The “Excluded Third”

As part of the European Dialogues on Religion at Villa Vigoni

Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are often understood as an ensemble of three (‘Abrahamic,’ ‘monotheistic,’ scriptural, or prophetic) religious communities and traditions. But often when adherents of two of these “sibling” religions interact, the third is treated as a figure to be marginalized, stigmatized, or instrumentally exploited vis-à-vis the others. Resulting from an international cooperation between the SNSF CORE (Co-Produced Religions, University of Bern / Princeton Institute for Advanced Study) and the ERC EuQu (The European Qur’an, CSIC Madrid / University of Naples L’Orientale) projects, this conference proposes to explore this dynamic of the excluded third at any time or place in the interactive history of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, from their origin in Late Antiquity to today.

Coordination

Prof. Mercedes García-Arenal, Centre for Social Sciences and Humanities, Madrid; Prof. Dr. Katharina Heyden, Universität Bern; Prof. David Nirenberg, Princeton Institute for Advanced Studies; Prof. Davide Scotto, Università di Pavia; Prof. Roberto Tottoli, Università di Napoli L’Orientale

Related events

• Villa Vigoni European Talk on Religion 2025