Nazareth College is hosting an international symposium on women and gender in religion.
The three day conference is called Sacred Texts and Human Contexts: Women and Gender in religions.
Close to 50 social scientists and religious scholars from around the world will be in town presenting papers and discussing how religions have viewed and interpreted their sacred texts with reference to gender relations.
Dr. Muhammed Shafiq, a Professor and the Executive Director of the Hickey Center for Interfaith Studies at Nazareth College says it will also reflect on how some experts are reconsidering their religious and spiritual teachings on this topic.
"What we are doing is to see the same words... and see whether there could be a different meaning."
Shafiq said many sacred texts were originally written and interpreted by men, adding to the prejudice of some interpretations - but he says the symposium isn’t necessarily trying to prove a point either way, but instead look at the words through the scope of space and time.
"What happens in each time and each age and each continent, they pick up what is the need for that social period."
Topics to be discussed include reproductive rights, marriage and sexual orientation.
The conference and runs from Sunday, July 30th though Tuesday, August 1st at the Otto Shults Community Center at Nazareth College.