BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam//NONSGML v1.0//EN NAME:Reading Group: End-of-Life & Religion #3 METHOD:PUBLISH BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART:20261210T124500 DTEND:20261210T140000 DTSTAMP:20261210T124500 UID:2026/reading-group-end-of-life@8F96275E-9F55-4B3F-A143-836282E12573 CREATED:20260815T135107 LOCATION: SUMMARY:Reading Group: End-of-Life & Religion #3 X-ALT-DESC;FMTTYPE=text/html:

In our reading group at the library on ‘End-of-Life & Religion,’ co-organised by dr. Pie ter Coppens & dr. Jens Reinke, everyone’s academic and personal per spective on the topic is cordially invited. Together, through literat ure, film, articles & more, we’ll try to deepen our understanding o f how religion and the last phase of life are intertwined.

The topic 

It’s easy to resort to c lichés when it comes to death. Death is far away in much of everyday life, and at the same time it is everywhere. Death is universal and yet also highly particular: personal, cultural, contextual. So, death as a topic exists on these junctions of always present and push ed away; of applying to everyone but also manifesting itself in highl y specific ways. Connected to these junctions we find religion’s&nb sp;interactions with death. Where in many instances religion is pushe d to the fringes of society, death seemingly reinvites reli gion into the conversation, perhaps implying more junctions . It is from this broad sketch, that we enter the field&nbs p;as a reading group. As organisers, we hope people from a wide range of disciplines feel invited to join, from medical and behaviour al sciences to literature and philosophy. 

Sessio n build-up 

This third session centres on Essay Liu’s (writer) and Yu-Lin Wang’s (director) film Seven Days i n Heaven (父後七日). For a rudimentary int roduction to this material, you can scroll down to the film cover. Co -organiser dr. Jens Reinke will offer an introduction to the film and we’ll watch it together. Co-organiser Marc Lamain will guide the e nsuing conversation. The schedule is as follows: 

12:45 p.m. walk-in (at the University Li brary, HG-01A01) 
12:55 p.m. opening:&n bsp;the organisers introduce the reading group, its topic and&nb sp;some guidelines 
1:00 p.m. introduction: dr. Jens Reinke introduces Seven Days in Heaven by Essay Liu and Yu-Lin Wang
1:25 p.m. window to leave (for a nyone with other commitments after the lunch break)
1:30 p .m. watching the film
3:00 p.m. open con versation
3:30 p.m. closing

Readin g group build-up 

During three initial  sessions we’ll enter this wide thema tic field together. We’ve purposefully selected ligh t and elementary material for these three sessions, so we c an ease into the topic together. Once we’ve lai d this foundation, subsequent sessions can have a more refined angle and more complex material. You’re fre e to join us for any of the sessions that speak to you; but do e ncourage you to join us all along the way.  

The  ;initial sessions are built up as follows: 

At th e end of 2026 subsequent sessions will be announced. < /p>

The organisers 

This reading grou p is co-organised by the University Library and researchers dr.& nbsp;Piet er Coppens & dr. Jens Reinke. Coppens is associat e professor of Islamic intellectual and cultural history. His re search project The Art of Dying in Islamic Traditions (600� �1800) focuses on the relationship between the deathbe d in premodern Islam. Reinke is assistant professor&nb sp;of Buddhist studies. His research on contemporary Mahaya Budd hism in a global perspective has recently started branching into the& nbsp;last of phase of life in Buddhism. 

As part of the Un iversity Library, programme maker Marc Lamain co-organises this reading group. If you want to know more about reading groups at the library, the dedicated webpage should be of service to you. 

DESCRIPTION:

The topic 

It’s eas y to resort to clichés when it comes to death. Death is far away in much of everyday life, and at the same time it is everywhere. Death i s universal and yet also highly particular: personal, cultural,  contextual. So, death as a topic exists on these junctions of always present and pushed away; of applying to everyone but also manifesting itself in highly specific ways. Connected to these junctions we find religion’s interactions with death. Where in many instances r eligion is pushed to the fringes of society, death seemingly rei nvites religion into the conversation, perhaps implying&nbs p;more junctions. It is from this broad sketch, that we ent er the field as a reading group. As organisers, we hope peo ple from a wide range of disciplines feel invited to join, from medic al and behavioural sciences to literature and philosophy. 

< strong>Session build-up 

This third session centre s on Essay Liu’s (writer) and Yu-Lin Wang’s (director) film S even Days in Heaven (父後七日). For a rudi mentary introduction to this material, you can scroll down to the fil m cover. Co-organiser dr. Jens Reinke will offer an introduction to t he film and we’ll watch it together. Co-organiser Marc Lamain will guide the ensuing conversation. The schedule is as follows:  ; 12:45 p.m. walk-in (at the Universi ty Library, HG-01A01) 
12:55 p.m. openi ng: the organisers introduce the reading group, its topic a nd some guidelines 
1:00 p.m. introduct ion: dr. Jens Reinke introduces Seven Days in Heaven by Essa y Liu and Yu-Lin Wang
1:25 p.m. window to leave ( for anyone with other commitments after the lunch break)
1 :30 p.m. watching the film
3:00 p.m. ope n conversation
3:30 p.m. closing

Read ing group build-up 

During three initial  sessions we’ll enter this wide thema tic field together. We’ve purposefully selected ligh t and elementary material for these three sessions, so we c an ease into the topic together. Once we’ve lai d this foundation, subsequent sessions can have a more refined angle and more complex material. You’re fre e to join us for any of the sessions that speak to you; but do e ncourage you to join us all along the way.   The initi al sessions are built up as follows:  At the end of 20 26 subsequent sessions will be announced. 

The organisers 

This reading group is co-organise d by the University Library and researchers dr. Pieter Coppens&n bsp;& dr. Jens Reinke. Coppens is associate professor of I slamic intellectual and cultural history. His research project&n bsp;The Art of Dying in Islamic Traditions (600–1800) focuses on the relationship between the deathbed in p remodern Islam. Reinke is assistant professor of Buddhist s tudies. His research on contemporary Mahaya Buddhism in a global perspective has recently started branching into the last of pha se of life in Buddhism.  As part of the University Library, prog ramme maker Marc Lamain co-organises this reading group. If you want to know more about reading groups at the library, the dedicated webpage shou ld be of service to you.  In our reading group at the library on ‘End-of-Life & Religion,’ co-organised by dr. Pieter Coppens & d r. Jens Reinke, everyone’s academic and personal perspective on the topic is cordially invited. Together, through literature, film, arti cles & more, we’ll try to deepen our understanding of how religion and the last phase of life are intertwined. END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR