Religion Matters

This episode features a series of interviews from community members in Southern California who deal with death regularly. Rev. Greg Coppock, pastor at Sunrise Christian Fellowship in Fallbrook, CA and former San Diego Sheriff Chaplain; Dr. Lillian Harvey Banchik, retired trauma surgeon; Rev. Cate Luehr, Children's Hospital Los Angeles Chaplain and ELCA pastor; Dr. Nilesh Vora, Oncologist, Hematologist, and Palliative Care Physician at Long Beach Memorial Hospital, share their insights regarding death, as well as provide advice for people dealing with death. Topics in this episode include:1) Talking to children about death2) Professionals coping with death3) The impact of death on the lives of the living, including caregivers

This episode features a series of interviews from community members in Southern California who deal with death regularly. Rev. Greg Coppock, pastor at Sunrise Christian Fellowship in Fallbrook, CA and former San Diego Sheriff Chaplain; Dr. Lillian Harvey Banchik, retired trauma surgeon; Rev. Cate Luehr, Children's Hospital Los Angeles Chaplain and ELCA pastor; Dr. Nilesh Vora, Oncologist, Hematologist, and Palliative Care Physician at Long Beach Memorial Hospital, share their insights regarding death, as well as provide advice for people dealing with death. Topics in this episode include:1) General introductions2) The impact of faith and death3) The role of platitudes when dealing with death4) Medicalized death

Gail Stearns shares her book Liberating Mindfulness: From Billion-Dollar Industry to Engages Spirituality. We discuss how mindfulness can break free from an individualized self-help discipline and lead into ways of bringing awareness and action into social justice issues.You can find her book through Orbis Books - https://orbisbooks.com/products/liberating-mindfulness-from-billion-dollar-industry-to-engaged-spirituality?_pos=1&_sid=90d6b56e5&_ss=rCo-hosting today's episode:Janice McLean-Farrell, the Dirck Romeyn Associate Professor of Metro-Urban Ministry & Assistant Dean of Doctoral Studies at New Brunswick Theological Seminary.Anderson Jeremiah, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Politics, Philosophy and Religion at Lancaster University.Kirk Sandvig, Religious Studies Lecturer at Chapman University and San Diego State University. Music for today's episode was brought to by: Aiden, Caleb and Kirk Sandvig

Sal Gutierrez IV, from Chapman University, presents his student project for the class "Studying Religion". His project looks at the importance of the Islamic Golden Age and its lasting impact on the world today. 

Sophia Lieberman, from Chapman University, presents her student project on the ways Jewish women preserve modern Jewish culture and traditions through the use of folklore and magic. Here is the link to the video of her project https://youtu.be/bqIri5_dX-E

Adamari Cardenas, Juan Jose Ocampo Florez, Madison Gossett, and Tiffany Hungerford from San Diego State University present their final project for 'Nature, Spirituality, and Ecology'. They discuss the ways colonialism have impacted the spiritual ecological frameworks for those living in Latin America and in India.

After watching the Netflix docuseries surrounding Meghan and Harry and the Royal family, the podcast examines many of the issues surrounding notion of identity, racism, and inclusivity within Great Britain and the United States.This podcast was hosted by Kirk Sandvig, from Chapman University and San Diego State University; Janice McLean-Farrell from New Brunswick Theological Seminary; and Anderson Jeremiah from the University of Lancaster, UK.Music by Aiden, Caleb, and Kirk Sandvig

In this episode we discuss the role caste plays both in South Asia as well as in diasporic communities in the West. Some suggest that caste does not exist outside India, while others insist it does and protections against caste basted discrimination are necessary. These protections bring up additional concerns regarding Western stereotypes of South Asian caste in the West, and the fear of increased discrimination against South Asians in the West if discussions of caste in the West persist.Links to articles and books discussed in this episode:Jeremiah, A 2020, Caste and Caste Based Sectarianism in India. in Caste and Caste Based Sectarianism, Urban Spaces and Sectarian Contestations. SEPAD , pp. 46-50. NPR News report - https://www.npr.org/2022/05/02/1095861447/some-south-asian-americans-believe-caste-based-prejudices-exist-in-the-u-sWilkerson, Isabel. Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents. United States: THORNDIKE Press, 2021.Google caste discussion scrapped - https://qz.com/india/2172954/google-scrapped-a-talk-on-caste-bias-for-being-too-divisive/

This episode is our inaugural student project edition of our podcast, featuring Chapman University student Amea Wadsworth. Her project "Under the Guise of Liberation; The Strategic Victimization of Muslim Women" explores the notions of Islamic Feminism and Western narratives of women in South West Asia and North Africa (SWANA). This is followed up with a conversation with her about her project, and how it connects with other important issues facing the world today.

In this episode, we talk with Dr. Ting Guo about her exploration of the themes surrounding religion, secularism and love as forms of political discourse in modern China, but also in other parts of the world. We break down how secularism is understood in the "West" as well as in the "majority world", and its implication for how we understand the expressions religion, culture and tradition.  Books mentioned in this episode:Ting Guo, Politics of Love: Religion, Secularism, and Love as a Political Discourse in Modern China  (Under review with Amsterdam University Press)Bell Hooks, All About Love: New Visions. Will Morrow Paperbacks, 2018. 

In this episode we discuss with Jim Walters: The story of the London School of Economics Faith Centre; How it came to be, and what it's trying to accomplish by discussing plural spaces, climate change and interfaith relations, women of faith and peacemaking; the need for better interface between theology and the social sciences to understand international relations and other political sciences; and finding ways of changing ways to engaging with religion in academia – often changed by students' interests and concerns.Jim is the founding director of the LSE Faith Centre and its Religion and Global Society Research Unit. He leads the team in the centre's mission to promote religious literacy and interfaith leadership through student programmes and global engagement, along with research into the role of religion in world affairs. He is a Senior Lecturer in Practice in the Department of International Relations and an affiliated faculty member at the Department for International Development. He has published a number of books including Baudrillard and Theology (2012), Religion and the Public Sphere: New Conversations (2018), A Christian Theology of Chaplaincy (2018), Religious Imaginations and Global Transitions (2018) and Loving Your Neighbour in an Age of Religious Conflict (2019). 

We discuss Jared Opoien's Ph.D. dissertation: "Life and Death in the Field: Farmer Suicide and the Necessity to Feed", which deals with the the philosophical complications behind viewing farmer suicide as an "epidemic", climate change disparity and the farmer protests in Delhi, and infrastructural similarities between farming economy in the U.S. and India.Dr. Jared Opoien teaches Columbia College in the Department of History, Philosophy, Political Science, and Criminal JusticeJanice McLean-Farrell teaches at New Brunswick Theological Seminary,  and is the Dirck Romeyn Assistant Professor of Metro-Urban Ministry & Assistant Dean of Doctoral Studies.Anderson Jeremiah is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Politics, Philosophy and Religion at Lancaster University  and Deputy Director of the Richardson Institute of Peace Studies.Kirk Sandvig teaches at Chapman University, San Diego State University, and Saddleback College. Music by Aiden, Caleb and Kirk Sandvig

This episode discusses the issues surrounding debt and free-market spirituality in Colombia. We talk about issues surrounding microfinance, necropolitics/necrofinance, prosperity, and practical theology in the context of Colombian Christians.Copies of Rebecca's book can be ordered here: https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520380028/card-carrying-christiansDr. Rebecca Bartel-Nunez is an Associate Professor in the Department for the Study of Religion, the Associate Director in the Center for Latin American Studies, and  the Fred J Hansen Chair in Peace Studies at San Diego State University (SDSU)Janice McLean-Farrell teaches at New Brunswick Theological Seminary,  and is the Dirck Romeyn Assistant Professor of Metro-Urban Ministry & Assistant Dean of Doctoral Studies.Anderson Jeremiah is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Politics, Philosophy and Religion at Lancaster University  and Deputy Director of the Richardson Institute of Peace Studies.Kirk Sandvig teaches Religious Studies and Philosophy at Chapman University, San Diego State University, and Saddleback College.Music by Aiden, Caleb and Kirk Sandvig

In this episode we discuss: the brain science behind political/ideological extremism and its connection to dogmatic religious beliefs – specifically looking how QAnon can be contextualized as an “alt religion”; why do so many White Evangelical Christians believe in QAnon and other conspiracy beliefs?; how the Jan 6th insurrection is an expression of America's repressed trauma over belonging and identity; how does this trauma fuel political polarization tribal ideology, which in turn can lead to radicalization; and how do we heal America's trauma? What steps can we individually take to address this trauma?Dr Jay Kumar is the Wellness Director in the  Fish Interfaith Center at Chapman University. His TEDx Talk was titled “How to Heal America's Traumatized Brain” https://youtu.be/Ak1ld-P3ZIs?t=5198His book is called: Science of a Happy Brain: Thriving in the Age of Anger, Anxiety, and Addiction (available on Amazon, publisher Page Publishing)He also has a LinkedIn Learning Course: “How to Train Your Brain for Happiness”. Please check it out. Janice McLean-Farrell teaches at New Brunswick Theological Seminary,  and is the Dirck Romeyn Assistant Professor of Metro-Urban Ministry & Assistant Dean of Doctoral Studies.Anderson Jeremiah is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Politics, Philosophy and Religion at Lancaster University  and Deputy Director of the Richardson Institute of Peace Studies.Kirk Sandvig teaches Religious Studies and Philosophy at Chapman University, San Diego State University, and Saddleback College. Other books referenced in this podcast:Amanda Ripley - High Conflict: Why We Get Trapped and How We Get OutKristin  Kobes Du Mez - Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation Music by Aiden, Caleb and Kirk Sandvig

Janice McLean-Farrell teaches at New Brunswick Theological Seminary,  and is the Dirck Romeyn Assistant Professor of Metro-Urban Ministry & Assistant Dean of Doctoral Studies.Anderson Jeremiah is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Politics, Philosophy and Religion at Lancaster University  and Deputy Director of the Richardson Institute of Peace Studies.Kirk Sandvig teaches Religious Studies and Philosophy at Chapman University, San Diego State University, and Saddleback College.