Nermeen Shaikh will focus on the particular horror induced by suicide bombing as against other forms of equally lethal and destructive violence.
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Join the Notre Dame South Asia Group in Washington, DC, for two panel discussions exploring religion, public policy, and development at a critical time when the Rohingya refugee crisis destabilizes Myanmar and Bangladesh, and the ongoing elections in India highlight the rise of Hindu nationalism in the world’s largest democracy.…
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Summary
Lisa Sideris
Discourse on the relationship between science and religion frequently invokes the language of wonder, and Anthropocene discourse is no exception. My presentation will examine the moral imaginary of wonder in current debates about the application of a specific Anthropocene technology: de-extinction strategies and related genetic tools applied to extinct or soon-to-be-extinct species. I argue that wonder, as it is often invoked in discussions of de-extinction, has little to do with express concerns about the justice, rights, or well-being of organisms, and thus bears little obvious connection to conservation and restoration rationales. Instead, these uses of wonder are largely expressions of awe at human power, creativity, and ingenuity. As such, wonder-inspired de-extinction strategies actually disrupt or obviate the need to respond with grief and mourning to human-caused extinctions. Moreover, as I will suggest, these uses of wonder lay claim to a particular and problematic image of the human, a theological anthropology that posits humans as the creative, world-making being par excellence. What other visions of the human might be available to us in a world that is increasingly the product of human activity?…
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Emmanuel Katongole
Professor of Theology and Peace Studies
“Ethnic Violence and the Healing of the ‘Burden of Ethnicity’” is part of a book-length project entitled “Who Are My People? The Reinvention of Love in Sub-Saharan Africa.” Set against the backdrop of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, this chapter on ethnic violence explores the mechanisms through which Hutu-Tutsi identities were invented within the construction of the modern Rwanda nation-state. It explores the story of Ruhango, one of the few Catholic communities untouched by the genocide, for clues about the kind of resistance and love necessary to resist violence, heal its wounds, and ultimately heal the “burden of ethnicity.” …
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The Feminist Theologies in Global Context reading group will consider the topic of ecology from a Christian feminist perspective at its next meeting on Friday, October 4.
Readings are Kaunda Chammah's "Towards an African ecogender theology: A decolonial theological perspective" PDF…
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Graphic: Pew Research Center
The Ansari Global Religion Reading Group will read the overview section of the Pew Research Center's 2015 report, "The Future of World Religions: Population Growth Projects, 2010-2050" (https://www.pewforum.org/2015/04/02/religious-projections-2010-2050/…
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Join director Michael Schwarz and executive producer Kiran Kiki Kapany along with Thomas E. Burman, director of Notre Dame’s Medieval Institute and Atalia Omer, professor of religion, conflict, and peace studies at the Kroc Institute, for a screening and conversation on “The Ornament of the World,” a new documentary that will air nationally on PBS December 17th at 8pm. Based on the book by Maria Rosa Menocal (d. 2012), Sterling Professor of the Humanities at Yale University, the film tells a tale about the culture of tolerance between Jews, Christians, and Muslims that developed over an 800-year period in Medieval Spain. It blends exquisite cinematography and highly evocative animation for a riveting journey through cities like Cordoba, Seville, Granada, and Toledo. Can we draw inspiration from that history today? Is the story of an age-old civilizational conflict between Muslims, Christians, and Jews a myth? Does historical criticism burst the bubble of Convivencia in Andalusia?…
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Religion Beyond Memes: Enhancing Public Discourse about Faith and Practice
Third in the Contending Modernities Series on Changing the Conversation about Religion
In a world where communications are based on 280-character counts, influencer posts, and memes, how can reporters and educators effectively explain the complexities of religion? How can understanding of faith be expanded beyond generalizations and stereotypes? Can academics, practitioners, and journalists collectively change the conversation about religion? …
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About the Lecture
The Buddha’s Footprint: An Environmental History of Asia
Contrary to popular imaginings the Dharma has not historically been an inherently environmental religion. Rather, early Buddhism was a prosperity theology that succeeded largely on account of its willingness to exploit both people and natural resources on the commodity frontier. As such, by investigating the links between Buddhism and agricultural expansion this talk will explore how Buddhists radically transformed Asia’s environment.…
Read More about Lecture: Johan Elverskog, "The Buddha’s Footprint: An Environmental History of Asia"
