Study of Religion: Talk and Tea
Thursday, March 7, 4-6 PM, Barker Center 403
Please join us for casual discussion and refreshments. For current students and faculty in
the Study of Religion.
Under God? The Role of Religion in Public Life - The 17th Annual Veritas Forum at Harvard
University
Tuesday, March 5, 8 PM, Sanders Theatre, Memorial Hall
Join Harvard legend MICHAEL SANDEL and University of Chicago legend JEAN BETHKE ELSHTAIN
for an evening dialogue on life's hardest questions.
More info at
veritas.org/harvard. RSVP at
http://goo.gl/CcUZK
Do We Need New Scripture for the Twenty-First Century? A New New Testament
Wednesday, March 6, 5-7 PM, Braun Room
The event will celebrate the publication of A New New Testament, a collection that
includes new translation of the New Testament plus a set of new documents that an
ecumenical and interfaith team of scholars and religious leaders agreed might enhance the
spiritual life and community of twenty-first-century believers and seekers. The panelists
will introduce the volume and provide a forum to enhance discussion of the question: Do we
need new scripture for the twenty-first century?
Please join us for this panel discussion with Bishop Susan Hassinger (Boston University
School of Theology), Professor Karen King (Harvard Divinity School), and Professor Hal
Taussig (Union Theological Seminary).
This event is free and open to the public, and is co-sponsored by the programs in Ministry
Studies and New Testament and Early Christianity at Harvard Divinity School, and by the
Boston University School of Theology.
"The Other Peace Process:" The Role of Interreligious Dialogue in Israel and the
Middle East
Wednesday, March 6, 7:30-8:30 PM, Sperry Room
Rabbi Ron Kronish is the director of the Interreligious Coordinating Council in Israel
(ICCI). The mission of the ICCI is to harness the teachings and values of the three
Abrahamic faiths and transform religion's role from a force of division and extremism
into a source of reconciliation, coexistence, and understanding. To accomplish this, ICCI
works with youth, women, and religious leaders to promote Jewish-Arab coexistence and
peace-building projects. Founded in January 1991, ICCI is now Israel's best-known and
most-respected interreligious organization. As an umbrella organization, it comprises 75
Christian, Palestinian/Muslim, and Jewish institutions, including Jewish-Arab coexistence
organizations, museums, universities, and other interreligious organizations. ICCI also
serves as the Israel chapter of Religions for Peace (WCRP) and as a member of the
International Council of Christians and Jews (ICCJ).
Permaculture and the Sacred: A Conversation with Starhawk
Thursday, March 7, 12-1:30 PM, Braun Room
Join contemporary Witch, activist, and permaculturist Starhawk to learn how earth-based
spirituality can inform and empower efforts to build sustainable communities and
societies. Starhawk is a founder of Reclaiming, a contemporary Pagan tradition that blends
Goddess spirituality and social activism, and of Earth Activist Trainings, which equips
people to combine permaculture design with political organizing and spiritual practice. A
leading interpreter of feminist Wicca, she is the author of The Spiral Dance, The Fifth
Sacred Thing, The Empowerment Manual, and many other books.
Due to limited seating, RSVPs are appreciated but not required.
Crip/tography: Disability Theology in the Ruins of God
Thursday, March 7, 5:15-7:15 PM, Sperry Room
Sharon Betcher, Professor of Theology at Vancouver School of Theology, will make a
presentation as part of the 2012-13 colloquium series Science, Religion, and the Body.
Science, Religion, and the Body will explore themes of gender and sexuality in several
contexts. In addition to hosting panels and presentations by Harvard faculty members, the
colloquium will host speakers who will be invited in conjunction with four courses
focusing on the body at Harvard Divinity School, taught by Janet Gyatso, Karen King, Ahmed
Ragab, and Mayra Rivera. The event will be live streamed.
Remembering Swami Vivekananda at 150: Interfaith Then and Now
Friday, March 8, 5:30-8:30 PM, Sever Hall Room 113
Join us for a panel on Swami Vivekananda, the first Hindu swamist to become well-known in
the West and a symbol of the interfaith movement. Panelists will be Brian Hatcher,
professor and chair of the religion department at Tufts University; Mou Banerjee, graduate
student in the history department at Harvard University; Francis X. Clooney, S.J.,
professor at Harvard Divinity School and director of the Center for the Study of World
Religions; and Chris Conway, graduate student in the theology department at Boston
College. Harvard chaplain Swami Tyagananda will preside and moderate the panel.
Though the panel will begin at 5:30pm, we invite you to join us at 5pm for a live music
prelude and a slideshow of photos of Swami Vivekananda. The live music will be performed
by Dave Bryant and the slideshow will be prepared by Joseph Peidle, both members of the
Ramakrishna Vedanta Society.
Lighting the Darkness Festival
Monday, March 11, 4:15-6 PM, CSWR Common Room
This presentation examines the Darkness Festival (Kurayami Matsuri) of the ?kunitama Jinja
in Fuchu City, Tokyo Prefecture, Japan, as an example of religious change within Shinto.
Some of the questions raised include the nature of "tradition," religious
festival as protean spectacle, and the significance of the arts in Shinto.
This lecture will be delivered by Helen Hardacre, Reischauer Institute Professor of
Japanese Religions and Society in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University.
This lecture is part of CSWR Junior Fellow Konchok Tsering's series, Studying
Religions in the Minority.