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Release date: Sept. 18, 2003 Emory Researchers to Study "The Child in Law, Religion and Society"Emory University's Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Religion (CISR) is giving children a new priority in a major three-year study on "The Child in Law, Religion and Society." The project brings together research of two dozen senior faculty from across the Emory campus to focus on children in relation to a host of societal issues. The project comes at a critical time, says CISR director John Witte Jr., who is co-directing the project with renowned church historian Martin E. Marty, who is in residence this year as Robert W. Woodruff Visiting Professor of Interdisciplinary Religious Studies. Witte cites a 1997 Newsweek magazine story on "lost children" in America, born in poverty and in broken households, and more likely than not to drop out of school and out of society altogether. At the time, that number exceeded 15 million. "The story predicted that the number would double in two decades," says Witte, "unless states and churches, agencies and academies gave children a new priority. 'Saving Our Children' is a step forward in recognizing and grappling with that prediction." Researchers will examine the rites and rights attached to birthing and naming, baptism and circumcision, education and discipline. Scholars also will study the stages in a child’s physical, emotional, sexual, moral and spiritual formation, and the rituals and ordeals and the rights and responsibilities that attach to each. They will look child abuse and rape, child poverty and homelessness, juvenile delinquency and violence, illegitimacy and infanticide. The project, which includes a cross-disciplinary faculty seminar and four or five public forums each year, will culminate in an international conference in 2006 and a new series of publications. "The Child in Law, Religion and Society" builds, in part, on the momentum of CISR’s first project on "Sex, Marriage, and Family & the Religions of the Book." That research draws on Judaism, Christianity and Islam for insights on questions surrounding sex, marriage and family life. Issues raised include marital formation, maintenance and dissolution; children’s care, control and custody; sexual identity, performance and expression; intergenerational rights, duties, expectations, and more. The first project is now in its research and writing phase, with 30 new publications in press or preparation. Like other CISR projects, "The Child in Law, Religion and Society" is interdisciplinary, using insights and methods from law, theology and the humanities. The approach also is interreligious, drawing on teachings and practices of Christianity, Judaism and the Enlightenment, and will consider how the American discussion on children relates to what's happening on an international scale. Family Forum Series for "The Child in Law, Religion and Society" President Jimmy Carter, former CDC director William Foege, Habitat for Humanity founder Millard Fuller and feminist legal scholar Martha Fineman are among the headliners for the Family Forum Series sponsored by the Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Religion during the 2003-2004 academic year. Martin E. Marty, renowned church historian and author, will host the four forums, each focused on issues of children in crisis. All events in the Family Forum Series are free and open to the public. All will take place in Tull Auditorium, Emory University School of Law, 1301 Clifton Rd., Emory. Sept. 22: "Who Cares for the Children?" Oct. 14: "What Happens to Children in Peril?" Oct. 27: "Children: Will We Ever Get It Right?" (Currie Lecture) Feb. 17: "Where Do the Children Live?" (Decalogue Lecture) ###
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