Center on Religion & the Professions

Improving religious literacy among professionals.

Museum Art Film explores debates for and about Muslim Women

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Museum Art Film: “The Third One” by Rahraw Omarzad

WHEN: May 5-August 12, 2012, 9-4 p.m. Tuesday-Friday, 9-4 p.m. Thursday and 12-4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

WHAT: description from the Museum of Art and Archaeology- This film sensitively explores through art one of the principle debates for and about Muslim women: the wearing of the burqa, the outer garment that overs the whole face and body. Through the creation of an opening in black fabric to reveal a woman dressed in a burqa, the film carefully inquires into the culture of veiling and the world behind the veil. Using the realm of video, the artist considers issues related to body, gender, religion, and society through this thoughtful film. The film also affirms the power art has to help us understand complex cultural customs on a deeper level, thus opening the way for logical solutions.

WHERE? Museum of Art and Archaeology located in Pickard Hall at the University of Missouri

For more information visit: http://maa.missouri.edu/exhibitions/upcoming.html

or call the museum: (573) 882-3591

Muslim Students’ Organization at MU hosts annual spring conference

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The Muslim Students’ Organization at MU will kick off its annual spring conference, titled “Peace, Prosperity, and the Pursuit of Paradise,” on Friday, April 27. Scheduled events for the two-day conference include addresses on developing healthy relationships, interfaith marriage and introducing the Islamic faith to a Western audience. In addition, the organization will provide entertainment for conference-goers from 5 to 6 p.m. Saturday, April 28.

Time/Date: Events are schedule from 7 p.m. Friday, April 27 to 8 p.m. Saturday, April 28

Location: A majority of the programs events will take place in the MU Student Center, Room 2206. (map)

Cost: This event is free, but requires online registration.

For more information: Visit the Muslim Students’ Organization website for a complete list of conference activities. Contact the organization with specific questions via email.

 

Second Baptist Church brings community members, police officers together for meal

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Second Baptist Church in downtown Columbia will host an “informal meal” titled “Building Better Community: An eat and greet to encourage trust between residents and officers.” The event is being co-sponsored by the Bias-Free Columbia Coalition and will be held on April 27. Organizers ask that you RSVP with the church to ensure there is enough food for attendees.

Time/Date: 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Friday, April 27

Location: Second Baptist Church Annex, 407 E. Broadway (map)

Cost: This event is free and open to the public. Organizers ask that you RSVP with the church to ensure an adequate supply of food.

For more information/to RSVP: Contact Negar Rezvani, Columbia Human Rights Specialist, via phone (573-874-7488), Mary Ratliff of the NAACP via phone (573-881-0163), or Don Love of the Missouri Association for Social Welfare via phone (573-875-7918).

Ragtag Cinema to screen documentary on Baha´i in Iran

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“Education under Fire,” a documentary produced by Single Arrow Productions and co-sponsored by Amnesty International. The 30-minute film explores the history of the Bahá’í Institute for Higher Education in Iran, a university established in 1987 to offer adherents of the faith an opportunity in higher education, an option repeatedly denied by the ruling regime in the country. According to the film’s website, the documentary “features footage and photos spanning two decades of BIHE classes, rare video from inside Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison, and photos and a film that bring alive a series of personal stories.”

Trailer:

The screening is being hosted by the Bahá’í Community of Columbia.

Time/Date: 7 p.m. and 8 p.m. Tuesday, April 24

Location: Ragtag Cinema, 10 Hitt St., Columbia, MO (map)

Cost: This event is free and open to the public.

For more information: Visit the event page on Ragtag Cinema’s website, or contact the Bahá’í Community of Columbia via phone (573-693-2326) or email.

Center for Health Ethics offers program on dealing with grief

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MU’s Center for Health Ethics, in conjunction with the Hospice Foundation of America, will be hosting a live video conference at 9:30 a.m. Monday, April 23 titled “End-of-Life Ethics: Dealing with Grief.” The conference will be followed by a panel discussion. Continuing medical education will be available for the event, requiring a fee and online registration with the Hospice Foundation.

Time/Date: 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Monday, April 23

Location: Acuff Auditorium at MU’s School of Medicine (map)

Cost: The event is free and open to the public. Continuing medical education credit is available through the Hospice Foundation of America. Visit the above link to register.

For more information: Contact Ana-Maria Fernandez, a research specialist with MU’s Center for Health Ethics, via phone (573-882-9022) or email.

Afro-Romance Institute at MU to co-sponsor genocide symposium

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The Afro-Romance Institute at MU, affiliated with the Department of Romance Languages and Literature, will be co-sponsoring a three-day symposium titled “Genocide in Rwanda: Media, Memory and Denial.” The event will feature keynote speakers Carl Wilkens, a humanitarian worker who stayed in Rwanda during its genocide and has since formed the nonprofit group World Outside My Shoes to bring global attention to issues of “the Other,” and Canadian Senator Roméo Dallaire, who served as commander of the United Nations relief effort in Rwanda during the early 1990s.

Events will take place across MU, with several speakers scheduled for a packed three days of discussion, film screenings, poetry and lectures. For a complete listing of events and their locations, view the full program flier at the Afro-Romance Institute website.

The symposium is being co-sponsored by:

  • Canadian Consulate in Chicago
  • Embassy of Rwanda, Washington D.C.
  • Step UP! American Association for Rwandan Women
  • Office of the Vice-Provost of International Programs
  • Office of the Chancellor Diversity Initiatives
  • University Lectures Committee
  • Peace Studies Program
  • Departments of Black Studies, History, Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis (ELPA),
    Sociology, Women and Gender Studies at MU

Time/Date: 7 p.m. April 26 to 10 p.m. April 28 (full schedule of events)

Carl Wilkens’ “Why I Chose to Stay in Rwanda” Keynote Address, 7 p.m. April 27 at Ellis Auditorium (map)
Roméo Dallaire’s “Are All Humans Human?” Keynote Address, 3:30 p.m. April 28 in Bush Auditorium at Cornell Hall (map)

Cost: The event is free and open to the public.

For more information: Contact Dr. Flore Zéphir, acting institute director and department chair, via email.

Holocaust survivor will speak at Ellis Library ahead of Holocaust Remembrance Day

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Guenter Goldsmith, who escaped Nazi Germany on the last Kindertransport and arrived in St. Louis in August 1941, will speak on the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day at Ellis Library at MU. The event is cosponsored by Mizzou Hillel, the MU Department of German and Russian Studies and the MU Libraries Diversity Action Committee. Goldsmith’s presentation will be followed by a Q-and-A session and a reception.

In addition to the talk on April 17, Ellis Library will be displaying winning submissions of the St. Louis Holocaust Museum’s annual Art and Writing Competition throughout the month of April.

Time/Date: 2 p.m. April 17

Location: Ellis Library at MU (map)

Cost: The event is free and open to the public.

For more information: Contact the MU Department of German and Russian Studies at MU at (573) 882-4328 or via email.

Missouri School of Religion hosts eRacism workshop in Excelsior Springs April 12-14

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Marcus Leathers and Martha Herrin, national trainers for the Pro-Reconciliation/Anti-Racism Initiative of the Christian Church Disciples of Christ, will lead workshop-goers through exercises designed to increase understanding of why racism occurs and how to prevent it. The workshop is open to the public and continuing education credit is available for worship leaders through the Missouri School of Religion. The deadline to apply is March 29. Scholarships are available to defray the cost of attendance.

Time/Date: 7 p.m. April 12 (no dinner served) to 3 p.m. April 14

Location: Lake Doniphan Conference and Retreat Center, 12856 Lake Doniphan Road, Excelsior Springs, Mo., 64024 (directions)

Cost: $100 for meals and lodging (up to four per room), $75 meals only

Registration: Online or download the registration form and mail to:

Missouri School of Religion
P.O. Box 104685
Jefferson City, MO 65110-4685

For more information: Contact Missouri School of Religion Office Administrator Krystal Jacobs via email or by phone (573-635-1187)

Teen Relationship Education & Empowerment workshop set for March 11-12

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Teen Relationship Education & Empowerment, a volunteer organization in Columbia, Mo., dedicated to giving faith communities the tools to educate their youth members on healthy and nonviolent relationships, will hold another in its series of workshops on Sunday and Monday, March 11-12, 2012. Members of 15 area congregations have already participated in past workshops, including Bethel Baptist Church, Broadway Christian Church and Evangelical United Church of Christ in Boonville.

Participants will be provided with a wealth of knowledge on the subject of healthy teen relationships, including statistics about teen dating violence, TREE lending library resources and guest speakers from numerous organizations, including the Missouri Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence and the Boone County Sheriff’s Department.

TREE receives funding from several sources, including the Center on Religion & the Professions at MU.

For more information, contact TREE organizer Kim Gage Ryan via telephone (573-489-2729) or email, or visit TREE’s website. This event is free and open to members of faith communities in Boone County, but registration is limited.

Mark A. Chancey to give lecture on religion and public life on March 1

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Professor Mark A. Chancey of Southern Methodist University will visit MU on Thursday, March 1 to present the fourth in a series of distinguished lectures on religion and public life sponsored in part by the Center on Religion and the Professions. Chancey’s lecture is titled “Educating for a ‘Christian America’: Religion and the Texas Social Studies Controversy.” He will discuss the decision by the Texas state Board of Education in 2010 to enact new standards in their social studies curricula that played up the role of Christianity in U.S. history.

Chancey joined the faculty at Southern Methodist in 2000, after obtaining his master’s in religion from the University of Georgia in 1995 and his Ph.D. from Duke University in 1999. He has written two books, the most recent of which is 2005’s “Greco-Roman Culture and the Galilee of Jesus.” He has frequently published on the issues of teaching Biblical courses in public schools.

Time/Date: 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 1

Location: Mark Twain Ballroom in the Memorial Union at MU (campus map)

Cost: The lecture is free and open to the public.

For more information: Visit the Department of Religious Studies’ website, or contact the department via telephone (573-882-4769) or email.