Renowned scientist with the Scripps Institution of Oceanography describes how to find areas of agreement between governments, religious leaders and researchers on difficult issues such as the need to address climate change. Series: "Burke Lectureship on Religion and Society" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 30184]
May 09, 2016•59 min
Twenty years after the tragic death of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, Yoram Peri reflects upon his life as politician, statesman and general, his dedication to the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, his leadership in signing the Oslo Accords, and his assassination by a right-wing Jewish extremist. Rabin’s deeply contested legacy – hero versus traitor – reflects the mounting cultural war between liberal, secular Israelis who place great emphasis on Western, democratic values and religious ...
Feb 01, 2016•1 hr
The Egyptians believed Pharaoh to be a god on earth who after his death would fly up to heaven and unite with the sun, his father. After the collapse of the Old Kingdom, this idea of royal immortality became accessible for non-royal persons but dependent on justification before a divine tribunal, the judgment of the dead. Immortality became a question, not of royalty but of morals. Jan Assmann, Professor Emeritus of Egyptology, University of Heidelberg, explores the origins and evolution of thes...
Dec 21, 2015•1 hr 19 min
Dr. Carter is Associate Professor of Systematic Theology and Black Church Studies at Duke Divinity School. Prof. Carter teaches courses in both theology and black church studies. His research focuses on issues of race and religion in modern American life. Dr. Carter’s book is entitled Race: A Theological Account, published by Oxford University Press in 2008. Series: "Burke Lectureship on Religion and Society" [Humanities] [Show ID: 29972]
Dec 15, 2015•1 hr 25 min
Robert Pogue Harrison is the chairman of the Department of French and Italian at Stanford University, and the author of several critically acclaimed books, including "The Dominion of the Dead," which examines the complicated ways that the living relate to the dead. In this edition of "Up Next," Harrison discusses the declining fortunes of the dead in modern society and what that decline says about our future. Series: "Up Next: Perspectives on the Future of Everything" [Humanities] [Show ID: 3006...
Dec 14, 2015•29 min
Conversations host Harry Kreisler welcomes Jan Assmann, Honorary Professor of Cultural and Religious Studies at the University of Constance, for a discussion of his career as a Egyptologist and scholar of comparative religions. After reflections on his formative years in a German medieval town suffering from the ravages of World War II and its aftermath, Assmann describes the community of Egyptologists and the intellectual influences that shaped his scholarship. He also characterizes the intelle...
Dec 07, 2015•59 min
Leon Wieseltier discusses the remarks he made at an international conference on “Zionism in the 21st Century: Contemporary Perspectives From and About Israel” that had brought together many scholars to discuss the topic. Series: "Taubman Symposia in Jewish Studies" [Humanities] [Show ID: 30024]
Sep 25, 2015•59 min
M. Hakan Yavuz is a professor of political science at the University of Utah. His current academic work focuses on transnational Islamic networks in Central Asia and Turkey; the role of Islam in state-building and nationalism; ethnic cleansing and genocide; and ethno-religious conflict management. Series: "Burke Lectureship on Religion and Society" [Humanities] [Show ID: 29163]
Jun 02, 2015•1 hr 25 min
Out of all the figures in the Bible, David is one of the most perplexing and enigmatic. Rabbi David Wolpe takes a fresh look at the biblical David in an attempt to find coherence in his seemingly contradictory actions and impulses. David Wolpe, Rabbi of Sinai Temple in Los Angeles, California is the author of national best-sellers such as “Why Faith Matters” and “Making Loss Matter: Creating Meaning in Difficult Times.” Series: "Taubman Symposia in Jewish Studies" [Humanities] [Show ID: 29249]
Mar 23, 2015•57 min
Richard Gaillardetz is an American theologian specializing in questions relating to Catholic ecclesiology and the structures of authority in the Roman Catholic Church. In 2000 Dr. Gaillardetz received the Sophia Award from the faculty of the Washington Theological Union in recognition of “theological excellence in service to ministry,” and he has received numerous awards from the Catholic Press Association for his occasional pieces. He is currently the Joseph Professor of Catholic Systematic The...
Jan 05, 2015•57 min
Peter Brown is the Rollins Professor of History Emeritus at Princeton and the leading historian of the early history of Christianity in late antiquity. His Burke Lecture, "Constantine, Eusebius, and the Future of Christianity," delves, with surprising results, into the thinking of the first Christian Roman emperor and his theological advisor on how church and state should relate. Series: "Burke Lectureship on Religion and Society" [Humanities] [Show ID: 28510]
Jul 18, 2014•1 hr 15 min
The Holocaust claimed anywhere between 500,000 and 1.5 million Romani lives, a tragedy the Romani people and Sinti refer to as the Porrajmos, or “the Devouring.” Notwithstanding the scope of the catastrophe, the Romani genocide was often ignored or minimized until Ian Hancock and others exposed this misfortune. A Romani-born British citizen, activist, and scholar, Hancock has done more than anyone to raise awareness about the Romani people during World War II. Now a professor at the University o...
Jun 17, 2014•57 min
Are all religions simply different ways up the same mountain? Or is the key to religious tolerance found in better understanding differences? In “God is Not One: The Eight Rival Religions That Run the World,” New York Times best-selling author and religion scholar Stephen Prothero argues that persistent attempts to portray all religions as different paths to the same God overlook the distinct problem that each tradition seeks to solve. Delving into the different problems and solutions that Islam...
May 12, 2014•59 min
Scott Appleby, the director of the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame, examines the roots of religious violence and the potential of religious peace-building in this talk presented by the Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace & Justice at the University of San Diego. Religious scholars Linelle Cady and Joseph Montville follow with commentary on Appleby’s presentation Series: "Peace exChange -- Kroc School of Peace Studies, University of San Diego" [Publ...
Apr 04, 2014•1 hr
Drawing on fieldwork in new charismatic evangelicals churches in the Bay Area and in Accra, Ghana, Tanya Luhrmann, Stanford University, explores the way that cultural ideas about mind and person alter prayer practice and the experience of God. Luhrmann's work focuses on the way that objects without material presence come to seem real to people, and the way that ideas about the mind affect mental experience. Series: "UC Berkeley Graduate Lectures" [Humanities] [Show ID: 26087]
Feb 24, 2014•59 min
On the 50th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council, John Connelly, author of “From Enemy to Brother: The Revolution in Catholic Teaching on the Jews, 1933-1965,” and David Nirenberg, author of “Anti-Judaism: The Western Tradition” explore the character of medieval anti-Judaism and the historical changes within Catholic Christianity prior to the mid-twentieth century. They also assess the significance of the Council and its impact on Catholic and Jewish relations to the present. John Connelly ...
Dec 09, 2013•59 min
Performance of the exorcism rite has been on the rise in recent years. Thomas Csordas endeavors to to understand this development on the level of therapeutic process in terms of how it may genuinely relieve affliction, and on the level of culture as a conservative discourse on evil at large in the contemporary world. Series: "Ethics, Religion and Public Life: Walter H. Capps Center Series" [Humanities] [Show ID: 25301]
Aug 26, 2013•59 min
James Kugel, director of the Institute for the History of the Jewish Bible at Bar Ilan University, argues that the Hebrew Bible was, from the beginning, the Interpreted Bible. In the third and second centuries B.C.E. – well before the last books of the Bible were written – groups of interpreters were puzzling over the stories of Abraham and Sarah, Jacob and Esau, and other ancient figures. Their interpretations were often fanciful, and sometimes wildly inventive, but their grasp of the very idea...
Jun 18, 2013•58 min
For Jews and for Judaism the twentieth century brought unprecedented suffering and incredible achievements – but as a new century gets going, their role in the future is up for grabs. Jonathan Sacks, Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregation of the Commonwealth, refutes the arguments for isolationism and the self-sufficiency of “people that dwell alone” that have proven so tempting through history, instead making the case that Jews and Judaism must renew their sense of hope and purpose to en...
Feb 25, 2013•59 min
Leon Wieseltier is an American writer, critic, and longstanding literary editor of The New Republic. In this UC Berkeley Forester lecture, he discusses the Jewish belief in a Messiah. Series: "UC Berkeley Graduate Lectures" [Humanities] [Show ID: 24599]
Jan 07, 2013•59 min
The discovery of evolution implies a profound revolution in human thinking and action. Ursula King, Professor Emerita of Theology and Religious Studies, University of Bristol, explores the implications of this new consciousness for religion, society, and consciousness. She describes the work of the French paleontologist and religious thinker Pierre Teilhard de Chardin who sought a new spirituality for a world in evolution. His prophetic thought about “the planetization of humanity” – what is cal...
Jan 01, 2013•59 min
American Catholics blend personal autonomy, skepticism toward the church hierarchy’s teaching authority, and commitment to the Catholic sacramental and communal tradition. Arguing that the Catholic Church is at a critical juncture as it confronts the decline in the number of ordained priests, demographic change, and the need to restore credibility in the wake of the priest sex abuse scandals, Michele Dillon, professor of sociology at the University of New Hampshire, probes how Catholics envision...
Jul 16, 2012•56 min
Holy places create the potential for military, theological, or political clashes, as evidenced by the ongoing struggle over Jerusalem. Drawing on his recent book, War on Sacred Grounds, Ron Hassner argues that sacred sites are particularly prone to conflict because they cannot be divided. The management of conflicts over sacred sites requires cooperation religious leaders who can shape the meaning and value that sacred places hold for believers. Series: "Taubman Symposia in Jewish Studies" [Publ...
Jul 09, 2012•58 min
Jennifer Butler and Wade Clark Roof discuss the current social, economic, health, immigration, and environmental issues that bring religious and non-religious groups together. Are these issues those of economic inequality? Health care? Immigration? The environment? Series: "Ethics, Religion and Public Life: Walter H. Capps Center Series" [Humanities] [Show ID: 23897]
Jun 11, 2012•57 min
All the ancient philosophers, pagans and Christians alike, agreed that death is the separation of a soul and a body. While there was much disagreement on the precise relationship between a being and his soul, as well as what sort of thing they took a soul to be, it is the agreement among the philosophers rather than their differences that calls for critical attention. Jonathan Barnes examines why ancient philosophers believed that beings were composed of two parts, the divorce of which is death....
Jun 04, 2012•57 min
His Holiness the Dalai Lama joins esteemed scientists Richard Somerville and Veerabhadran Ramanathan at UC San Diego to discuss the need for humanitarian values and universal responsibility in responding to the impacts of climate change on communities and ecosystems. This lecture is part of the Dalai Lama’s “Compassion without Borders” symposium in San Diego. Series: "Compassion Without Borders: Science, Peace, Ethics with the Dalai Lama" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 23963]...
Jun 01, 2012•1 hr 34 min
His Holiness the Dalai Lama continues his “Compassion without Borders” tour in San Diego with “Cultivating Peace and Justice,” a public lecture at the University of San Diego addressing escalating violence among nations and alternatives that emphasize shared human values across societies. Series: "Peace exChange -- Kroc School of Peace Studies, University of San Diego" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 22480]
May 21, 2012•56 min
Mark Mann of Point Loma Nazarene University leads a panel of distinguished religious scholars in discussing how the various views of life, death, and the afterlife intersect with theological and ethical issues that lie at the heart of the Henrietta Lacks story. This lecture is part of the Henrietta Lacks series sponsored by the Center for Ethics in Science and Technology in San Diego. Series: "Exploring Ethics" [Public Affairs] [Science] [Show ID: 23214]
May 07, 2012•57 min
Matthew Herbst addresses what it means to be human from an ancient Christian perspective. This lecture is part of the “To Be Human” series presented by the Making of the Modern World program at Eleanor Roosevelt College at UC San Diego. Series: "To Be Human " [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 23244]
Apr 16, 2012•55 min
William H. C. Propp, a professor of History at UC San Diego, addresses what it means to be human with an exploration of man in Biblical times. This lecture is part of the “To Be Human” series presented by the Making of the Modern World program at Eleanor Roosevelt College at UC San Diego. Series: "To Be Human " [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 23236]
Mar 19, 2012•1 hr
