December 2017 | Upcoming Events

All events are free and open to the public. For more information, please contact the Center for the Study of Religious Freedom at Virginia Wesleyan University at 757.455.3129 or [email protected].
They Say We Are Infidels: On the Run from ISIS with Persecuted Christians in the Middle East

Thursday, December 7 l 7 - 8 p.m.
Blocker Hall Auditorium


From Syria into Iraq, Christians are being brutalized and killed by Islamic State fighters (ISIS). Journalist Mindy Belz has spent more than a decade reporting from the ground in the Middle East and has seen first-hand the stark reality of this escalating genocide. Based in part on those personal experiences, Belz explores the complex dynamics at play in war-torn Iraq and Syria and shares stories of Christians who refuse to abandon their faith - even in the face of losing everything, including their lives. The senior editor of WORLD magazine, Belz has covered war in Africa, the Balkans, Afghanistan, and the Middle East. A widely published journalist, she has appeared on Fox News and ABC News, and is a guest on radio talk shows.
Waging Peace in a Broken World

Tuesday, January 9 l 7 - 8:30 p.m.
Greer Environmental Sciences Center


Paul K. Chappell - a West Point graduate, former Army captain, and Iraq war veteran - focuses on the importance of our being as well-trained in waging peace as soldiers are in waging war. On this evening he will focus on the root causes of violence, the anatomy of trauma, the ways to create solutions that heighten peace in individual lives, communities, nations, and the world. Chappell is the Peace Leadership Director at the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation.
Escape from North Korea
Video Recording

In November, the CSRF welcomed journalist-author Melanie Kirkpatrick.  Her talk, Escape from North Korea, described the perilous journey of desperate North Koreans who escape their closed country by traveling along a secret route known as the New Underground Railroad. Click here to view a recording of her presentation.
Center for the Study of Religious Freedom
 
Dr. Craig Wansink, Professor of Religious Studies and the Joan P. and Macon F. Brock, Jr. Director of the Center for the Study of Religious Freedom

Kelly Jackson, Associate Director of the Center for the Study of Religious Freedom

Dr.  Eric Mazur, Gloria and David Furman Professor of Judaic Studies and Center for the Study of Religious Freedom Fellow for Religion, Law, and Politics