Scientific event

Djilali El Mestari, Researcher in Philosophy of Religion

Center for Research in Social and Cultural Anthropology

Djilali El Mestari is a Research Professor at the Center for Research in Social and Cultural Anthropology (CRASC, Oran, Algeria). He holds a Habilitation to Direct Research (HDR) and a Ph.D. in Philosophy of Religion from the University of Oran. He served as the Director of CRASC from 2017 to 2021, and was previously the Director General of the National Institute for Research in Education (INRE) from 2016 to 2017. His research focuses on religious discourse, education and citizenship, and the communitarian question. He has participated in numerous national and international projects, most recently leading two ongoing research projects on: social sciences and humanities textbooks (1963–2020), and the production of religious knowledge in official religious institutions.

In 2022, alongside researchers from Italy and France, he co-edited issue 95/96 of the journal Insaniyat on the socio-anthropology of the religious in the Mediterranean. He also co-edited a collective book published by CRASC with Dr. Soraya Mouloudji titled: Society and the Pandemic. He has published several articles and research papers on religious and educational discourse in Algeria. His three most recent publications include:

"Youth and the Discourses of Religious Authorities in Algeria: Findings from Field Studies" (co-authored), Insaniyat, issue on Socio-anthropology of the Religious in the Mediterranean, Vol. 1, No. 95, 2022.

"Institutionalized Religious Discourse During the First Period of the Pandemic in Algeria," in the collective book Society and the Pandemic, CRASC Publications, 2022.

"Second-Generation Islamic Education Textbooks in Algeria: Content and Stakes," High Islamic Council Publications, 2021.

Minister of Religious Affairs and Endowments (Awqaf) from 1997 to 2014 and préseident of High Islamic Council (HIC) from 2016 until the end of 2024.

Secretary-General of the High Islamic Council (HIC)

President of the Union of Sahel Scholars and Algerian Minister of Religious Affairs and Endowments. He was appointed Minister on 30 June 2021.

Fouad Nouar is a permanent researcher at the Research Centre in Social and Cultural Anthropology. His work focuses on socialization institutions and their training systems. His latest scientific publications examine the career outcomes of university graduates, as well as youth and the issue of recognition. He is currently a member of the research team "Trainers of Higher Teacher Training Schools in Algeria: Sociological Profiles."

Senior Research Fellow (Grade A), Permanent Researcher at the CRASC (Centre for Research in Social and Cultural Anthropology), specializing in Translation.