Call for Papers

 INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE

Crisis & Recovery – Ethics in Interdisciplinary Dialogue

Societas Ethica’s 62nd Annual Conference 2026
August 20–23 2026, University of Tartu, Estonia

We live in troubled times. The refugee crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the crisis of liberal democracies deeply affect on many levels individuals, societies and the environment. Societas Ethica’s 62nd conference aims to engage with the ethical aspects of crises and recovery through interdisciplinary dialogue. 

In this dialogue we are putting an emphasis on conversations with memory studies and semiotics as these belong to academic fields highly relevant to ethical reflection about crisis and recovery and also having strong and globally significant traditions in Estonia. At the same time the conference welcomes a wide spectrum of perspectives and approaches on crisis and recovery from Europe and worldwide – whether at the intersection of ethics, education, and resilience in facilitating recovery, or in current inquiries into recovery, healing, and forgiveness in theological as well as philosohical ethics.

Humanity has faced and recovered from many different crises in the past – war, terror, pandemics, and natural disasters. One could say that the human condition is one of crisis and recovery. Memory studies are one focus how to deal with crisis, since they often examine post-catastrophe experiences, trauma, and witnessing, all of which are central to the ethics of memory. These studies address vital issues in today’s ethical and political debates, such as memory, trauma, identity, and power. One aspect of the conference will be to explore how memory studies contribute to understanding and shaping recovery for individuals and societies.

What we remember and forget is shaped by the workings of signs in culture. How can the ethical dimension of the ‘semiosphere’ (Juri Lotman) be explored and modeled? How can we imagine and facilitate the recovery of a semiosphere affected by crisis? From a more holistic perspective, this concerns not only humans and their culture but also all forms of life as characterized by semiosis. Thus, ethics and semiotics in dialogue address not only the ethical health of our culture as a semiosphere but also how humans affect nature and other forms of life.

Alongside these examples of avenues for interdisciplinary dialogue inspired by the hosting context, the conference aims to examine crisis and recovery from a wide range of ethical and interdisciplinary perspectives. This concerns, among others, the very concept of crises – how they are defined, who defines them, and whether they are seen as a kairos, an opportunity, or a distaster. Just as central are the questions of recovery, reconciliation, and forgiveness, and how individuals and societies can move forward.

We warmly welcome everyone to Estonia to explore the ethics of crises and recovery!

Thematic fields

We encourage contributions from the fields of philosophy, theology, and applied ethics, as well as memory studies, semiotics, political science, social and economic sciences, religious studies, literary and cultural studies, psychology, history, and law.

We welcome submissions that address a wide range of topics related to the conference theme, including but not limited to:

• Ethical orientation in a world of multicrisis

• Democracy and justice in times of crisis

• Climate crisis, the Encyclica laudato si and other theological and philosohical responses

• Moral agency under pressure: Navigating times of crisis

• Crises and recovery in theological-ethical percpective

• Theological ethics, forgivness and reconcilation

• Crisis as opportunity and/or disaster

• Never Again and the ethics of memory

• Commemoration, memory and the sacred

• Pedagogy, memory, and democratic debate

• Ethics education, resilience and recovery

• Trauma theology and trauma-informed ethics

• Semiotic/semioethic reflections on crisis and recovery

• Sign ‘God’ between crisis and recovery

The conference languages will be English, German, and French.

The conference is a collaboration between Societas Ethica, the University of Tartu (particularly the School of Theology and Religious Studies, the Centre for Ethics, and the Institute of Philosophy and Semiotics), the Institute of Theology of the Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tallinn, and the University of Rostock.

Scientific Organizing Committee in Estonia

• Thomas-Andreas Põder (Theological Institute of the EELC / University of Tartu), chair

• Mati Simm (University of Tartu), conference manager

• Johann-Christian Põder (University of Rostock)

• Kadri Simm (University of Tartu)

• Siobhan Kattago (University of Tartu)

• Silvi Salupere (University of Tartu)

Keynote-Speakers and Panellists (among others):

• Margit Sutrop (University of Tartu)

• Ingolf U. Dalferth (Claremont Graduate University / University of Zürich)

• Susan Petrilli (University of Bari Aldo Moro)

• Jaana Hallamaa (University of Helsinki)

• Hans Ruin – to be confirmed (Södertörn University)

Submission Guidelines and Process:

• Paper proposals will be collected till December 15th, 2025.

• Paper proposals should include a significant title (please indicate the thematic field) and not exceed 800 words in length (bibliography excluded).

• Paper proposals should be focusing on an ethical argument or problem in relation to the conference topic.

  Please ensure that your abstract clearly outlines the research question, methodology, and potential contribution to the fields of intercultural and interreligious ethics.

• Manuscripts should be prepared for blind review, meaning that two Word documents should be prepared as following:

  • Document 1: Your name, first name, email address, institutional address, the title of your abstract, the thematic field(s) under which your paper proposal falls, and, if eligible, your application to participate in the Young Scholars’ Award competition (see information below).

  • Document 2: Your paper proposal including bibliography (max. 10 references), keywords and title with all identifying references removed. Please use Times New Roman 12 pt for body, references and keywords, and Ariel (bold) 16 pt for headline.

  • The two documents should be sent as Word attachments to Sebastian Mense at scriba@societasethica.info, using the subject line “Societas Ethica 2025 Conference”.

• All submissions will be subjected to rigorous blind peer review.

Further questions about thematic issues as well as any technical or financial question can be addressed to the Quaestora of Societas Ethica Lea Schlenker at quaestor@societasethica.info.

Important Dates:

While registrations to the conference will open in spring 2026, important dates for proposal submissions are as follows:

Deadline for Abstract Submission: December 15h, 2025.
Notification of Accepted Papers: the latest 23rd of February 2026.
Deadline for Registration: June 1st, 2026.
Conference Date: 20th–23rd of August 2026.

If the paper is accepted by the board members, you are kindly asked to register for the conference and confirm your participation with the Scriba.

Societas Ethica Young Scholars’ Award is awarded to the best presentation by a young scholar. Young scholars for the purpose of this competition are doctoral students and researchers who earned their degree less than two years ago and do not have a tenure-track academic position. For more information about Societas Ethica Young Scholars’ Award, please visit the website at www.societasethica.info.

Societas Ethica – the European Society for Research in Ethics – has more than 270 members from approximately 35 countries. Led by the current president Prof. Dr. Gotlind Ulshöfer, Societas Ethica endeavors to promote contacts between scholars in different countries, transcending political, ideological and religious boundaries. The society is open for researchers in theological ethics, philosophical ethics, and applied ethics. We welcome papers from non-members and members.

After the annual conference, De Ethica will publish a special issue on the conference theme. The abstract of the conference papers will be published in the conference proceedings. Selected papers will be (voluntary) published. As always, all submissions will be subjected to double-blind peer review. For information on submission guidelines, please see: https://de-ethica.com/about/submissions.

De Ethica seeks to publish scholarly works in Philosophical, Theological, and Applied Ethics. It is a fully peer-reviewed, open-access publication hosted by Linköping University Electronic Press. We are committed to making papers of high academic quality accessible to a broad audience. For further information, see https://de-ethica.com/.

Funding

In order to get information about funding possibilities, please visit the website: www.societasethica.info.