Center on Religion & the Professions

Improving religious literacy among professionals.

At Ragtag: ‘Edie & Thea: A Very Long Engagement’

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From the City of Columbia: The Supreme Court of the United State is expected to issue its decision on the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) before the end of June.  This documentary and the panel discussion that follows will provide information that may assist you in understanding the legal and societal impact of their ruling.

Ragtag Cinema and The Center Project, Mid-Missouri’s non-profit LGBT community center, are partnering to present an inspiring 2009 documentary.  It will introduce you to Edie Windsor, the lead plaintiff in the current Supreme Court case. In the movie, Edie and her partner Thea are a feisty, delightful Lesbian couple who are finally getting married after 42 years together. In this documentary, we learn more about these tireless community activists and the issues they faced.

A discussion/Q&A will follow the screening. MU Law School professors Wells and Dragich and the Deputy Director of PROMO, Stephanie Perkins, will discuss the legal and personal stories that caused the lawsuit to be filed and how the decision may affect LGBT couples throughout the U.S.

Time/Date: 5:45 p.m. Monday, June 10

Location: Ragtag Cinema

Cost: This screening is free, but a minimum $5 donation is suggested to help support The Center Project, Mid-Missouri’s non-profit LGBT community center based in Columbia.

For more information: Contact Diane Booth at (573) 874-1540 for more information

Screening and Panel Discussion of “Hip-hop: Beyond Beats & Rhymes”

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As part of Black History Month, MU is hosting a screening of Byron Hurt’s documentary “Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats & Rhymes.” The film, an official Sundance and Melbourne International Film Festival selection, centers on “masculinity and manhood in rap and hip-hop, where creative genius collides with misogyny, violence and homophobia, exposing the complex intersections of culture and commerce,” as the film’s website describes Hurt’s work.

Following the screening will be a panel discussion about the issues touched on by the documentary.

Time/Date: 7 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 21

Location: MU

Cost: Free

For more information: Contact Mary Beth Brown at (573) 882-6229 or email bromary@missouri.edu.

Third Goal International Film Festival kicks off

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Join returned Peace Corps volunteers for films, food from around the world, a photo competition and a silent auction at the Third Goal International Film Festival. The feature film will be award-winning director Alrick Brown’s Kinyarwanda, and Brown will host a filmmaker workshop at Columbia Access Television, Studio A, at 6 p.m. Friday, Feb. 1.

Time/Date: The festival will be held on Saturday, Feb. 2. The film screenings are as follows:

1 p.m.: Kinyarwanda (Rwanda)

3:30 p.m.: Feast and Sacrifice (Senegal)

4:45 p.m.: My Village, My Lobster (Nicaragua)

6:15 p.m.: Hijos de Kennedy (Colombia)

7:15 p.m.: Last Train Home (China)

Location: MU Student Center

Cost: Free

For more information: Visit the website of the Central Missouri Returned Peace Corps Volunteers.

Gaines/Oldham Black Culture Center to screen Iranian Baha´i documentary

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The Gaines/Oldham Black Culture Center at MU will host a screening and discussion of “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:

Time/Date: 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 29

Location: Gaines/Oldham Black Culture Center at MU, 813 Virginia Avenue, Columbia, MO (map)

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

For more information: Contact the Gaines/Oldham Black Culture Center via email or by phone (573-882-2664).

MU College of Education to screen “Crossing Borders”

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As part of its inaugural celebration of International Education Week, the College of Education at MU will be showing the film “Crossing Borders” on Monday, Nov. 12.

“Crossing Borders” is an award-winning documentary directed by Arnd Wächter, managing director of the Morocco Exchange nonprofit, which promotes intercultural study. A description of the film from its website:

” ‘Crossing Borders’ is a seventy minute documentary that follows four Moroccan and four American university students as they travel together through Morocco and, in the process of discovering ‘The Other,’ discover themselves. With group travels and frank discussions, the students confront the complex implications of the supposed ‘clash of civilizations’ between Islam and the West. The relationships formed through shared experiences contrast sharply with the media-shaped views Americans and Muslims have of each other. Humor, honesty and a willingness to be challenged all bring individuals closer to each other and the relationships that develop disarm hidden stereotypes. ”

Time/Date: 4:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 12

Location: Tate Auditorium in Tate Hall at MU (map)

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

For more information: Contact Gabrielle Malfatti-Rachell, director of International and Intercultural Initiatives in the MU College of Education, via email or by phone (573-882-0732).