Office for Religious Life

The Office for Religious Life hosted Ted Koppel, 2018 Mimi and Peter E. Haas Distinguished Visitor, in conversation with The Rev. Professor Jane Shaw, Dean for Religious Life on how to lead a meaningful life at Stanford Memorial Church Journalist Ted Koppel was the anchor and managing editor of ABC News' Nightline for 26 years, becoming the longest-serving news anchor in U.S. broadcast history. After leaving ABC in 2005, Koppel and his colleagues produced 20 hours of documentaries for the Discovery Network where he served as managing editor. Since then he has worked as a contributing analyst for BBC America and a special correspondent for the NBC News magazine program, Rock Center.

What Matters to Me and Why is a presentation and discussion series featuring Stanford Faculty and Administrators addressing life questions. The purpose is to encourage reflection within the Stanford community on matters of personal values, beliefs, and motivations in order to better understand the lives and inspirations of those who shape the University. The May 24, 2017 talk features Alexander Nemerov, Carl and Marilynn Thoma Provostial Professor of Arts and Humanities, Department of Art and Art History

What Matters to Me and Why is a presentation and discussion series featuring Stanford Faculty and Administrators addressing life questions. The purpose of What Matters to Me and Why is to encourage reflection within the Stanford community on matters of personal values, beliefs, and motivations in order to better understand the lives and inspirations of those who shape the University. This talk, held on October 5, 2016 in the Center for Inter-Religious Community, Learning and Experiences, features Lloyd Minor, Carl and Elizabeth Naumann Dean of the Stanford University School of Medicine

Linda Woodhead (Professor of Sociology of Religion, Lancaster University, UK) and Casper ter Kuile (Master of Public Policy and Divinity candidate, Harvard University) discussed the rise of "Nones" in today's society - those who are unaffiliated with any organized religion. The discussion was followed by a Q&A, moderated by The Rev. Professor Jane Shaw, Dean for Religious Life.

Actress and playwright Anna Deavere Smith performed the landmark text of the civil rights movement known as the “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., written in the heat of his fight for equality. Ms. Smith collaborated with world- renowned violinist Robert McDuffie and pianist Anne Epperson to create an “epistolary occasion” that shares the power and timeliness of Dr. King’s call to action. The performance took place on October 21, 2015 in historic Stanford Memorial Church.

A part of Stanford's "Contemplation by Design" week, Jack Kornfield spoke in Stanford Memorial Church on November 10, 2015 about how a wise education includes the heart as well as the mind. It was an evening of stories, trainings and practices intended to foster emotional balance, increase focus, promote wellbeing and reduce stress. The event was sponsored by the Health Improvement Program, BeWell, Ho Center for Buddhist Studies, Office for Religious Life, Department of Religious Studies.

Tufts University Jewish Chaplain and Executive Director of Tufts Hillel for 34 years, Rabbi Jeffrey Summit and photojournalist Richard Sobol presented a multimedia talk about their involvement with Delicious Peace. It is a story of coffee, music and world peace. The coffee is grown by more than 1000 Christian, Muslim and Jews who live in a rural region of Uganda and are members of a fair trade cooperative called "Peace Kawomera" - kawomera means in "delicious" in Luganda. The farmers make music together, music that Summit found so inspirational that he had to share it with the world. This talk was sponsored by the Office for Religious Life. Cosponsors: Catholic Community at Stanford, Episcopal Lutheran Campus Ministry, Hillel at Stanford, Islamic Student Society at Stanford, the Peace+Justice Studies Initiative, Department of Music and Taube Center for Jewish Studies.

Bishop Gene Robinson and Gabe Lyons engage in a conversation about the state of family values and marriage equality in the Christian church today.

Focusing on the current direction of religion and public discourse, Krista Tippett explores issues around how people ask difficult questions, bridge gaps between political and moral differences, and continue to disagree with each other, passionately. Office for Religious Life/ Heyns Lecture/ The Roger W. Heyns Lecture in Religion and Society honors a longtime congregant of University Public Worship at Stanford Memorial Church. It is an annual event that features a major speaker focusing on problems and challenges of religion and community.

University Public Worship sermon "Sanctyfying the Senses: Let Me Be a Seal Upon Your Heart", by Rabbi Patricia Karlin-Neumann, on June 30, 2013, in Stanford Memorial Church.

University Public Worship sermon "The Use of Power", by Rev. Susan Scott, on June 23, 2013, in Stanford Memorial Church.

(November 27, 2012) Father Nathan Castle leads a theological discussion on the holiday of Christmas, focusing on the theological significance of this holiday.

(November 13, 2012) Father Nathan Castle leads a theological discussion on law and disorder, focusing on what some of the best Catholic theological thought says regarding this matter.

(July 15, 2012) Patricia Karlin-Neumann examines an emerging trend in Christianity of linking God's will with entrepreneurial capitalism and deeming prosperity a divine right.

(November 30, 2011) Marian Wright Edelman urges the audience to stand up for children and to never let anybody else define their lives.

(June 1, 2011) Bishop Schori proposes that the human purpose, the quest for the Real, is a compassionate confrontation of the suffering of others. Inhibiting this quest are the barriers of self-focus and economic instability.

(February 22, 2010) Jim Wallis, CEO of Sojourners magazine, speaks about the intersection of religion and politics in the Obama era. A prolific writer and commentator, he serves on the White House Advisory Council.

(October 11, 2009) Father Nathan Castle, Pastor and Director of the Catholic Community at Stanford, offers a homily on the readings during mass on the 28th Sunday of Ordinary Time.

May 11, 2009 George Shultz, Stanford's second Rathbun Visiting Fellow, reflects on his life as a public servant and his personal motivations.

(January 27, 2009) Director and Founder of Interfaith Youth Core, Dr. Eboo Patel, discusses the idea of pluralistic faith as a foundation for a healthy respectful diverse domestic and international community.

(January 27, 2009) Director and Founder of Interfaith Youth Core, Dr. Eboo Patel, discusses the idea of pluralistic faith as a foundation for a healthy respectful diverse domestic and international community.

(November 9, 2008) A moderated discussion between a renowned Biblical scholar and progressive theologian and a renowned Evangelical pastor and theologian.

(Aprill 22, 2008) A former tradition returns to campus, honoring the late Stanford Law Professor Harry Rathbun. As the inaugural Rathbun Visiting Fellow, Justice O’Connor addresses students on how purpose and values lead to a fulfilling life.

(April 25, 2007) Dr. Bart D. Ehrman brings his insights to Stanford University in a revealing lecture, “Misquoting Jesus: Scribes Who Altered Scripture and Readers Who May Never Know,” a textual criticism of Biblical manuscript tampering.

(April 25, 2007) Dr. Bart D. Ehrman brings his insights to Stanford University in a revealing lecture, “Misquoting Jesus: Scribes Who Altered Scripture and Readers Who May Never Know,” a textual criticism of Biblical manuscript tampering.

Pain, brain, mind, perception, Buddhist, Buddhism, religion, Tibet, monk, cause and effect, modern, science, reality, philosophy, change, pursuit, happiness, desire, subjective, biological, basis, sensory, experience, cognition, mental, response, freedom,

Buddhist, Buddhism, science, affliction, desire, sensory, mental, thought process, physical, pain, happiness, emotion, neuroscientist, brain, mind, perception, reality, distortion, distress, depression, amplify, sadness, attention, deployment, hypnosis, n

The 14th Dalai Lama shares insight, leads a meditation, and provides a Q & A session.