Sunday 3 June

10am-12.30 Law, Blasphemy and Censorship
Chair: Maria Drakopoulou (Kent Law School)

David Nash (History, Oxford Brookes University) ‘How do states get rid of Blasphemy Laws? An historical perspective’

Clara Connolly (lawyer and activist) ‘Unholy Allies: Blasts against Blasphemy in Voices for Rushdie and WAF’

Yolande Jansen (Religion and Secularity, VU University Amsterdam) ‘Hate speech, pain and blasphemy’

Shakila Maan (British film director, and leader in avant-garde British Asian theatre) ‘Self-censorship/artists creating in the margins’

Ricardo Baldissone (University of Westminster Law and Theory Centre) ‘Blasphemy: a confrontation between medieval and modern views, or an opportunity to provincialize both?’

1pm-2pm Lunch

2pm
‘Speaking out on sexual violence within Sikh communities: an interview with Gupreet Kaur Bhatti’
Sukhwant Dhaliwal and Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti (Sukhwant Dhaliwal works with the women’s voluntary sector and is a research fellow at the University of Bedford. Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti is a British Sikh writer who writes for stage, screen and radio. Her play Behzti (Dishonour) was controversially cancelled by the Birmingham Rep after violent protests. Her most recent play is Elephant).

3pm-5.30pm Blasphemy and Comedy
Chair: Shaun May (School of Arts, University of Kent)

Dieter Declerq (School of Arts and Centre for the Interdisciplinary Study of Film and the Moving Image, University of Kent) ‘Satire, Blasphemy, Magic’

Charles Devellenes (Politics and International Relations, University of Kent) ‘Blasphemous humour in pre-revolutionary France’

Panel discussion with the four comedians who will be performing in ‘Stand-Up Blasphemy’ Daphna Baram; Giacinto Palmieri; Ravi Holy; Sameena Zehra

7.30pm Stand-Up Blasphemy
(Tickets £5 and £10)
Daphna Baram; Giacinto Palmieri; Ravi Holy; Sameena Zehra
Hosted by Olly Double