Religious literacy has become a ‘hot topic’ in the last two decades. Religious studies scholars, educationalists, sociologists, political science scholars, and theologians (among others) have all contributed to a fast-emerging field of discussion that also reaches beyond academia. In many of these discussions, religious literacy is seen as an answer to multiple social challenges arising from increasing religious diversity and the rise of the ‘nones’. There is an overwhelming consensus that we need more religious literacy. However, there is much less consensus about what we mean by ‘religious literacy’ in a religiously plural world and, especially, how to study religious literacy empirically.
This multidisciplinary symposium brings together international experts on religious literacy and religious pluralism to discuss future directions in the field. Some of the questions we seek to examine include (but are not limited to): How to best define religious literacy? Does religious literacy work and how can we know if it works? What is the relationship between religious literacy and religious pluralism? How are religious literacy and power intertwined? We welcome empirical papers, conceptual discussion, case studies, and overviews of literature or best practices on these and other related topics. We welcome contributions from scholars at all career stages.
The symposium is sponsored by the
Please submit your abstract as a Word attachment via email to
The submission should include the title of the presentation, presenter name and affiliation, email address, and an abstract of maximum 200 words.
Looking forward to seeing you in Helsinki in October 2026!
The RELIACT team.