Holocaust Remembrance Event

Monday, April 7, 2008, 7:30 p.m.
Krannert Auditorium
In the context of the 27th Annual Holocaust Remembrance Conference, St. Thomas Aquinas Center is co-sponsoring a Jewish-Christian-Muslim dialogue discussing the document, "A Common World Between Us and You." This was an extraordinary letter recently written by 138 Muslim leaders to Pope Benedict and all Christians, a new breakthrough for those of us who share the same heritage from Abraham, and a powerful contribution to the peace, truth and justice. The dialogue will include Dr. Thomas Ryba from St. Tom's, Rabbi Audrey Pollak, and Judge David Shaheed.

"Muslim Peacemaking in Southeast Asia"
Thursday, April 3, 2008, 7:30 p.m.
Krannert Auditorium
Speakers:
Imtiyaz Yusuf, Assumption University, Bangkok, Thailand; Head of the Graduate School of Philosophy and Religion, author of Understanding Conflict and Approaching Peace in Southern Thailand
Kriya Langputeh, Yala Islamic University, Yala, Thailand
Kannaporn Akarapisan, Payap University, Chang Mai, Thailand; Coordinator of the Institute of Religion
Macrina Morados, University of the Philippines, Institute of Islamic Studies
Musa Sanguila, Director of Pakigdait NGO for Peace and Development in Mindanao, Philippines

Religious Studies Open House
February 13, 2008
4:30-6:00 p.m.
Anniversary Drawing Room
Purdue Memorial Union
See Flier.

"Growing Up Catholic: A Case Study of Catholic Children in Mid-20th Century America"
Robert Orsi, Grace Craddock Nagle Chair in Catholic Studies, Northwestern University

Friday, February 8, 2008
7:30 p.m.
Krannert Auditorium


Co-sponsored by the Religious Studies Program and the Aquinas Educational Foundation. See flier.

"Catholicism's Many (and Sometimes Contentious) Public Faces: A Look at American Catholics Today"
Margaret Steinfels, Co-director of the Fordham Center on Religion and Culture

Friday, November 16, 2007, 7:30 p.m.
Krannert Auditorium

Co-sponsored by the Aquinas Educational Foundation, the Sociology Department and the Religious Studies Program
See flier.

"Charity as a Cultural Tradition: Implications of American Catholic Social Thought in the Current Social Milieu of China"
Professor Peng Xiaoyu of Beijing

Wednesday, November 7, 2007, 7:00-9:00 p.m.
Lawson Hall, Room 1142
Sponsored by the Department of History

See flier.

His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet

Public Talk: "Cultivating Happiness"
Friday, October 26, 2007, 2:00 p.m.
Elliott Hall of Music

As the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, His Holiness the Dalai Lama is respected worldwide for his message of compassion and tolerance, his promotion of human values and inter-religious understanding, and his focus on peace through nonviolent conflict resolution.

Presented by the Tibetan Cultural Center in Bloomington, IN and Purdue Convocations in cooperation with the College of Liberal Arts

Fall 2006 - Spring 2007

Fifth Albertus Magnus Evening and Dorothy Day Lecture
"African-American Spirituality: A Catholic Perspective"
Monday, April 23, 2007, 7:30 p.m.
Krannert Auditorium

Speakers include:
Cyprian Davis, OSB, St. Meinrad's

Diana L. Hayes, Professor of Systematic Theology in the Department of Theology at Georgetown. Her areas of specialization are Womanist Theology, Black Theology, U.S. Liberation Theologies, Contextual Theologies, Religion and Public Life, and African American and Womanist Spirituality. Her courses include Black Liberation Theology, Womanist Theology, American Liberation Theology, Race, Class, Gender and Religion (all of which she has also taught at the graduate level), Religion and Liberation (a Theology majors seminar), and the required intro course, The Problem of God (from a comparative world religions in the U.S. perspective). Dr. Hayes is the first African American woman to receive the Pontifical Doctor of Sacred Theology degree (S.T.D.) from the Catholic University of Louvain (Belgium) and has also received three honorary doctorates. She is the author of 6 books and over 50 articles.

Sponsors: Aquinas Educational Foundation, Pax Christi, and the Religious Studies Program at Purdue.

"Spirituality for the 21st Century: Reflections on Essential Writings of Chiara Lubich"
Friday, April 13, 2007
Stewart Center, Room 307

See flier.

"America, Asian Tantra, and the Religion of No Religion"
Jeffrey Kripal
Thursday, April 5, 2007, 4:30-6:30 p.m.
Stewart Center, Room 206

See flier.

Dr. Kripal is the Chair of Religious Studies at Rice University. His areas of interest include the comparative erotics and ethics of mystical literature, American countercultural translations of Asian religious traditions, and the history of Western esotericism, particularly as this complex has encountered and incorporated Asian practices and ideas in the colonial and postcolonial periods. His book, Esalen: America and the Religion of No Religion (Chicago: 2007), constitutes a critical history of the Esalen Institute and its foundational roles in the American counterculture, the Western appropriation of Asian religions, Soviet-American relations (it was Esalen that helped pioneer "citizen diplomacy" in the 80s and brought Boris Yeltsin to America) and the development of the New Age. His other publications include The Serpent's Gift: Gnostic Reflections on the Study of Religion (Chicago: 2006), Roads of Excess, Palaces of Wisdom: Eroticism and Reflexivity in the Study of Mysticism (Chicago: 2001), and Kali's Child: The Mystical and the Erotic in the Life and Teachings of Ramakrishna (Chicago: 1995). In addition, he has co-edited volumes with Glenn W. Shuck on the history of Esalen and the American counterculture, On the Edge of the Future: Esalen and the Evolution of American Culture (Indiana: 2005); with Rachel Fell McDermott on a popular Hindu goddess, Encountering Kali: In the Margins, at the Center, in the West (California: 2003); with G. William Barnard on the ethical critique of mystical traditions, Crossing Boundaries: Essays on the Ethical Status of Mysticism (Seven Bridges: 2002); and with T.G. Vaidyanathan of Bangalore, India, on the dialogue between psychoanalysis and Hinduism, Vishnu on Freud's Desk: A Reader in Psychoanalysis and Hinduism (Oxford: 1999).

"The Confucianism Movement and Its Future"
(Presentation in Chinese)
Presented by Dr. Chunsong Gan, Professor of Philosophy
Renmin University of China

Thursday, March 29, 2007, 2:00-3:30 p.m.
Lawson Hall, Room B134

Sponsored by the Department of Sociology and Anthropology and the School of Languages and Cultures

Chinese Society and Religion Lecture Series Presents:
"Buddhism in Contemporary China: A Retrospective and Prospective View"
Presented by Dr. Fang Xuan, Professor of Buddhist Studies
Renmin University of China

Wednesday March 28, 2007, 4:00-5:30 p.m.
Class of 1950, Room 125

Chinese Society and Religion Lecture Series Presents:
"History of Christianity in China: How a Global Religion Becomes Localized"
Presented by Dr. Peter Tze Ming Ng, Director of the Center for the Study of Religion and Chinese Society
The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Thursday, March 22, 2007, 4:30-5:45 p.m.
University Hall, Room 303

"Strong Religion: The Fundamentalist Reaction to the Modernist Malaise"
by Scott Appleby
Tuesday, November 28, 2006, 7:00 p.m.
Stewart Center, Room 214A-D

Scott Appleby is Professor of History at the University of Notre Dame, where he also serves as the John M. Regan, Jr. Director of the Joan B. Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies. From 1994 to 2002, Appleby directed Notre Dame's Cushwa Center for the Study of American Catholicism. From 1988 to 1993 he was co-editor of the Fundamentalism Project, an international public policy study conducted by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. From 1982 to 1987, he chaired the religious studies department of St. Xavier College, Chicago. A historian of religion who earned the Ph.D. from the University of Chicago (1985), Appleby is the author of The Ambivalence of the Sacred: Religion, Violence and Reconciliation (Rowman & Littlefield, 2000); and co-author, with Gabriel Almond and Emmanuel Sivan, of Strong Religion: The Rise of Fundamentalisms Around the World (Chicago, 2003). Appleby is also the editor of Spokesmen for the Despised: Fundamentalist Leaders of the Middle East (1997) and the co-editor, with Martin E. Marty, of the University of Chicago Press series on global fundamentalisms, which won the American Academy of Relgion's Award for Excellence in the Study of Religion. The first volume, Fundamentalisms Observed, appared in 1991; it was followed by Fundamentalisms and the State (1993), Fundamentalisms and Society (1993), Accounting for Fundamentalisms (1994) and Fundamentalisms Comprehended (1995). A consultant for the PBS film and NPR radio series on the topic, Appleby co-authored the companion book, The Glory and the Power: The Fundamentalist Challenge to the Modern World. Dr. Appleby is also the author of Church and Age Unite! The Modernist Impulse in American Catholicism (Notre Dame, 1992), co-editor of Being Right: Conservative Catholics in America (Indiana, 1995) and co-author of Transforming Parish Ministry: The Changing Roles of Clergy, Laity, and Women Religious (Crossroad, 1989). He is the general editor of the Cornell University Press series, Catholicism in Twentieth Century America. Appleby serves on the board of trustees of Saint Xavier University, the advisory council of the Joseph Cardinal Bernardin Center of the Catholic Theological Union and the steering committee of the Catholic Common Ground Initiative. A fellow of the American Academy of Political and Social Sciences, he holds three honorary doctorates, from Fordham University, the University of Scranton and St. John's University, Collegeville, Minnesota. Essays and articles by Professor Appleby have appeared in Foreign Policy, Harvard Theological Review, Journal of American History, The New York Times Book Review, American Journal of Education, Lingua Franca, The Review of Politics, Church History, The Christian Century, America, Commonweal, U.S. Catholic and U.S. Catholic Historian.

Robert Colella
Science and Religion Discussion

Wednesday, November 15, 2006
7:00-9:00 p.m.
University Hall, Room 317

"Faith Based Political Engagement"
Jean Bethke Elshtain
Laura Spelman Rockefeller Professor of Social and Political Ethics
University of Chicago

Thursday, November 9, 2006, 8:00 p.m
Beering Hall, Room 2280

See flier.

Jean Bethke Elshtain is the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Professor of Social and Political Ethics at the University of Chicago. She has been a Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton University; a Scholar in Residence at the Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Conference and Study Center in Como, Italy; a Guggenheim Fellow (1991-92); and a writer in residence at the MacDowell Colony in Peterborough, New Hampshire. She is the recipient of the Ellen Gregg Ingalls Award for excellence in classroom teaching--the highest award for undergraduate teaching at Vanderbilt University. She currently serves as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton University, and is on the Board of Trustees of the National Humanities Center in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. In Spring of 1996 she was elected a Fellow in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Elshtain also currently serves as Chair of the Council on Families in America, The National Commission for Civic Renewal, and is Chair of the Council on Civil Society. She has been selected a Phi Beta Kappa Scholar for 1997-98. Her books include Just War Against Terror: The Burden of American Power in a Violent World; Jane Addams and the Dream of American Democracy; Who are We? Critical Reflections and Hopeful Possibilities, Politics and Ethical Discourse; The King Is Dead; Political Mothers; New Wine and Old Bottles; International Politics at the Millenium; Real Politics; Politics and Everyday Life; Augustine and the Limits of Politics; Democracy on Trial; But Was It Just? Reflections on the Morality of the Persian Gulf War (with Stanley Hauerwas et. al.); Power Trips and Other Journeys: Essays in Feminism as Civic Discourse; Women and War; Meditations on Modern Political Thought: Masculine-Feminine Themes from Luther to Arendt; Public Man, Private Woman: Women in Social and Political Thought. She also writes a regular column for The New Republic.

This talk is sponsored by the Aquinas Educational Foundation, Programs in Religious Studies, Medieval Studies, American Studies and Women's Studies.

Religious Studies Open House
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
4:00-6:00 p.m.
Anniversary Drawing Room, Purdue Memorial Union

Join us as we kick-off 2006-07! Refreshments provided!

"The Concept of the Divine Energies"
David Bradshaw
University of Kentucky

Thursday, September 28, 2006, 4:30 p.m.
Beering Hall, Room B222

Professor Bradshaw is a specialist in ancient and medieval philosophy, especially metaphysics, natural theology, and philosophy of mind. He also has interests in philosophy of religion and the interaction between philosophy and theology. His recent book, Aristotle East and West: Metaphysics and the Division of Christendom, is a study of the role of metaphysics in the division between the eastern and western branches of Christianity. It begins with Aristotle and the pagan Neoplatonists, and continues through representative thinkers such as Augustine, Boethius, and Aquinas (in the West) and Dionysius the Areopagite, Maximus the Confessor, and Gregory Palamas (in the East). It has been awarded the Forkosch Prize by the Journal of the History of Ideas as the best work of intellectual history by a new author published in 2004.

Fall 2005-Spring 2006

"God and Morality"
by Dr. Richard Swinburne
April 24, 2006, 4:30 p.m.
Wetherill Hall, Room 172

Professor Richard Swinburne is Emertius Professor of the Philosophy of the Christian Religion, University of Oxford, Emertius Fellow of Oriel College, Oxford, and Fellow of the British Academy. He is the author of numerous books and articles, including such books as The Evolution of the Soul, Oxford 1986, 1997; The Christian God, 1994; Providence and the Problem of Evil, Oxford 1998; and The Resurrection of the God Incarnate, Oxford 2003.

Chinese Society and Religion Lecture Series Presents:
"Bible Translation and Cultural Transformation: Christian Growth among Ethnic Minorities in Southwestern China"
by Dr. Bin You
April 7, 2006, 1:30-2:30 p.m.
Beering Hall, Room 2280

PDF Flier

In Southwester China, a number of ethnic minorities have very distinct cultures from that of the mainstream Han Chinese. Some are preliterate tribal societies until recently. Christian missionaries came and created the written languages as they translated the Bible for these ethnic groups. Along with its rapid growth in recent decades, Christianity has transformed these groups' ethnic culture, ethnic identity, and social structure. Meanwhile, the indigenized Christianity has become colorful like the rainbow. Dr. You is Associate Professor of Religious Studies at the Central University for Nationalities in Beijing, China. He teaches the History of Christianity, Biblical Studies, Christian Ethics, and Religious Policies and Laws in Contemporary China. Currently, he is a visiting scholar at Harvard-Yenching Institute.

This lecture is sponsored by the Department of Sociology and Anthropology and the Religious Studies Program.

"From John Paul II to Benedict XVI: Achievements and Challenges"
by George Weigel
Friday, March 31, 2006, 7:00 p.m.
St. Thomas Aquinas Church

PDF Flier

George Weigel, Senior Fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C., is a Roman Catholic theologian and one of America's leading commentators on issues of religion and public life. Weigel is the author or editor of numerous books, including Catholicism and the Renewal of American Democracy (Paulist, 1989), The Final Revolution: The Resistance Church and the Collapse of Communism (Oxford, 1992), Soul of the World: Notes on the Future of Public Catholicism (Eerdmans, 1994), The Truth of Catholicism: Ten Controversies Explored (HarperCollins, 2001), The Courage to Be Catholic: Crisis, Reform, and the Future of the Church (Basic Books, 2002), Letters to a Young Catholic (Basic, 2004), and The Cube and the Cathedral: Europe, America, and Politics Without God (Basic, 2005). In addition to his books, Weigel has contributed essays, op-ed columns, and reviews to the major opinion journals and newspapers in the United States. He has appeared on numerous network television, cable television, and radio discussion programs, and is a consultant on Vatican affairs for NBC News. His weekly column, "The Catholic Difference," is syndicated to sixty newspapers around the United States. Both his scholarly work and his journalism have been translated into a variety of western langauges. Weigel has also prepared a major study of the life, thought, and action of Pope John Paul II. Witness to Hope: The Biography of Pope John Paul II was published to international acclaim in the Fall of 1999. A documentary film based on the book was released in the Fall of 2001 and has won numerous prizes. His most recent book is God's Choice: Pope Benedict XVI and the Future of the Catholic Church (HarperCollins, 2005).

This lecture is sponsored by the Albertus Magnus Institute, the Aquinas Educational Foundation, the Haigerty-Piguet Memorial Lecture Series, and the Religious Studies Program at Purdue University.

"Apocalyptic Violence and Politics: End-Times Fiction for Christians and Jews"
by Dr. Barbara R. Rossing
March 24, 2006, 4:30-7:00 p.m.
Beering Hall, Room 2290

PDF Flier

Barbara R. Rossing is Professor of New Testament at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, where she has taught since 1994. She holds a doctorate in New Testament from Harvard Divinity School, and an M.Div. from Yale Divinity School. Her research focuses on the biblical book of Revelation.

She is the author of The Rapture Exposed: The Message of Hope in the Book of Revelation (Westview Press, 2004), featured on CBS's "Sixty Minutes" as a critique of fundamentalist "Left Behind" theology. Her previous works include The Choice Between Two Cities: Whore, Bride and Empire in the Apocalypse (Trinity Press, 1999) as well as articles and book chapters on Revelation and ecology. Her recent publications include a study of women prophets in early Christianity, "Prophets, Prophetic Movements and the Voices of Women" in A People's History of Christianity (Fortress Press, 2005).

Previously Rossing served as chaplain to Harvard Divinity School, pastor and teacher at the Holden Village retreat center, and pastor at Bethany Lutheran Church in Minneapolis. She serves on the executive committee and council of the Lutheran World Federation, where she also chairs the Lutheran World Federation's theology and studies committee.

This talk is sponsored by the Religious Studies Program and the Society for Religious Studies.

Chinese Society and Religion Lecture Series Presents:
"Religion and the State: The PRC and Taiwan"
by Professor Richard Madsen
Thursday, March 9, 2006, 12:00-1:15 p.m.
Beering Hall, Room 2290

The relationship between religion and the state in the People's Republic of China (PRC) is contentious, whereas in Taiwan it is relatively harmonious. But the relationship in PRC and Taiwan were not very different in the 1950s and 1960s. The evolution in Taiwan involved not only the transformation of political structures but also the creative development of new forms of religious belief and practice among the middle classes. How did this evolution take place in Taiwan? Under what conditions could it happen in the PRC?

Richard Madsen is Professor and Chair of the Department of Sociology at the University of California, San Diego. His many books include Habits of the Heart (1995) and The Good Society (1991) with Robert Bellah et al., Morality and Power in a Chinese Village (1984), Chen Village under Mao and Deng (with Anita Chan and Jonathan Unger, 1992), China and the American Dream (1994), China's Catholics: Tragedy and Hope in an Emerging Civil Society (1998), and Popular China: Unofficial Culture in a Globalizing Society (with Perry Link and Pickowicz, 2002).

Sponsored by the Department of Sociology and Anthropology and the Religious Studies Program.

Chinese Society and Religion Lecture Series Presents:
"The Virtual Freedom of Religion: Buddhist and Christian Websites in China"
by Dr. Dedong Wei
November 14, 2005, 10:30-11:30
Stewart Center, Room 311

China's official policy restricts religious activities to the premises of officially approved temples, churches and mosques, and no foreign missionaries are allowed. However, the internet has broken through such restrictions. Dr. Dedong Wei is Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Renmin University of China, Beijing, specializing in Buddhist philosophy and empirical research on religion in China. He has published numerous articles in scholarly journals. He is the editor of the Chinese Journal of the Social Scientific Study of Religion. This talk was co-sponsored by the Department of Sociology and Anthropology and the Religious Studies Program.

"The Politics of Religion: Nation, Identity and Difference in South Asia"
November 3, 2005, 9:00-12:00 and 1:00-5:00
Purdue Memorial Union, Room 118

Speakers:
Sumit Sarkar, Professor, History, Delhi University
Tanika Sarkar, Professor, History, Jawaharlal Nehru University
Barbara Metcalf, Professor, History, University of Michigan
Ali Riaz, Professor, Politics and Government, Illinois State University

Religious nationalism is increasingly becoming a 'fact' of contemporary international life. Whether the issue is building, restructuring or maintaining a nation, the process is, all over the world, deeply infused with religious rhetoric and symbolism. In India, recent pronouncements of the Hindu religious right link religious mobilization along community lines to patriotic ideas where nationhood and religious are alarmingly fused to exclude particular identities and communities. How do we understand religion then in an era of democratic rights and citizenship? Is the category a throwback from medieval times thus rendering these states and societies "backward" in the gaze of modernity? Or do religious ideas have a more complex relation to nationhood in general and specific notions of patriotism in particular?

"God, the Multiverse and the Goldilocks Engima"
by Professor Paul Davies
Monday, October 3, 2005, 8:00 p.m.
Fowler Hall

Professor Paul Davies obtained his doctoral degree in physics from the University College, London, in 1970. He held academic positions at Cambridge and was appointed Professor of Theoretical Physics at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne. He was Professor of Mathematical Physics and Natural Philosophy at the University of Adelaide. He currently holds the position of Visiting Professor of Physics at Imperial College, London, and Professor of Natural Philosophy at Macquarie University, Sidney. Professor Davies has published over 100 research papers in specialistic journals, in the fields of cosmology, gravitation, quantum field theory, with particular emphasis on black holes and the origin of the universe.

In addition to his research, Professor Davies is known as "the best science writer on either side of the Atlantic." He is a well recognized broadcaster and public lecturer. He has written over 25 books, translated into more than 20 languages. Among his better known works are God and the New Physics, The Cosmic Blueprint, The Mind of God, The Last Three Minutes, and The Fifth Miracle: The Search for the Origin of Life. he is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. He was awarded the Kelvin Medal by the U.K. Institute of Physics, and, in 1995, he was awarded the prestigious Templeton Prize for progress in religion. From his beginnings as a theoretical physicist, Paul Davies has branched out to focus on the deep questions of existence, such as how the universe came into existence and how it will end, the nature of human consciousness, the possibility of time travel, the relationship between physics and biology, and the interface of science and religion.

With his longstanding experience in television and radio, Professor Davies' lecture promises to be uniquely engaging and interesting. This lecture series started with grants from Lilly Endowment Inc., and Templeton Foundation, with the support of the College of Science and the College of Liberal Arts. It is presently sponsored by the College of Science and the Department of Physics.

Scott C. Alexander, Associate Professor of Islam and Director of the Catholic-Muslim Studies Program
Catholic Theological Union, Chicago
April 20, 2005, 4:30 p.m.
Stewart Center, Room 206

Fall 2004 - Spring 2005

"Working Hard and Following God's Laws: Bourgeois Hindu Theism in Early Colonial Calcutta"
by Brian Hatcher, Professor of Religion
Illinois Wesleyan University
Tuesday, April 5, 2005, 3:00 p.m.
University Hall, Room 203

Dr. Hatcher studies the history of socio-religious change and cultural encounter in colonial India, with specific focus on the development of modernist Hindu movements and transformations in the lives and work of Sanskrit scholars in Bengal.

"The Problem of Evil Conference"

April 1-3, 2005

Thanks to a generous gift from former Purdue President Arthur G. Hansen, the English and Philosophy Ph.D. Program will be hosting, on April 1-3, 2005, a conference on "The Problem of Evil." The event will be co-sponsored with the Department of Philosophy, Jewish Studies, Religious Studies, and Women's Studies, to celebrate, among others, Professor William L. Rowe in his "last year at Purdue," as his accomplishments in analytic philosophy of religion, particularly on the topic of evil, are widely known and noteworthy.

The gathering will also feature Purdue's George Ade Distinguished Professor of Philosophy Emeritus, Calvin O. Schrag, and other eminent scholars in Continental philosophy of religion, as well as specialists in Biblical literature, critical theory, feminism, and political philosophy. Professor Schrag's last book, God as Otherwise Than Being, is a work in Continental philosophy of religion, and is thus eminently suited as a partner in dialogue with analytic approaches to this topic.

President Hansen will present at this conference his paper on the problem of evil in the Book of Job. The concluding roundtable with all plenary speakers, addressing the question, "Evil-Talk After September 11: Is This the Final End of Theodicy?", will conclude the three day conference.

"Religious Diversity in a 'Christian Nation': American Identity and American Democracy"
by Robert Wuthnow, Princeton University
Gerhard A. Andlinger Professor of Sociology
Director, Center for the Study of Religion
Thursday, February 24, 2005, 7:30 p.m.
Stewart Center, Room 314

See PDF flier.

Professor Wuthnow will report results from a five-year study of America's response to religious diversity. His talk will examine the influence of Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism and Americans' attitudes toward the practitioners of these religions. Wuthnow will consider the extent to which Americans continue to think of themselves as living in a Christian nation. He also will discuss the implications of religious diversity for our national identity.

"Changing Interpretations of the Myth of Oedipus"
by Dr. Robert Segal, Professor of Theories of Religion
Lancaster University, U.K.
Tuesday, November 16, 2004, 7:00-9:00 p.m.
Knoy Hall, Room #B031

In his talk, Dr. Segal will survey the history of interpretations of the story of Oedipus from Freud to the present. Dr. Segal will argue that the way Otto Rank, Geza Roheim, Jacob Arlow, Erich Fromm, Lord Raglan, Claude Levi-Strauss, and Rene Girard have analyzed the Oedipus myth reveals their reactions to Freud's view of this story and his view of human nature.

Dr. Segal's lecture will be followed by a Girardian response by Dr. Sandor Goodhart (Associate Professor of English, Purdue).

This lecture is sponsored by the Notre Dame Theology Extension Program and the Religious Studies Program at Purdue and is free and open to the public.

"Religion and Violence"
A Panel Discussion by Religious Studies Faculty
Friday, October 24, 2004, 4:00-5:00 p.m.
University Hall, Room 117
Reception to follow in same room.

See PDF flier.

Join six faculty members of the Religious Studies Program for a panel discussion on Religion and Violence. Faculty members will be responding to Charles Taylor's essay, "Notes on the Sources of Violence: Perennial and Modern." Throughout human history, a good deal of violence has occurred in the name of religion. This is especially true today. We will discuss how and why religion can be associated with violence, as well as other motives for violence that get mixed up with religious motivations. Given that religious symbols can be used for violence or for peace, we will explore the characteristic ways in which the symbols are placed in larger contexts allowing them to be used in one way or another. Finally, we will focus on how religion can be a positive force for peace.

Participants:
Ann Astell, English (Moderator)
Andrew Buckser, Sociology/Anthropology
Sandor Goodhart, English
Jacqueline Marina, Philosophy
Donald Mitchell, Philosophy
Tom Ryba, Notre Dame Theologian in Residence

Fall 2003 - Spring 2004

"The Nature of the Universe and our Place in the Cosmos"
by John D. Barrow, Professor of Mathematical Sciences at Cambridge University, U.K.
Thursday, April 1, 2004, 8:00 p.m.
Fowler Hall

He received his doctorate in Astrophysics from Oxford University in 1977 and held positions at Oxford, Berkeley, and the University of Sussex, where he was professor of astronomy. He received the Locker Prize for Astronomy and the 1999 Kelvin Medal of the Royal Glasgow Philosophical Society. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2003. He is the author of more than 350 scientific articles and 15 books, translated into 28 languages. These include, The Left Hand of Creation, The Anthropic Cosmological Principle, and The Origin of the Universe. His most recent book, The Constants of Nature, from Alpha to Omega, has just been published by Random House. In this lecture, Professor Barrow will consider some of the latest discoveries into the nature of the universe, and their implications for philosophy and theology.

Six experts analyze key issues raised by The Passion of the Christ.
Tuesday, March 30, 7:30 p.m.
Class of 1950 Lecture Hall, Room 224

Moderator: Bob Bloom, Film Critic, Journal and Courier

Speakers:

• Fr. John T. Pawlikowski, Professor of Social Ethics at the Catholic Theological Union and Director of the Catholic-Jewish Studies Program in the School's Cardinal Bernardin Center. "Gibson's Passion: The Challenge for Christians"
• Gordon R. Mork, Professor of History, Purdue University
• "Dramatizing the Passion: From Oberammergau to Gibson"
• Stuart D. Robertson, Pastor of Faith Presbyterian Church, West Lafayette, Indiana and Lecturer in Biblical Hebrew, Purdue University
• " The Passion, Anti-Semitism, and Supersessionism"
• Gordon D. Young, Associate Professor of History and Director of the Jewish Studies Program, Purdue University
• "History, Archaeology, and Mel Gibson's Passion"
• Zev Garber, Professor of Jewish Studies, Los Angeles Valley College
• "Devil is in the Details: Mel Gibson's Suffering Christ"

This program is free and open to the public. Everyone is encouraged to attend and bring a friend. Questions and statements from the audience will be welcome.

"Political Theology: Facing the Challenges to Rights in a Globalized World"
by Professor Francis Fiorenza, Harvard University Divinity School
March 25, 2004, 4:30 p.m.
St. Thomas Aquinas Center, Room 3

See PDF Flier.

His talk will engage issues in political theology and engage recent theories of justice, especially those of John Rawls and Jurgen Habermas.

Francis Schussler Fiorenza came to HDS in 1986, having taught previously at the University of Notre Dame, Villanova University, and the Catholic University of America. His primary interests are in the fields of fundamental or foundational theology, in which he explores the significance of contemporary hermeneutical theories as well as neo-pragmatic criticisms of foundationalism. His writings on political theology engage recent theories of justice, especially those of John Rawls and Jurgen Habermas, and have dealt with issues of work and welfare. He has also written on the history of nineteenth- and twentieth-century theology, focusing on both Roman Catholic and Protestant theologians. In addition to more than 100 essays in the areas of fundamental theology, hermeneutics, and political theology, his publications include the books Foundational Theology: Jesus and the Church; Systematic Theology: Roman Catholic Perspectives, edited with John Galvin; Habermas, Modernity, and Public Theology, edited with Don Browning; and Modern Christian Thought Volume 2: The Twentieth Century, written with James Livingston. He is currently completing a book on hermeneutics, and another on theology and human rights, and a revised edition of the translation of Schleiermacher's letters to Dr. Lucke.

The Religious Studies Program is co-sponsoring the English and Philosophy Ph.D. Program Graduate Student Conference "Identifications: Faith, Theory and Identity-Making".

The conference will take place February 6-8, 2004. Keynote speakers: Merold Westphal, Distinguished Professor of Philosophy, Fordham University. The conference explores interrelations between theories of subject formation and theories of faith and religious identifications.

"Rebuilding Hope for Peace in the Middle East: What Will it Take?"