The first event was a lecture on The Philosophy of Religion and Social Pluralism in Bosnia by Prof. Rusmir Mahmut?ehaji?. It was held at the IFB meeting room (ul. Sime Milutinovi?a 10/III) at 18:00 hours, on Monday, February 4th , 2019. Professor Mahmut?ehaji? is one of the leading experts in Europe on the religious phenomenology of the Muslim intellectual tradition, philosophy of religion and its interface with the philosophy of science, and the dialectic of unity and plurality in open, multifaith societies. His academic works have been published in English by Brill, Oxford, Cambridge, Fordham, SUNY, World Wisdom, and the CEU Press, amongst others, as well as in Bosnian, Italian, French, German, Turkish, Indonesian and other languages. In his lecture, Prof. Mahmut?ehaji? addressed the 20th century subordination of religion and religious institutions to the ideological needs of ruling elites in Bosnia and the Balkans and the subsequent reduction of religious plurality to simplistic caricature. He argued that any revival of public and intellectual life in these countries had to reverse the exclusion of religion from the public sphere and _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Sarajevo, Sime Milutinovi?a 10, tel: +(387 33) 217-665, 217-670, 217-680, fax: +(387 33) 206-484, e-mail: [email protected] www.forumbosna.org academic life, without allowing a reactionary subjection of intellectual and political thought and freedom to ideologised religion. The reconstruction of public life can only be achieved along with the recognition of the role of a critically grounded dialectic of faith and liberty as forms for the expression of human dignity and the development of human character. Prof. Mahmut?ehaji? ended his talk with an appeal for the introduction of university-level studies of the philosophy of religion and of comparative religion in Bosnia as a first step towards ensuring a critical but enabling environment for the development of a free and enriching discourse on the role of religion and the religious traditions in social and individual life and so as a valid source of values for the creative renewal of forms of political life that transcend mere personal interest. The lecture was followed by a lively discussion amongst those present, who included some of the leading members of Bosnian intellectual and academic life. The lecture and the discussion were recorded for transmission on public radio at a later date.