Religious in Biographies? Worldviews and Normativity in Biographical Settings
Nyala Nauwelaers, SSAB-VUB
The Feminization Thesis under Scrutiny: A Biographical Approach to the Secular Women of Ghent (late 19th – early 20th century)
Discussion 10u55-11u15
Break 11u15-11u30
11u30-12u10 Chair: Clare Stainthorp
Jeffrey Tyssens, SSAB-VUB
No Happy Shadow. Louise-Julie Careau (1756-1805) and the Non-Religion of Women in the Age of Revolution
Andrew Prescott, University of Glasgow
Elizabeth Sharples Carlile and English Secularism
Discussion 12u10-12u30
Lunch 12u30-14u00
Afternoon
Keynote 2
14u00-14u30 Chair: Nyala Nauwelaers
Nella van den Brandt, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
Race and Leaving Religion in Western Europe: Racializing the Study of Religious Exit
Discussion 14u30-14u45
14u45-15u25 Chair: Nyala Nauwelaers
Lieke Schrijvers, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Secular-Christian Mixed Intimacies in the Netherlands
Maruta Herding & Anja Frank, German Youth Institute / Deutsches Jugendinstitut, Halle/Saale
Secular Worldviews and Lived Non-Religion in the Biographies of People from a Muslim Background in Germany
Discussion 15u25-15u45
Break 15u45-16u00
16u00-17u00 Chair: Caroline Sägesser
Christoph De Spiegeleer, Liberas / SSAB-VUB
Between Two Waves: Gabrielle Rosy-Warnant’s Advocacy for Public Education at the Intersection of Feminism and Secularism, 1920–1960
Willeke Los, University of Humanistic Studies - Utrecht
The Religious Humanism of Matthew Ies Spetter (1921-2012)
Niels De Nutte, SSAB-VUB
A Right to Die or a Right to Self-Termination? Charles Minet as the Exponent for Catholic Advocates in the Belgian Right-to-Die Movement
Saturday 22 November 2025
Morning
Keynote 3
9u30-10u00 Chair: Christoph De Spiegeleer
Sabrina Testa, University of Santiago de Compostela
How Did you Become an Atheist? On the Significance of Deconversion Narratives for NonReligious Mobilisation in Brazil
Discussion 10u00-10u15
10u15-10u55 Chair: Christoph De Spiegeleer
Akira Nishimura, University of Tokyo
Reconsidering Apostasy from the Emperor as a “Living God”: Defeat and Postwar Transformation in the Case of Kiyoshi Watanabe
Jungsue Rhee, xxx
The Deconversion and Reconversion of Ryu Sangtae, Former School Pastor and Religious Teacher of Daegwang: Shaping the Right of Non-Belief in South Korea
Discussion 10u55-11u15
Break 11u15-11u30
11u30-12u10 Chair: Cécile Vanderpelen
David Veltman, Biography Institute – Universiteit Groningen
Gerardus van der Leeuw (1890-1950). Lived Experiences in Understanding Religion. A Biographical Perspective on Gerardus van der Leeuw’s Phenomenology of Religion
Anton Jannson, University of Göthenburg
An Eclipse Effect? Ingemar Hedenius and the Historiography of Swedish Atheism
Discussion 12u10-12u30
Lunch 12u30-14u00
Afternoon
Keynote 4
14u00-14u30 Chair: Niels De Nutte
Ryan T. Cragun, University of Tampa
YYY
Discussion 14u30-14u45
14u45-15u25 Chair: Niels De Nutte
David Vergauwen, CEDOM-MADOC / SSAB-VUB
Joseph Defrenne (1767–1848): From Activist Journalist to Anticlerical Chansonnier
David Nash, Oxford University
(Auto)biography as Weapon of Choice: The ‘Lives’ of the Leaders of 19 Century British Secularism
Discussion 15u25-15u45
Break 15u45-16u00
Conclusion 16u00-16u35
Carolin Kosuch, University of Göttingen
Concluding Remarks
Discussion 16u15-16u30
Final word by SSAB-chair 16u30-16u35
Pricing
- 50 euros for professionals
25 for students at any level
Venues