From exploring Islam's peace teachings to debating whether CrossFit is a kind of church, there are plenty of interesting and thought-provoking events taking place on campus this semester.
Check out the highlights below, add them to your calendars, and be sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter to stay current on all that's happening at HDS.
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Women Religious Leaders in the Struggle for Peace
Thursday, September 24, 6 pm, Braun Room, Andover Hall
Rev. Susan Hayward, MDiv '07, director the United States Institute of Peace's religious peacebuilding program, will discuss the new volume that she has co-edited, Women, Religion, and Peacebuilding: Illuminating the Unseen, offering reflections on the opportunities and challenges women religious leaders across faiths and regions face. Part of the RPP Colloquium Series.
Reproducing the Bodhisattva: Women's Artistic Devotion in Late Imperial China
Thursday, October 1, Noon, Common Room, CSWR
A lunchtime talk by WSRP Research Associate Yuhang Li, Visiting Assistant Professor of Women’s Studies and East Asian Religions for 2015–16.
From Roman to Early Christian Cyprus Conference
Friday, October 2, All Day, Andover Hall
This conference is an interdisciplinary venture, bringing together Greek archaeologists and scholars of Cyprus with scholars of the New Testament, Early Christianity, and the religions of antiquity. It will include a photographic exhibit of archaeological evidence. For information and registration, visit http://projects.iq.harvard.edu/cyprus2015
Electric Santería: Racial and Sexual Assemblages of Transnational Religion
Friday, October 2, 3 pm, Harvard Book Store, 1256 Massachusetts Ave.
Associate Professor of African American Religions Aisha M. Beliso-De Jesús will discuss her book, Electric Santería, and will sign copies after the discussion.
Film Screening and Discussion: "AWAKE: The Life of Yogananda"
Monday, October 5, 5:30 pm, Sperry Room, Andover Hall
An unconventional biography about the Hindu swami who brought yoga and meditation to the West in the 1920s.
The Div School Risk?
Thursday, October 8, 5:30 pm, Sperry Room, Andover Hall
The Alumni/Alumnae Council is honored to host the first installment of this year's distinguished alumni speaker series—Divinity Dialogues. The event speaker is the Rev. Liz Walker, MDiv '05.
Seeing Double: On Translating Landays with Eliza Griswold
Wednesday, October 14, 6–7:30 pm, Emerson Chapel, Divinity Hall
This event features poet and journalist Eliza Griswold, who will read from her selected translations of contemporary Afghan landays, I Am the Beggar of the World, which was awarded a 2015 PEN Prize, along with poems from her forthcoming collection.
Marianne Williamson: On Consciousness, Spirituality, and Politics in America
Wednesday, October 14, 7–9 pm, Sperry Room, Andover Hall
Internationally acclaimed spiritual leader Marianne Williamson, will share her insight on the creation of a beloved community through the use of political and ethical externalization.,
Making Peace with Islam: Islamic Approaches to Peacemaking
Thursday, October 15, 6-8:30 pm, Braun Room, Andover Hall
Examining Islamic peace teachings and paradigms within a larger comparative context, Professor Nathan C. Funk of the University of Waterloo will explore both the distinctiveness of Islamic approaches to peacemaking and ways in which Islamic experiences of conflict and peace mirror those of other communities. Part of the RPP Colloquium Series.
Reparations for Native American Languages? Churches, Governments, and Cultural Genocide
Monday, October 19, 5:15–7 pm, Common Room, CSWR
Dr. Richard Grounds, executive director of the Euchee/Yuchi Language Project, will deliver this year's Dana McLean Greeley Lecture for Peace and Social Justice.
American Afterlives: U.S. Nation-Saints and the Second Vatican Council
Wednesday, October 28, 5:15–7 pm, Sperry Room, Andover Hall
The 2015–16 Dudleian Lecture will be delivered by Kathleen S. Cummings of the University of Notre Dame. Her first book, New Women of the Old Faith: Gender and American Catholicism in the Progressive Era, was published in 2009 by the University of North Carolina Press.
CrossFit as Church?!
Thursday, November 5, 4–5:30 pm, Sperry Room, Andover Hall
Growing numbers of people are finding meaningful community in places outside of church. Join us to learn how the CEO of CrossFit thinks of his work as church, even religion. Bring your doubts, your questions, and your theological reflections!
Babaylan Sing Back: Philippine Shaman Voices on Gender, Religion and Transnationalism
Thursday, November 12, 4 pm, Common Room, CSWR
A talk by WSRP Research Associate Grace Nono, Visiting Lecturer in Women's Studies and Religion and Ethnomusicology for 2015–16.
Monday, November 16, 5:15–7 pm, Common Room, CSWR
Matthew L. Potts, Assistant Professor of Ministry Studies at HDS, will address his recent book, Cormac McCarthy and the Signs of Sacrament: Literature, Theology, and the Moral of Stories. Amy Hollywood, Elizabeth H. Monrad Professor of Christian Studies at HDS, and Shelly Rambo, Associate Professor of Theology at Boston University, will serve as respondents.
Bridging the Religious Divide: Transforming Conflict When Emotions and Religion are at Play
Thursday, November 19, 6–8:30 pm, Braun Room, Andover Hall
Dr. Daniel L. Shapiro of Harvard Medical School and WSRP Research Associate Rev. Dr. Septemmy E. Lakawa will discuss the hidden emotional factors that fuel conflict. Part of the RPP Colloquium Series.
Veils and Revelations: Gender and Allegory in Early Christianity
Thursday, December 3, Noon, Braun Room, Andover Hall
A lunchtime talk by WSRP Research Associate Susanna Drake, Visiting Associate Professor of Women’s Studies and Early Christianity for 2015–16.
The Pastor and the Imam from Nigeria: Interfaith Strategy for Peacebuilding
December 10, 6-8:30 pm, Braun Room, Andover Hall
Formerly rival youth militia leaders, Pastor Dr. James Movel Wuye and Imam Dr. Muhammad Nurayn Ashafa were inspired by the teachings of their respective faith traditions to pursue the path of peace and have partnered to establish the Interfaith Mediation Centre in Kaduna. Part of the RPP Colloquium Series.