Conflicts are part of human life—depending on the competences of all participants, they may lead into harmful disturbance or be the source of authentic social innovation. Recently the public focus has been on conflicts due to cultural (including ethnic and religious) diversity. Often overlooked, however, is the fact that different cultures not only generate conflicts but also impose on agents different 'conflict cultures—preferences for certain types of conflict dynamics (war, settlements, reconciliation) and predispositions for certain forms of epistemic approach (rational analysis, psychological hermeneutics, deep orientation). Attention to differences in cultural images of conflicts--the agentive understanding of sources, dynamics, and possible transformations of conflicts—is of central significance for conflict transformation in societies with cultural diversity.

UC-2008 is the first of a series of large international interdisciplinary meetings that will bring together researchers working on the analysis and transformation of conflicts due to cultural, ethnic, and religious diversity. Our invited speakers are international lead figures in conflict research, sociology, political science, anthropology, psychology, philosophy, the history of ideas, theology, and religious studies.

Since UC2008 is a cross-disciplinary research meeting, all invited speakers are briefly introduced at www.understandingconflictsnet.

Keynote Speakers:
Russell Hardin
Pumla Goboda-Madikizela
Ron Pundak Amina Wadud

Special Address at City Event, August 23: Bishop Desmond Tutu (confirmation pending)

Organizers:
LSI-Group "Process, Person, and Society", Division Causality and Motivation, SophiaEuropa Network, Metanexus Institute.
Research Unit:
"Interculturality and Conflict Studies," Department of Philosophy and the History of Ideas, University of Aarhus.
Main coordinators: Johanna Seibt, Jesper Garsdal, Steen Wackerhausen.