Center on Religion & the Professions

Improving religious literacy among professionals.

Lecture: Darwin, Discovery, Death and Damnation

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Lecture: “Darwin, Discovery, Death and Damnation: Sources of Victorian Religious Doubt,” by Dr. Julie Melnyk, MU Honors College associate director, Humanities Sequence coordinator, and adjunct assistant professor of English. Explores sources of religious doubt in Victorian Britain, from Darwin’s theory of evolution to new ways of reading the Bible, and how the unsettlement of faith affected Victorian women and men in their lives and work. Part of MU Libraries Faculty Lecture Series.

Film: The Power of Forgiveness

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The Power of ForgivenessThrough character-driven stories, the film explores recent research into the psychological and physical effects of forgiveness under a variety of conditions. It features stories about the Amish, the 9/11 tragedy and peace-building in Northern Ireland, as well as interviews with renowned Buddhist teacher Thich Nhat Hanh, Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel, and best-selling authors Thomas Moore and Marianne Williamson. It also explores the role forgiveness holds in various faith traditions. The film provides an honest look at the intensity of anger and grief people experience and the transgressions for which people are unwilling or unable to forgive. It also shows the role forgiveness can play in alleviating anger and grief, and the physical, mental and spiritual benefits that come with it. (2008)
MUSponsored by the Center on Religion & the Professions

Sects and the City: Religion & the Presidential Election

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This election season has got religion. From “pastor problems” to stem cell debates and distinctions between Sunnis and Shias – we’ve got gaffes, gifts, Gospel, government and God. Elect to participate in this moderated discussion of the religion-and-politics trends and hot-button issues before casting your ballot. Free.

Conversation: “Religion & the Presidential ElectionPart of the “Sects and the City: Coffee and conversation on the intersection of faith and life” series co-sponsored by the Center on Religion & the Professions.

Lecture: Susan Jacoby

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“Reason, Unreason and Religion: Say It Ain’t So, Where Did America’s Rationality Go?” by Susan Jacoby, author of “The Age of American Unreason" and program director of the Center for Inquiry-New York City. Part of Columbia College’s Schiffman Lecture in Religious Studies.

Lecture and reading: Rodger Kamenetz

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Lecture and poetry reading: Rodger Kamenetz, Louisiana State University honors professor and founding director of LSU’s Master’s of Fine Arts program in Creative Writing and the Jewish Studies Program. Kamenetz is author of five books of poetry, including “The Lowercase Jew,” nonfiction such as the bestselling “The Jew in the Lotus” and National Jewish Book Award-winning “Stalking  Elijah,” and a memoir, “Terra Infirma.”

Film: Renewal

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Inspiring Stories from America’s Religious Environmental Movement

Renewal

This documentary shows the diversity of the emerging religious environmental movement. Evangelicals organize against land destruction and water pollution in Appalachia. An interfaith coalition helps houses of worship be more environmentally sound. Jewish youth learn about combining environmental education and Jewish tradition. An interfaith group provides organic “eco-Halal” meat to the Muslim community and others who need food. A Buddhist community saves trees by encouraging recycling, meditation, environmental education and interconnectedness. Christians battle industrial contamination in a small Mississippi town. Catholics and Native Americans unite in religious ritual and sacred celebration. An interfaith group helps people reduce fossil fuels use and increase use of renewable energy. (2007)
MUSponsored by the Center on Religion & the Professions

Lecture: William E. Connolly

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ConnollyWilliam E. Connolly, professor of political science at Johns Hopkins University, speaks on “Spirituality, Belief and Time,” centering on issues raised in his book, “Capitalism and Christianity, American Style.” Sponsored by the MU Department of Philosophy and the Center on Religion & the Professions.

The Krieger-Eisenhower Professor of Political Science at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Md., Connolly is known for critically applying conceptual analysis to social science and for introducing postmodern philosophy into political theory. He is the author of numerous books and articles, including his influential “Identity/Difference” in 1991 and “Pluralism” in 2005. Connolly’s work is interdisciplinary and covers an array of topics, from continental philosophy and religion to political theory and media culture.