The Architecture of Faith: Rediscovering the Roots of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam

Lecture Series by Steven Derfler
Mondays, February 13, 20, and 27, 7:00 p.m.
Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, 700 Snelling Ave. S., St. Paul

In this series, Dr. Derfler will explore the common traits and the distinctive styles of religious architecture in the early centuries of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam and what this architecture reveals about the three religions.
 
Steven L. Derfler, Ph.D., is executive director of Educational Resources, Inc., a nonprofit organization whose mission is to promote understanding and tolerance among different ethnic and religious groups.  An archeologist and historian who has been uncovering the histories of ancient civilizations for over 35 years, he has directed and supervised numerous archeological field trips and study tours in the Middle East and Northern Africa. 

Sponsored by the Jay Phillips Center for Interfaith Learning in collaboration with Gloria Dei Lutheran Church and Mount Zion Temple 
 
Free and open to the public 

Muslim-Christian Dialogue: Challenges and Possibilities

Presentation by Dr. Amir Hussain
Tuesday, February 14, 7:30 p.m.
O'Shaughnessy Educational Center Auditorium

Amir Hussain, Ph.D., a Canadian Muslim who specializes in the study of Islam, is professor of theological studies at Loyola Marymount University, a Jesuit university in Los Angeles, where he teaches courses on world religions. 

Christians and Muslims together make up over half of the world's population.  Their relationship has included periods of violence, but also of cooperation and coexistence.  Professor Hussain will discuss Musliim-Christian dialogue both historically and in our contemporary world.

Jointly sponsored by the Muslim-Christian Dialogue Center and the Jay Phillips Center for Interfaith Learning

Free and open to the public

The Fourth Bethel University Moberg conference on Christianity and Sociology "Interfaith Dialog and Reconciliation"

February 17-18, 2012

The Departments of Anthropology, Sociology, and Reconciliation Studies and Bethel University Office of Diversity present the Fourth Bethel University Moberg conference on Christianity and Sociology on February 17-18, 2012: "Interfaith Dialog and Reconciliation." The conference will address the question of whether and how interfaith dialog could help shape people’s commitment toward reconciliation. The purpose of this year’s conference is to contribute to the understanding and promoting of friendship and dialog among the diverse members of our society with different beliefs. If you have done any work on interfaith dialog or have had students who have done something along that topic, we encourage you and/or your students to consider presenting a paper at this conference.

Attached is the conference postcard with more details. Also the call for abstracts is posted on the conference website at http://www.bethel.edu/special-events/moberg/schedule with an extended deadline of December 5, 2011. Please submit abstracts to: moberg-conference@bethel.edu.

   

2012 Nobel Peace Prize Forum:
“The Price of Peace”

March 1-3, 2012
In Minneapolis at Augsburg College and the University of Minnesota  register now!

The Nobel Peace Prize Forum is a premier international event designed to inspire peacemaking, broadly defined. As the Norwegian Nobel Institute’s only affiliation outside Norway, the Forum has probed the deep questions of peace and conflict for more than 23 years. It is not a “sit and listen” conference. In the physical presence of a Peace Prize winner, attendees are uplifted by hearing firsthand of the Laureate’s work, struggles, and triumphs, and they have opportunities to ask questions and interact with the Laureate in a dynamic setting.

Attendees also vigorously participate in workshops and discussion sessions with people who have changed the world in large and small ways. And just as importantly, the Forum provides time for informal discussion and networking that attendees find so valuable. Infused with music and cultural events, the Forum fosters learning through different routes and with different audiences. The event is principally designed with the college-age student in mind, but its specific programs reach and engage people of all ages.

Individuals unable to attend in-person in 2012 will experience Forum presentations and workshops through live video streams and online discussions. And in order to facilitate learning and interaction throughout the year, the Forum is building a community of peacemakers through social media, including the Forum blog, Facebook, and Twitter.

Year after year, participants say this event is deeply transformational, giving them new perspective on their lives, their careers, and their own efforts to make peace. Join us in 2012 and experience this yourself.   Nobel Peace Prize Forum 2012

A Celebration of the Life of Marv Davidov
Nonviolent Revolutionary

A Public Event
Saturday, March 10, 2012
1:00pm until 5:00pm
University of St Thomas
Anderson Student Center - Woulfe Alumni Hall
Located at Summit and Cretin Avenues, Saint Paul, MN

PROGRAM:
1:00 PM – Informal Gathering
2:00 PM – Program: A Celebration of the Life of Marv Davidov
4:00 PM – Refreshments, Friendship, Networking

Parking at UST parking lots A,B,C,G,M & N, and the Anderson Student Center Ramp (enter on Cretin)

PLEASE PASS THE WORD!

RSVP and write your memories about Marv on the FACEBOOK PAGE.

Sponsored by UST's Justice and Peace Studies Program and Friends of Marv Davidov.

God and Politics: A Spiritual State of the Union

Presentation by Rabbi Sharon Brous
Tuesday, March 13, 7:30 p.m.
O'Shaughnessy Educational Center Auditorium

Recent years have witnessed a dangerous resurfacing of racial tension, religious intolerance, and political divisiveness in American life.  Outbursts of venomous anger, often expressed in the name of God, have produced an ugly new standard in public discourse.   At the same time, Americans, often inspired by their faith in God, have seen through racial, religious, and national fault lines and have responded courageously and contributed generously to others in the wake of disasters at home and abroad.  In this presentation, Rabbi Sharon Brous will reflect on how different views of God serve to foster different types of public discourse, action, and culture.

Rabbi Sharon Brous is the founding rabbi of IKAR, a Jewish spiritual community in Los Angeles whose mission is to promote the integration of soulful prayer, serious learning, and social justice.  A graduate of Columbia University with a B.A. in history and an M.A. in human rights and conflict resolution, she was ordained at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York, where she received several awards in Talmud and homiletics. 

This presentation is part of the Jay Phillips Center's Rabbis-in-Residence program supported by a grant from the Brenden-Mann Foundation.

Free and open to the public

Reaching Across Faiths: A Muslim and a Christian responding to each other’s texts

Presentation by John Del Vecchio and Adil Ozdemir
Thursday, March 29, 12:00 noon to 1:15 p.m.
McNeely Hall 100

Buffet lunch will be provided

How can engaging the faith tradition and sacred texts of your neighbor both inspire and challenge dialogue?  Is interfaith engagement of sacred texts outside your own tradition appropriate and should it be encouraged?  These questions will serve as the basis of this interfaith program, which John Del Vecchio conceived after receiving an English copy of the Qur’an from someone in a mixed-faith marriage.

John Del Vecchio, J.D., is an adjunct professor in the ethics and business law department of the Opus College of Business at the University of St. Thomas.  He also teaches history of music industry and music careers in the UST music department.  He operates a private general practice law firm for people with varied backgrounds, incomes, and faiths.

Adil Ozdemir, Ph.D., a native of Turkey, taught Qur'anic rhetoric at Nine September University in Izmir, Turkey for twenty five years.  Since 2003 he has been teaching courses on Islam at the University of St. Thomas where he also is co-director of the Muslim-Christian Dialogue Center.  He is the co-author with Kenneth Frank of Visible Islam in Modern Turkey (Macmillan).

Sponsored by the Jay Phillips Center for Interfaith Learning, Ethics and Business Law Department, and the Muslim-Christian Dialogue Center

Free and open to the public

How Interreligious Engagement Transforms Faith

Presentation by Peter Feldmeier
Thursday, April 12, 12:00 noon to 1:15 p.m.
McNeely Hall 100

Buffet lunch will be provided.

When we enter into the theological and spiritual vision of the religious other, we can discover new ways of seeing the world and ourselves.  This new vision can not only deepen our own religious convictions, but can also provide a whole other spiritual dimension.  Professor Feldmeier will reflect on how interreligious engagement can move from merely comparing sets of religious claims to transformational possibilities.

Peter Feldmeier, Ph.D., formerly a professor of theology at the University of St. Thomas, is the Murray/Bacik Professor of Catholic Studies at the University of Toledo.  He holds a doctorate in Christian Spirituality from the Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, and has published widely in areas of spirituality and interreligious dialogue.  His most recent books are The Path of Wisdom: A Christian Commentary on the Dhammapada with Leo Lefebure (Peeters/Eerdmans) and Encounters in Faith: Christianity in Interreligious Dialogue (Anselm Academic), both published in 2011.

Free and open to the public

Co-sponsored by the Jay PHillips Center for Interfaith Learning and the Muslim-Christian Dialogue Center