 |
| About
the Seminary | Campus | Academics
| Faculty | Admission
|
| Resources | News and Events | Public Relations | | Partner Links | E-mail List | Home | |
|
|
The spring 2008 dialogue series for Christian, Jewish and Muslim leaders, focusing on how the three Abrahamic traditions contemplate Scripture in terms of Identity and the Other, Gender and Sexuality, and War and Peace. [Register online] [Download/view the color brochure/registration form (Adobe Acrobat file)] When: Three consecutive Sunday afternoons from 2 to 5 pm
Where: Benbow Hall, The Brossman Center at The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia. Co-sponsors: The Faith and Life Institute of The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia (LTSP); The Interfaith Center of Greater Philadelphia; The Neighborhood Interfaith Movement of Mt. Airy; The Philadelphia Dialogue Forum; The Institute for Interreligious, Intercultural Dialogue at Temple University; and Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, Wyncote, PA. About the program Despite many global and local interreligious educational endeavors since 9/11, stereotypes and mistrust involving the three Abrahamic traditions still abound. The spring dialogue series for religious leaders will focus on how these traditions understand their foundational Scriptures in terms of three challenging issues of our day. Is “our” tradition the one true and authentic faith? How do we understand the roles of men and women, and what about gay and lesbian lifestyles? What about world peace? Is there such a thing as “just” war? This series is designed to explore not only what each tradition agrees upon but also to better understand religious differences. Each Sunday afternoon will feature one presenter from each tradition presenting briefly on Scripture and the subtheme for the day. The audience will have a few minutes for clarifying questions. Then the audience will break into small, interfaith groups to frame questions for conversation and to frame questions for the panel of presenters. The audience will reconvene to pose their questions. Refreshments will be available throughout. The series will conclude each day with a light supper and further conversations. This series is making use of “regional” presenters to encourage additional conversations in the months ahead. The cost Registration for each individual Sunday will cost $25. Register for all three Sundays and receive a $10 discount – a total of $65. The student rate for each individual Sunday is $20, attending all three events is $50. In the event of hardship, scholarships are available by contacting Mark A. Staples, director of The Faith and Life Institute at LTSP, 215-248-7352 or email Mstaples@Ltsp.edu. Funding for the series in provided in part by Connelly Foundation; The Institute for Interreligious, Intercultural Dialogue at Temple University; and Thrivent Financial for Lutherans. About our presenters March 30 - Identity and the Other
April 6 - Gender and Sexuality
[Register Online] [Download/view the color brochure/registration form (Adobe Acrobat file)] |
Tough Texts:
Christian Presenter: The Rev. Walter Wagner, PhD, has served as a parish pastor in New Jersey and Pennsylvania and taught at California Lutheran University, Upsala College and Muhlenberg College, earning awards for teaching and service to students. While at Muhlenberg he was involved in the establishment of the Institute for Jewish-Christian Understanding. Since 1990 he has increasingly been involved with Islamic studies and Muslim-Christian dialogue. His forthcoming book on the Qur’an is to be published by the University of Notre Dame Press. He lives in Bethlehem, PA.
Jewish Presenter: Lewis Ricardo Gordon, PhD is the Laura H. Carnell Professor of Philosophy, Religion, and Judaic Studies at Temple University, Philadelphia, specializing in many areas of thought including Africana philosophy, philosophy of human and life sciences, postcolonial thought, theories of race and racism, philosophies of liberation, philosophy of education and philosophy of religion. He is co-editor of the Routledge book series on Africana thought, serves as Ongoing Visiting Professor of Government and Philosophy at the University of the West Indies at Mona, Jamaica, and is President of the Caribbean Philosophical Association.
Muslim Presenter: Sanaullah Kirmani, PhD is a scholar of the history of world religions and Islamic and Jewish philosophy. He teaches Peace Studies and History at Goucher College, Towson, MD, and has taught Philosophy, History of Religions and intercultural studies at a number of universities including George Washington and Towson Universities. He is Scholar in Residence to Muslim students at Towson University. In addition to his academic interests, Dr. Kirmani is a trained mediator and is active in the Interfaith Conference of Metropolitan Washington. In 1984 he was instrumental in starting the Islamic Council of New England, as well as the continuing interfaith dialogue program of the Council. He was a founding member of the Jewish/Christian/Muslim Trialogue at the Kennedy Institute of Ethics, Georgetown University. This trialogue, now International Scholars Annual Trialogue, is one of the longest running trialogues between Abrahamic traditions in the USA. Prof. Kirmani travels internationally to facilitate discussions between religious traditions. He is frequently invited to international scholarly meetings to lecture in his academic fields.
Christian Presenter: The Rev. Wil Gafney, PhD is an Associate Professor of Hebrew and Old Testament at The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia. Her course offerings include Heroines, Harlots and Handmaids: the Women of the Hebrew Scriptures, with sections on "Cosmic Herstory," "Carnal Knowledge" and "Postcolonial Musings," and Prophetic Constructions, which explores prophets who do not have canonical books attributed to them. Her approach to teaching the Hebrew Scriptures includes emphasizing archaeology, comparative ancient Near Eastern literature and the Dead Sea Scrolls. She is particularly interested in how Jews and Christians interpret the texts they hold in common. Among her other interests are feminist biblical studies, rabbinic studies and issues in translation. She is also one of the general editors of The People’s Bible, which with her book Daughters of Miriam will be published by Fortress Press.
Jewish Presenter: Laura Levitt, Ph.D: Laura Levitt is the author of American Jewish Loss after the Holocaust (2007) and Jews and Feminism: the Ambivalent Search for Home (1997). She is co-editor with Miriam Peskowitz of Judaism since Gender (1997); and with Shelley Hornstein and Laurence Silberstein an editor of Impossible Images: Contemporary Art after the Holocaust (2003). She edited “Changing Focus: Family Photography and American Jewish Identity,” The Scholar & Feminist Online, 1.3(Winter 2003) www.barnard.edu/sfonline. She coordinates the Greater Philadelphia Women’s Studies Consortium, and is director the Jewish Studies Program at Temple University where she teaches in the Religion department and the Women’s Studies program. 
Muslim Presenter: Constance Carter, PhD is the founder of the Islamic Wellness Training Foundation, which offers teaching and counseling services to Muslims and non-Muslims. Her PhD thesis at Temple focused on translations of the Qur’an and their influence on the gender position of African American Muslim women. She’s served as an adjunct faculty member at Temple University, Villanova University, and The College of New Jersey. Dr. Carter, has more than 40 years of experience in social work and career development and during her career has worked extensively with women who are victims of domestic violence. She co-founded “Women for Peace,” a Philadelphia-based non-profit organization that provides social and crisis services for women and their families, and has served as chair for the women’s advisory committee of MANA - Muslim Alliances of North America, an umbrella organization founded to service indigenous Muslims in North America.
Christian Presenter: Paul Mojzes, Ph.D is Professor of Religious Studies at Rosemont College, a Roman Catholic college situated on suburban Philadelphia’s Main Line, and until recently served as Provost and Academic Dean. Dr. Mojzes is the co-editor of the Journal of Ecumenical Studies, and founder and co-editor of Religion in Eastern Europe. He is the author of five and editor of several books, and has written about 100 articles. Among his recent books are Religious Liberty in Eastern Europe and the USSR, Yugoslavian Inferno: Ethnoreligious Warfare in the Balkans, and Religion and War in Bosnia (editor). With Leonard Swidler he coauthored The Study of Religion in an Age of Global Dialogue and co-edited Interreligious Dialogue Toward Reconciliation in Macedonia and Bosnia. He is a past president of Christians Associated for Relationships with Eastern Europe and a member of the Europe Forum of the National Council of Churches. During the fall semester 2003/04 he was the Ida E. King Distinguished Visiting Professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Richard Stockton College of New Jersey. He continues to teach graduate courses at Stockton College as an adjunct professor.
Jewish Presenter: Rabbi Leonard Gordon has served as Rabbi at the Germantown Jewish Centre in Philadelphia’s Mt. Airy section since 1994. He recently taught the Seminar in Rabbinic Civilization at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College. He chairs the Social Action Committee of the Rabbinical Assembly (the rabbinic arm of the Conservative movement), and serves on a committee creating a new High Holiday prayer book for the Conservative movement. A past chair of the National Havurah Committee, he has taught Comparative Religion and Rabbinic Literature at Columbia and Brown Universities, the Jewish Theological Seminary, the Ohio State University, and Kenyon College, where he directed the Integrated Program in Humane Studies.
Muslim Presenter: Khalil Malik, MD is a physician by profession with an asthma and allergy practice in Lansdale, PA. He has been a sought-after keynote presenter at many interfaith gatherings in the region. He has been involved with The Peace Center in Bucks County and been a regular presenter there. Dr. Malik is a member of the National Executive Board of the Ahmadiyya Movement in Islam, USA with its headquarters in Silver Spring, MD, and has been a presenter at its annual national convention and for its regional assemblies around the country.