February 2018 | Upcoming Events

The Spring 2018 issue of the CSRF newsletter, " Understanding Religious Freedom," is online.

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].
Life Matters: Joanne Renn
Thursday, February 8 l 12:00 - 12:50 p.m.
Boyd Dining Center, Shafer Room

Virginia Wesleyan's Executive Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Joanne Renn shares reflections on her life in a talk titled, Summit, Dag Gummit. In "Life Matters," members of the Wesleyan community offer autobiographical reflections on their emotional, intellectual, and spiritual experiences. These deeply personal talks create meaningful opportunities for greater understanding and connection, encouraging each of us to think about what has shaped us and given our own life meaning. Please feel free to bring a bag lunch or purchase lunch in the Boyd Dining Hall. The series is sponsored in partnership with the Chaplain's Office and the Center for Innovative Teaching and Engaged Learning (INTEL) at Virginia Wesleyan University. More...
Ethical Issues in a Multicultural Society
ETHICS BOWL DEMONSTRATION
Thursday, February 8 l 7:00 - 8:30 p.m.
Monumental Chapel
 


A person from Illinois recently noted that when he was growing up, the most intense ethical arguments in his hometown were between the German Lutherans and the Swedish Lutherans, groups that might have been seen--by anyone outside that town--as fairly homogeneous. Culture--sometimes in the form of ethnicity, race, or religion--shapes us. Differences in values can exist, for instance, between Catholics and Congregationalists, between Californians and Utahans, Filipino-Americans and Italian-Americans, and between those who live in rural and urban areas. How do we recognize and negotiate those differences? The Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges' (VFIC) annual Ethics Bowl competition brings together student teams from each of the 15 VFIC member institutions for lively debate and consideration of applied ethics - real world dilemmas that affect people's lives in increasingly complex ways. As the Virginia Wesleyan team prepares to compete at the 2018 VFIC Ethics Bowl, the CSRF hosts a debate demonstration with the audience having the opportunity to interact, critique, and discuss. Please come to help students prepare for the competition and to wish them well. More...
 
The VWU 2018 Ethics Bowl Team: Alex Powers '21, Kelsi Robins '18, Sarah Roscoe '20, Sheril Steinberg '18, Brianna Sandy '21, and Ruta Habtemariam '18 (alternate), with VWU Professor of Communication Dr. Kathy Merlock Jackson as faculty coordinator.
From Conflict to Peace in Modern Israel: Challenges in Daily Life
VWU STUDY-AWAY PRESENTATION
Thursday, February 15 l 12:00 - 12:50 p.m.
Boyd Dining Center, Shafer Room


Why have Christian priests viciously attacked each other in Jerusalem's Church of the Holy Sepulcher? Why are Bibles not allowed on the Temple Mount? Why do some ultra-orthodox Jewish men throw chairs at women who pray at the Western Wall? What is so controversial about where the U.S. embassy to Israel is located? Is Israel a democratic state, a religious state, or both, and what difference does that make? Supported by outside donations and led by the CSRF, fifteen VWU students took a course on "challenges in ancient and modern Israel," which culminated in a ten-day trip to Israel in January. Join Virginia Wesleyan Students, with CSRF Director Dr. Craig Wansink and Associate Director Kelly Jackson, and the University Chaplain Greg West, as they share their research on the challenges of this fascinating country. Please feel free to bring your lunch and join students as they present on challenges and questions raised as they studied abroad. More...
Islamic Culture in Spain
VWU STUDY-AWAY PRESENTATION
Thursday, February 22 l 12:00 - 12:50 p.m.
Boyd Dining Center, Shafer Room


Granada, Spain is a beautiful city filled with a unique history of religious diversity. Islamic culture from the Arab World dominated the Iberian Peninsula for 800 years, with Granada as the final stronghold. After highlighting this background and culture, VWU Student Riley Conrad '18 explores the false narrative she carried to Granada when she first arrived there in September of 2017 for a semester abroad, highlights what she learned while there, and illustrates this history's continued impact in Spain today.Riley majors in Religious Studies and International Studies. More...
When God Isn't Green
ON-DECK EVENT
Jay D. Wexler, Professor of Law, Boston University School of Law
Tuesday, February 27 l 11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Blocker Hall Auditorium


Law professor and humorist Jay Wexler writes that . . . In New York, Miami, and other large U.S. cities, Santeria followers sprinkle mercury in their apartments to fend off witches, poisoning those homes for years to come. In Central America, palm frond sales to U.S. customers for Palm Sunday celebrations have helped decimate the rain forests of Guatemala and southern Mexico. In Israel, on Lag B'omer, a holiday commemorating a famous rabbi, Jews make so many bonfires that the smoke can be seen from space, and trips to the emergency room for asthma and other pulmonary conditions spike. These are only three examples of Wexler's exploration around the globe, in his asking "Can religious practice and environmentalism coexist?" Join us as he addresses that question at Virginia Wesleyan. More...
 
Jay Wexler is a professor at the Boston University School of Law, where he's taught church-state law and environmental law since 2001.  He's the author of five books, including Holy Hullabaloos: A Road Trip to the Battlegrounds of the Church/State Wars (2009). More...
Creating a More Civil Society: Is M.L.K.'s Legacy Just a Dream?
RACE: LET'S TALK ABOUT IT TOWN HALL
Moderated by Barbara Hamm Lee, Host of Another View, 89.5 WHRV-FM
Saturday, March 3 l 2:30 - 4:30 p.m.
Boyd Dining Center


From divisive political rhetoric to racial tensions, America seems increasingly at a crossroads. While the civil rights movement achieved legal equality for people of all races, King's vision of a beloved community is yet unrealized. How did King inspire a movement that both did not denigrate others and that held people accountable to their-and America's-highest ideals? Moderated by Barbara Hamm Lee, a panel helps to guide the discussion, but the conversation belongs to those in the audience.  The discussion begins on Another View on Friday, March 2 from 12-1 PM on WHRV 89.5 FM. Sponsored in partnership with WHRO Public Media and the City of Virginia Beach Human Rights Commission. More...
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