Walter H. Capps Center (Audio)

What's next for the battle over abortion? In this lecture, Mary Ziegler argues that undoing Roe v. Wade was never the endpoint for the antiabortion movement. Since the 1960s, the goal has been to secure recognition of fetuses and embryos as persons under the 14th Amendment, making abortion unconstitutional. The battle for personhood also aims to overhaul the regulation of in vitro fertilization and contraception, change the meaning of equality under the law, and determine how courts decide which fundamental rights Americans enjoy. Mary Ziegler is one of the world's leading historians of the U.S. abortion debate, and an expert on the law, history, and politics of reproduction, health care, and conservatism in the U.S. She is the author or editor of numerous articles and seven books on reproduction, autonomy, and the law. Series: "Ethics, Religion and Public Life: Walter H. Capps Center Series" [Public Affairs] [Show ID: 40704]

Through a focus on Spanish-speaking Catholics, Amanda Baugh sheds light on environmental actors hiding in plain sight. Drawing from ethnographic research conducted across Los Angeles, Baugh, Professor and Associate Chair of Religious Studies and Director of the MA Program in Sustainability at California State University, Northridge, demonstrates that minority communities are not merely victims of environmental problems. Instead, many Spanish-speaking Catholics embrace what Baugh calls “la tierra environmentalism,” an embodied ethic of living lightly on the Earth that is rooted in a sense of love and respect for God, fellow humans, and the rest of God's creation. A focus on la tierra environmentalism challenges scholars and activists to rethink who counts as environmental leaders and what counts as environmentalism. Series: "Ethics, Religion and Public Life: Walter H. Capps Center Series" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 40423]

The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence went viral in conservative media in June 2023 when the L.A. Dodgers announced plans to honor the local house of the order at the team's annual Pride Night. Reporting on the ensuing scuffle focused largely on sports, politics, and culture wars, not on religion, and it largely misrepresented or overlooked the international order of queer and trans nuns at the heart of the story. In this program, Melissa M. Wilcox, Professor and Holstein Family & Community Chair of Religious Studies at UC Riverside, talks about who these nuns are and why they keep rankling the right and delighting the left. Series: "Ethics, Religion and Public Life: Walter H. Capps Center Series" [Humanities] [Show ID: 40374]

How did Ronald Reagan's vision of the American Dream lead to Donald Trump's success? Looking back to 1983, Diane Winston, professor of journalism and communication at the University of Southern California, discusses how evangelical religion, the news media, and social turmoil culminated in MAGA's Second Coming. Winston shows that many journalists uncritically adopted Reagan's religious rhetoric and broadcast his otherwise unpopular evangelical ideas about limited government and individual responsibility. Winston's lecture is based on her recent book, Righting the American Dream: How the Media Mainstreamed Reagan's Evangelical Vision. Series: "Ethics, Religion and Public Life: Walter H. Capps Center Series" [Public Affairs] [Show ID: 40173]

The modern world is not disenchanted. On the contrary, it is full of gods and heroes and myths and magic. In this talk, Philip Gorski sketches out a new narrative of Western modernity that can account for this state of affairs: the fragmentation of the sacred. Series: "Ethics, Religion and Public Life: Walter H. Capps Center Series" [Humanities] [Show ID: 39810]

Newsweek columnist Jonathan Alter discusses why the 2008 presidential race is of such historic significance. Series: "Ethics, Religion and Public Life: Walter H. Capps Center Series" [Show ID: 16391]

E.J. Dionne asserts that after three decades during which conflicts over religion played a tremendous role in American politics, the country seems to be approaching a truce and, perhaps, even something akin to peace. Series: "Ethics, Religion and Public Life: Walter H. Capps Center Series" [Humanities] [Show ID: 19866]

This program discusses humanist and scholar Walter Capps' political career and the ongoing value of public service. The panel discussion features four people who have all worked as public servants: former U.S. Senator and Nebraska Governor Bob Kerrey; Lois Capps, former Congresswoman who served as a U.S. Representative from 1998-2017 representing Santa Barbara and the Central Coast, Laura Capps, the Second District Supervisor for Santa Barbara County; and Todd Capps, founding Executive Director of the Common Table Foundation. Series: "Ethics, Religion and Public Life: Walter H. Capps Center Series" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 39721]

In this program, Russell M. Jeung, professor of Asian American Studies at San Francisco State University, explores COVID-19 racism against Asian Americans, which led to what he terms a period of “collective racial trauma.” Twenty-five peer-reviewed articles have since documented the deleterious impacts of direct and indirect racism on the mental health of Asian Americans. Yet Asian Americans have been resilient in the face of this trauma, and utilized their ethnic and cultural wealth as buffers against anti-Asian hate. Jeung identifies three key ways that Asian Americans responded to this trauma and even grew from this painful time. Asian Americans' posttraumatic growth, the positive psychological change after trauma incidents, is also be detailed. Jeung is the author of many books and articles on race and religion. In 2020, he co-founded Stop AAPI Hate to track instances of bias, harassment, and violence against AAPI people during Covid-19 and to fight racism. Series: "Ethics, Religion and Public Life: Walter H. Capps Center Series" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 39867]

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]

Social entrepreneur, investor, and author Jessica Jackley explores what it took for her to pursue a career that fit her passions. She explains that studying the humanities gave her the perspective that allowed her to navigate the world of non-profit global entrepreneurism. Series: "Ethics, Religion and Public Life: Walter H. Capps Center Series" [Humanities] [Business] [Education] [Show ID: 33468]

2011 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Tawakkol Karman is the first Yemeni, the first Arab woman and the second Muslim woman to win a Nobel Prize. A human rights activist, journalist and politician, she was dubbed the “Mother of the Revolution” for her key role in the Arab Spring, during which she was imprisoned numerous times. An advocate for education, social equality and responsible investment as means to counteract poverty and oppression, Karman offers hopeful solutions to uphold the democratic spirit across the globe. Series: "Ethics, Religion and Public Life: Walter H. Capps Center Series" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 32452]

Christina Bellantoni, the assistant managing editor of politics at the Los Angeles Times, discusses her experience in journalism, mainly covering politics, in her current position and as a reporter in Washington, D.C., for more than a decade. She argues that ethical journalism is more important than ever because a strong democracy depends on a free press. Series: "Ethics, Religion and Public Life: Walter H. Capps Center Series" [Public Affairs] [Show ID: 32212]

Today's dominant political refrain is that America is in a state of decline. But to James Fallows, national correspondent for The Atlantic, nothing could further be from the truth. Over the course of a three-year, 54,000-mile journey across the country, he discovered many surprising points of reinvention, in every region of the country—and enough to refresh the bleak national conversation to reflect a positive truth. Fallows reports on the wide range of civic projects underway that are rebuilding America—a cross-section of generations, races, and political affiliations working far from the usual metropolitan hubs. Series: "Ethics, Religion and Public Life: Walter H. Capps Center Series" [Public Affairs] [Show ID: 32454]

We are a country in which a majority of people who voted for one candidate in 2016 don't know anybody who voted for the other. We have a president who divided the country in a way that lost him the popular vote but gave him an electoral college victory. At the same time, many different kinds of Americans feel shortchanged by an economy that treats different groups in different regions very differently. Are we becoming a nation in which some of us find it impossible to empathize with others among our fellow citizens — not only when the problems involved are different, but also when they're similar? And are our religious institutions helping to heal these divides, or are they deepening them? Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne explores these and other questions. Series: "Ethics, Religion and Public Life: Walter H. Capps Center Series" [Public Affairs] [Show ID: 32147]

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]

Anna Lappé looks at the hidden cost of our food system: the climate crisis. Our web of global food production and distribution is connected to as much as one third of total greenhouse-gas emissions. She offers a vision of a food system that can be part of healing the planet. Series: "Ethics, Religion and Public Life: Walter H. Capps Center Series" [Science] [Agriculture] [Show ID: 31713]

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]

Is free speech threatened on college campuses? One of the nation's leading constitutional scholars explores the the notion of “hateful” or “hurtful” speech and their relation to the First Amendment. Series: "Ethics, Religion and Public Life: Walter H. Capps Center Series" [Public Affairs] [Education] [Show ID: 31310]

Bringing his expertise, experience and wisdom longtime journalist Bill Moyers looks at the November election and asks if we are in for armageddon, apocalypse, or rapture? Moyers has received 37 Emmy Awards, nine Peabody Awards, the National Academy of Television's Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts from the American Film Institute, among others. Series: "Ethics, Religion and Public Life: Walter H. Capps Center Series" [Public Affairs] [Show ID: 30876]

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]