World Religions Experience Day 2025
About
The UQ World Religions Experience Day is held annually at the St Lucia campus and invites Year 11 secondary school students from across South East Queensland for a day of discovery.
Students attend a number of sessions throughout the day that cover topics such as Islam and Society, Science and Religion, Hinduism and Judaism.
The World Religions Experience Day grants students the opportunity to:
- experience a day at the St Lucia campus of The University of Queensland
- hear from world-leading scholars
- learn about specific religions, and the place of religion in the contemporary world
- participate in a Q&A session
Event Details
Date: To be confirmed for 2026
Time: 9:30am - 2:00pm
Location: UQ St Lucia (View Map)
Register Interest
Program
9:30am: Arrivals and welcome
10-10:45am : Session block 1
10:45-11:10am: Morning Tea
11:15am-12pm: Session block 2 (repeated sessions from block 1)
12pm - 12:45pm: Lunch
12:55pm - 2pm: Panel session
2pm: Finish
Session descriptions and links to SoR unit*
Session: Islam and Society
Presented by Dr Ryan Williams
- Description: How do Muslims connect to the Islam of the past? What does Islam mean for Muslims in a Muslim-minority country like Australia? This session will explore the texts, rituals, and ethics that connect Muslims in Australian society.
- SoR Unit Themes: Sacred texts and religious writings; Religion and ritual; Religious ethics
Session: Science & Religion Conflict
Presented by Associate Professor Tom Aechtner
- Description: Are religion and science in conflict? This session explores answers to that controversial question, and it explores religion-science relationships throughout history to the present-day.
- SoR Unit Themes: Sacred texts and religious writings; Religious ethics
Session: Hinduism: Sacred Texts
Presented by Associate Professor Adam Bowles
- Description: This session will explore the sacred texts in the Hindu tradition. Why have some texts been elevated over others? Does Hinduism have ‘a sacred text’?
- SoR Unit Themes: Sacred texts and religious writings; Religion, rights and the nation-state
Session: Abraham Joshua Heschel and the Meaning of the Sabbath in 20th-century America
Presented by Dr James A.T. Lancaster
- Description: This presentation will explore how Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, an émigré from Nazi Germany, rethought the importance of Shabbat to Jewish people living in the context of post-war America.
- SoR Unit Themes: Sacred texts and religious writings; Religious ethics
*2025 sessions, please note these may change for 2026.
Contact
Please contact engagement@hass.uq.edu.au for enquiries.
Kindly be aware that this event is exclusively for Year 11 high school students.