Americans enjoy a multiplicity of religious traditions. Explore both traditional religions, and what it means to be spiritual in a rapidly changing and diversifying religious world.
David Beckmann reviews what we've learned from the Poverty, God & Politics series, talks about the students in his UC Berkeley class, and thanks the people—about 3,000 a week—who have watched webcasts and read the companion blog posts. He stresses the importance of advocacy with Congress this year and active participation in next year's elections. Series: "UC Public Policy Channel" [Public Affairs] [Show ID: 36998]
Eugene Cho, president of Bread for the World, explains how this nationwide Christian citizens' movement repeatedly wins large-scale change for people struggling with hunger in this country and around the world. He concludes with Bread's current campaign to strengthen U.S. support for progress against child malnutrition worldwide. Eugene is introduced by David Beckmann, who served as president until a year ago. These two leaders are different in many ways and Eugene is leading Bread for the World in new directions. But they are clearly united in faith and in deep appreciation for the people and congregations across the country who persistently urge their members of Congress to help hungry people. Eugene spoke to David's class in March 2021, an intense period of anti-Asian hate crimes. Series: "UC Public Policy Channel" [Public Affairs] [Show ID: 36997]
John Carr provides a witty and incisive assessment of the liabilities and strengths of the Catholic community and its role in the politics of poverty. Its strengths include the leadership of Pope Francis and the rich tradition of Catholic social teaching. Carr is director of the Initiative on Catholic Social Teaching and Public Life at Georgetown University. Their educational programs are influential among Catholics in the United States and extend to thousands of people around the world. John previously served for more than two decades as director of the department that works on issues of peace, justice, and international development for the US Conference of Catholic Bishops. John and David Beckmann have worked together for many years and are close friends. Series: "UC Public Policy Channel" [Public Affairs] [Show ID: 36996]
Tom Hart, acting CEO and North American Executive Director of the ONE Campaign, explains how a strong advocacy community, including people of faith and faith-based organizations, have helped to reduce poverty, hunger, and disease around the world over the last generation. David Beckmann and Tom Hart open and close with lively discussions of two advocacy campaigns—debt relief for poor countries in the year 2000 and global child nutrition right now. Tom concludes with ambitious proposals to address the still-raging COVID pandemic and its consequences in low-income countries. Series: "UC Public Policy Channel" [Public Affairs] [Show ID: 36995]
Many faith bodies and faith-related groups organize legislative advocacy. Amy Reumann, director of Witness and Society for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), explains how the ELCA's legislative advocacy is rooted in faith and theology, collective study of policy concerns, and ELCA ministries at the local, national, and international levels. The ELCA, its churches, and people are active in advocacy with state governments, the United Nations, and corporations as well as with the federal government. Whenever possible, they bring powerful decision-makers into conversations with the people and organizations that the ELCA and its people know through their on-the-ground ministries—homeless people, for example, or local churches in Central America. ELCA congregations bring people from all across the political spectrum together in worship, fellowship, and study. Series: "UC Public Policy Channel" [Public Affairs] [Show ID: 36994]
Anna Eng, a senior organizer for the Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF), explains from experience how faith-based community organizing works. David Beckmann argues that the faith-based community organizing movement has contributed to increasing political participation among low-income Americans. He also talks about the Poor People's Campaign and the positive impact of social media. Series: "UC Public Policy Channel" [Public Affairs] [Show ID: 36993]
Galen Carey, Vice President for Government Relations for the National Association of Evangelicals, explains the Evangelical movement, its ministries to people in poverty, and its relationship to politics. Then David Beckmann probes how it's possible that most White Christians, including a large majority of White Evangelicals, voted repeatedly for Donald Trump. Series: "UC Public Policy Channel" [Public Affairs] [Show ID: 36992]
Eric Sapp, a pioneer in the use of digital communications for good purposes, explains uses of digital technology to repair the divide between the Democratic Party and many faith-based voters, to communicate with vaccine-hesitant people, and to counter Russian digital propaganda. He stresses the importance of really listening to people. Series: "UC Public Policy Channel" [Public Affairs] [Show ID: 36991]
Henry Brady, Dean of Berkeley's Goldman School of Public Policy, draws a data-based picture of how religious attendance affects politics. Churchgoers tend to be more charitable and engaged in civic organizations than other Americans. But they tend to prefer elections and negotiations to conflict and protests -- even though conflict is important in overcoming the country's deep racial and economic divisions. In general, churchgoers are much more inclined than other Americans to be pro-life and anti-gay and, since the 1980s, increasingly inclined to vote Republican. Brady talks briefly about his own religious and philosophical development. Series: "UC Public Policy Channel" [Public Affairs] [Show ID: 36990]
Rev. Gabriel Salguero, Founder and President of the National Latino Evangelical Coalition (NALEC), explains the religious and political diversity among Latinos. Although Latinos are an important source of support for immigration reform, it is not a top priority political issue for most Latinos. Salguero explains how NALEC has amplified the voice of Latino evangelicals on immigration and other poverty-related issues. Series: "UC Public Policy Channel" [Public Affairs] [Show ID: 36989]
Dr. Barbara Williams-Skinner and U.S. Representative Barbara Lee speak from the heart about how the Black Church has helped to build African American electoral power. It’s a powerful story with practical lessons for present times. Dr. Williams-Skinner is head of the Skinner Institute and Co-convener of the African American Clergy Network. Rep. Lee represents Berkeley, California. She is a former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus and now Chair of the House of Representatives’ foreign affairs appropriations subcommittee. Series: "UC Public Policy Channel" [Public Affairs] [Show ID: 36988]
Hear remarks by Joshua Dickson to Berkeley's graduate seminar "Poverty and Communities of Faith in the Politics of 2021," taught by David Beckmann. Josh was the National Faith Engagement Director of the Biden-Harris campaign and is now Deputy Director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. Josh discusses the importance of persuading, mobilizing, and listening to faith voters; presents data on voting patterns across faith groups; and explains the Biden-Harris campaign's commitment and strategy to reach voters in diverse faith communities. He shows how an electoral campaign translated faith-grounded concerns into a dramatic shift in public policy to the benefit of people in poverty. He joins students in his unofficial, personal capacity, and not as a White House representative. Series: "UC Public Policy Channel" [Public Affairs] [Show ID: 36987]
Experts address altered states of the mind that are deliberately induced by humans. We will address what is known about origins and mechanisms of these mind-altering practices. In doing so, we hope to gain new insights into the origins and workings of the human mind. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 36670]
Experts address altered states of the mind that are deliberately induced by humans. We will address what is known about origins and mechanisms of these mind-altering practices. In doing so, we hope to gain new insights into the origins and workings of the human mind. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 36673]
David Beckmann explains the purpose of his “Poverty, God, Politics” series—to highlight spiritual and political strategies that can move us from the current crisis in a way that puts us on track to end hunger and poverty. They are drawn from a joint seminar on poverty, communities of faith, and politics cosponsored by UC Berkeley Goldman School of Public Policy and the Church Divinity School of the Pacific. David then discusses two foundational insights from his years as president of Bread for the World—that dramatic progress against poverty is possible, and that faith communities can help change the politics of poverty. Series: "UC Public Policy Channel" [Public Affairs] [Show ID: 36986]
Barry Scott Wimpfheimer specializes in the Talmud and other Rabbinic Literature. His work focuses on the Babylonian Talmud as a work of law and literature. Part scripture and part commentary, it is written in a hybrid of Hebrew and Aramaic and is an unlikely bestseller. The Talmud has remained in print for centuries and is more popular today than ever. Barry Scott Wimpfheimer discusses his book, The Talmud, A Biography, which tells the remarkable story of this ancient book and explains why it has endured for almost two millennia. Series: "Taubman Symposia in Jewish Studies" [Humanities] [Show ID: 35805]
Robert Alter discusses his new, complete translation of and commentary on the Hebrew Bible. For the UC Berkeley Professor of Hebrew and Comparative Literature, it represents nearly two and a half decades of work. Series: "Taubman Symposia in Jewish Studies" [Humanities] [Show ID: 35794]
Around the world, individuals and families are fleeing their countries of origin because of war, violence, natural disasters, and climate change. As their numbers swell, host countries face calls to exclude them. Two prominent local religious leaders of especially targeted and vulnerable populations Bishop Robert McElroy of the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego and Imam Taha Hassane of the Islamic Center of San Diego speak about a common path forward for our society, based on the wisdom of their respective traditions. In the United States, recent political decisions and governmental policies have worsened the prospects of both those seeking to immigrate legally as well as the millions of undocumented immigrants already here or those still coming. Series: "Burke Lectureship on Religion and Society" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 35228]
A discussion of constructive and effective ways to bring youth, community leaders, and organizations together to overcome divisiveness and polarization and build a stronger, more tolerant, and inclusive society. Series: "Global Empowerment Summit" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 35331]
The former editor of Poetry Magazine, Christian Wiman is both a poet and an essayist who teaches Literature and Religion at Yale Divinity School. In an interview he discussed what he hopes readers might take from his work: I have no illusions about adding to sophisticated theological thinking. But I think there are a ton of people out there who are what you might call unbelieving believers, people whose consciousness is completely modern and yet who have this strong spiritual hunger in them. I would like to say something helpful to those people. His most recent book is He Held Radical Light: The Art of Faith, the Faith of Art, released in 2018. Other books include My Bright Abyss, Ambition and Survival, Every Riven Thing, Hammer is the Prayer, Hard Night, and The Long Home. Series: "Writer's Symposium By The Sea" [Humanities] [Show ID: 33947]
The ancient Buddhist sources have a great deal to say about what it means to be a biological man or woman, what it means to be gendered male and female, what kinds of desires and sexual practices are considered normative, and what kinds deviate. But this material is scattered throughout hundreds of different texts and is found in no single source. Drawing on decades of research into the classical Indian and Tibetan Buddhist texts - and on the extensive literature on ancient theories of "queerness" - Jose Cabezon traces the life of a man and woman from conception to death, in the process laying bare Buddhist assumptions about what it means to be normal and abnormal and why these issues were so important to ancient authors. Series: "Burke Lectureship on Religion and Society" [Humanities] [Show ID: 34403]
A gene drive is a targeted contagion intended to spread within species, forever altering the offspring. Gene drive enthusiasts say they could wipe out malaria, saving more than half a million lives each year. As yet, no CRISPR gene drive has been released in the wild — few have even been built. Laurie Zoloth of the University of Chicago explores the ethical questions about genes designed to spread through populations and alter ecosystems, and their unforeseen consequences. Series: "Burke Lectureship on Religion and Society" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 34183]
Author, Tova Mirvis reads from her memoir, The Book of Separation, which describes a woman who leaves her Orthodox Jewish faith and her marriage and sets out to navigate the terrifying, liberating terrain of a newly mapless world. She is the author of three novels and her essays have appeared in various anthologies and newspapers. Series: "Taubman Symposia in Jewish Studies" [Humanities] [Show ID: 34065]
Father Gregory Boyle, Jesuit priest and bestselling author of Tattoos on the Heart, is the founder of Homeboy Industries in Los Angeles. He shares a thought about justice in a world where kinship among all people flourishes. Series: "Burke Lectureship on Religion and Society" [Humanities] [Show ID: 34035]
Rabbi Prof. Dr. Tamara Cohn Eskenazi is an award-winning editor, author, and biblical scholar. She is the Chief Editor of The Torah: A Women’s Commentary, the winner (with Dr. Andrea Weiss) of the 2008 Jewish Book of the Year Award. Series: "Taubman Symposia in Jewish Studies" [Humanities] [Show ID: 33661]
Rev. Traci Blackmon is the Executive Minister of Justice & Local Church Ministries for the United Church of Christ and Senior Pastor of Christ The King United Church of Christ in Florissant, MO. A featured voice with many regional, national, & international media outlets and contributor to print publications, her communal leadership & healing work in the aftermath of the killing of Michael Brown, Jr., in Ferguson, MO has gained her both national & international recognition and audiences, from the White House to the Carter Center to the Vatican. She was appointed to the Ferguson Commission by Missouri Governor Jay Nixon & to the President's Advisory Council on Faith-Based Neighborhood Partnerships for the White House by President Barack Obama. Rev Blackmon's mission is an expanded understanding of church as a sacred launching pad of community engagement and change. Series: "Burke Lectureship on Religion and Society" [Humanities] [Show ID: 33456]
What is spirituality and spiritual health? How can we effectively assess our own spirituality and identify spiritual distress in ourselves and others? Douglas Ziedonis, MD, MPH, Associate Vice Chancellor for Health Sciences and Professor of Psychiatry at UC San Diego, discusses the link between healthy aging and spirituality. Series: "Stein Institute for Research on Aging" [Health and Medicine] [Humanities] [Show ID: 33227]
Part of the Humanities as Vocation event at UCSB, features two UCSB alumni talking about their work after their humanities studies. Reza Aslan is a producer and author. He addresses his training, the inspiration behind his creative work and the role the university can play in preparing the next generation of scholars. Tim Kring is a screenwriter and television producer. He tells how his religious studies background influences his productions. Series: "Ethics, Religion and Public Life: Walter H. Capps Center Series" [Humanities] [Show ID: 33469]
Father Gregory Boyle, Jesuit priest and bestselling author of Tattoos on the Heart, is the founder of Homeboy Industries in Los Angeles. He shares what three decades of working with gang members has taught him about faith, compassion, and the enduring power of kinship. Series: "Burke Lectureship on Religion and Society" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 32868]
Renowned Tibetan Buddhist scholar and Columbia University Professor Robert A.F. Thurman is joined in conversation by his colleague Isa Gucciardi and UCSF's Eve Ekman and David Bullard. They explore Buddhist understandings about consciousness and death. Series: "Wellbeing " [Health and Medicine] [Humanities] [Show ID: 32673]
Author, Tova Mirvis, discusses her book, The Book of Separation, which describes a woman who leaves her Orthodox Jewish faith and her marriage and sets out to navigate the terrifying, liberating terrain of a newly mapless world. She is the author of three novels and her essays have appeared in various anthologies and newspapers. Series: "Taubman Symposia in Jewish Studies" [Humanities] [Show ID: 33053]
David Murphy is Executive Director of the International Rescue Committee (IRC) San Diego office. In this lecture Murphy shares his insights into the moral and logistical challenges posed by the current world-wide refugee crisis, based on his extensive experience working with the IRC in Africa and Afghanistan. Series: "Burke Lectureship on Religion and Society" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 32144]
For 15 years, Edina Lekovic has served as a leading voice on American Muslims and an inter-community builder between diverse faith traditions. She explores the negative portrayal of American Muslims in the Media. Series: "Ethics, Religion and Public Life: Walter H. Capps Center Series" [Public Affairs] [Show ID: 32401]
For 15 years, Edina Lekovic has served as a leading voice on American Muslims and an inter-community builder between diverse faith traditions. She explores the way in which the treatment of American Muslims under the Trump administration could serve as an advanced warning of danger to our very democracy. Series: "Ethics, Religion and Public Life: Walter H. Capps Center Series" [Public Affairs] [Show ID: 32099]
Bernard-Henri Levy visited the UCSB campus to discuss his new book The Genius of Judaism. In this provocative book he demonstrates that anti-Semitism, constitutes the greatest danger to Jews and non-Jews alike, and to liberal democracies. And, at the same time he offers a challenging argument that the nature or essence of Judaism is located in Talmud and its interpreters, not as an on-going discourse about norms of behavior and structures of belief, but of critical engagement, on-going inquiry, of intellectual, philosophical, and moral challenges, in which Judaism and Jewish identity is to be realized in an obligation to the other, to the dispossessed, to the marginalized. Series: "Taubman Symposia in Jewish Studies" [Humanities] [Show ID: 31923]
How did Zionist immigrants to early 20th century Palestine conceive of their new Arab neighbors, and how did the Arab natives make sense of the Jews arriving on Palestine’s shores? Drawing on his book Defining Neighbors: Religion, Race, and the Early Zionist-Arab Encounter, Jonathan Marc Gribetz argues that this fateful encounter was initially imagined very differently from the way it ultimately developed. The Late Ottoman period in Palestine was no utopia, but exploring this moment reveals that today’s hardened dividing lines are far from timeless; they have a fascinating history. Series: "Taubman Symposia in Jewish Studies" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 31660]
Robert Jones, Director of the Public Religion Research Institute in Washington, D.C., is a well-known commentator on religion and politics. He discusses the upcoming presidential election. Series: "Ethics, Religion and Public Life: Walter H. Capps Center Series" [Public Affairs] [Show ID: 31622]
Author Zohreh Ghahremani talks with Babak Rahimi, associate professor of Communication, Culture and Religion at UC San Diego about the novel, "Sky of Red Poppies," the 2012 selection for One Book, One San Diego. Series: "Writers" [Humanities] [Show ID: 31539]
The multimedia Journey of the Universe project explores some of mankind's most persistent existential questions: What is our purpose? How have the universe, our planet and humanity evolved? Mary Evelyn Tucker proposes that cosmology is the necessary basis for an in-depth examination of the human condition and that useful tools may be found at the intersection of science, art, and humanities, where recent scientific discoveries are leavened and informed with wisdom gleaned through the ages. Series: "Burke Lectureship on Religion and Society" [Humanities] [Show ID: 31039]
Bashar Matti Warda, a Chaldean Catholic cleric and the current Archbishop of Erbil, speaks on the role that the Christians of northern Iraq are playing in removing ISIS and fostering peace and forgiveness in this long-troubled region. Archbishop Warda is presented by the Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice at the University of San Diego. Series: "Peace exChange -- Kroc School of Peace Studies, University of San Diego" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 31463]
One of the few constants throughout Jewish history is that Jewish identity has never been simple, and the answer to the question of “Who is a Jew?” – far from clear-cut. Rabbi Donniel Hartman, President of the Shalom Hartman Institute in Israel, says that at key moments over the last 3,000 years, Jews have reinvented or reimagined themselves in the context of their unique reality. Due to the cultural, historical, and psychological transformations that have taken place in the 20th and 21st centuries, this identity is once again at a crossroads. He explores how individual and collective identities throughout the millennia have been understood; how these earlier conceptions shape our understanding of who we are now and who we ought to be in the 21st century. Series: "Taubman Symposia in Jewish Studies" [Humanities] [Show ID: 31308]
Back in 2005, Thomas J. Reese -- who is both a distinguished journalist and a Roman Catholic priest -- lost his job as the editor-in-chief of a leading Jesuit magazine after the Vatican concluded that under his leadership the publication was too often running afoul of official Church doctrine. But that, of course, was before Pope Francis came along who over the last three years has inspired a whole new generation of reform-minded Catholics. In this edition of "Up Next," Reese ponders both the future of his church and the challenges that this 79-year-old pope now faces. Series: "Up Next: Perspectives on the Future of Everything" [Humanities] [Show ID: 31478]
Anat Hoffman, Executive Director of the Israeli Religious Action Center, was a founding member of Women of the Wall as well as a Board member of the Israel Women’s Network, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, and many other Israeli organizations for social change. This talk touches on several issues that pertain to the struggle between narrow-minded Judaism and pluralistic Judaism and to the contribution of the Israel Religious Action Center (IRAC) to advance a pluralistic living environment in Jerusalem. Series: "Taubman Symposia in Jewish Studies" [Humanities] [Show ID: 30704]
Islam is a great religious tradition, the second largest and fastest growing of the World’s Religions, embracing some 57 Muslim countries and is the second or third largest religion in Europe and America. Despite the global achievements of Islam as a faith and civilization, since the Iranian Revolution, Islam has been viewed through the lens violence and the actions of militant terrorists. John Esposito, Professor of Religion and International Affairs and of Islamic Studies at Georgetown, addresses the questions: Who are Muslims and what do they believe? What do Islam, Judaism and Christianity share in common? Why does it matter? Series: "Ethics, Religion and Public Life: Walter H. Capps Center Series" [Humanities] [Show ID: 30579]
Award-winning actor Michael Douglas and Jewish Agency head Natan Sharansky explore the role that faith, religious pluralism and human rights have played in their personal journeys. They discuss their relationship with Judaism to an audience at UC Santa Barbara. Series: "Carsey-Wolf Center" [Humanities] [Show ID: 30807]
Renowned scientist with the Scripps Institution of Oceanography describes how to find areas of agreement between governments, religious leaders and researchers on difficult issues such as the need to address climate change. Series: "Burke Lectureship on Religion and Society" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 30184]
Twenty years after the tragic death of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, Yoram Peri reflects upon his life as politician, statesman and general, his dedication to the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, his leadership in signing the Oslo Accords, and his assassination by a right-wing Jewish extremist. Rabin’s deeply contested legacy – hero versus traitor – reflects the mounting cultural war between liberal, secular Israelis who place great emphasis on Western, democratic values and religious Israelis who believe the Torah and traditional values should guide everyday life. Series: "Taubman Symposia in Jewish Studies" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 30268]
The Egyptians believed Pharaoh to be a god on earth who after his death would fly up to heaven and unite with the sun, his father. After the collapse of the Old Kingdom, this idea of royal immortality became accessible for non-royal persons but dependent on justification before a divine tribunal, the judgment of the dead. Immortality became a question, not of royalty but of morals. Jan Assmann, Professor Emeritus of Egyptology, University of Heidelberg, explores the origins and evolution of these concepts. Series: "UC Berkeley Graduate Lectures" [Humanities] [Show ID: 30174]
Dr. Carter is Associate Professor of Systematic Theology and Black Church Studies at Duke Divinity School. Prof. Carter teaches courses in both theology and black church studies. His research focuses on issues of race and religion in modern American life. Dr. Carter’s book is entitled Race: A Theological Account, published by Oxford University Press in 2008. Series: "Burke Lectureship on Religion and Society" [Humanities] [Show ID: 29972]
Robert Pogue Harrison is the chairman of the Department of French and Italian at Stanford University, and the author of several critically acclaimed books, including "The Dominion of the Dead," which examines the complicated ways that the living relate to the dead. In this edition of "Up Next," Harrison discusses the declining fortunes of the dead in modern society and what that decline says about our future. Series: "Up Next: Perspectives on the Future of Everything" [Humanities] [Show ID: 30068]
Conversations host Harry Kreisler welcomes Jan Assmann, Honorary Professor of Cultural and Religious Studies at the University of Constance, for a discussion of his career as a Egyptologist and scholar of comparative religions. After reflections on his formative years in a German medieval town suffering from the ravages of World War II and its aftermath, Assmann describes the community of Egyptologists and the intellectual influences that shaped his scholarship. He also characterizes the intellectual joys and hardships of field research in ancient tombs. Finally, he touches on some of the themes of his scholarship including the evolution of ideas that characterize religious change; comparison of Moses and Akhenaten; and the importance of writing, canonization, and exegesis to cultural memory and the resilience and survival of religions. Series: "Conversations with History" [Humanities] [Show ID: 30173]
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