Author: Clayton Mitchell

October 24^th at 6:00pm in Drake’s Sussman Theater (Olmsted Center): Dr. Bee Scherer, Prof. of Buddhist Studies at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (Netherlands) speaks (virtually) about “Is Buddhist Karma Ableist? Challenging Reductionist Assumptions around Causality, Merit, and Virtuous Bodies.”

In this presentation, the Buddhist notions of causality will be explored against the backdrop of systemic ableist rhetoric and disabling societal playbooks. First, Buddhist approaches to karma (action; cause and effect) are introduced in the context of wider core Buddhist notions such as no-self and the tensions between sociological and soteriological modes of thinking, reflecting the Buddhist distinction between preliminary (‘unenlightened’) and ultimate experiences of reality. Further, the concept of merit/meritoriousness and its relation to birth as a human being are introduced. Then, examples of poetic, narrative and devotional texts are presented that appear to employ reductionist and ableist notions of karma in relation to variable human embodiments. Finally, ‘dharmological’ (i.e., Buddhist constructive-critical reflection) strategies are explored to counter popular ableist (mis)use of karma theories in contemporary Buddhist traditions.   

Prof. Dr. Bee Scherer (they/their) is the Chair of Buddhist Studies at the Vrije Universiteit (VU) Amsterdam (Netherlands), and the rector of the Dutch Buddhist Seminary that oversees the national Buddhist chaplaincy training programme. Before that, Bee was Chair of Religious Studies and Gender Studies at Canterbury CCU, in the U.K. They are the founder of the interdisciplinary Social Justice institute INCISE (http://incise.center) and Queering Paradigms network. Trained in the classical Buddhist languages and thought systems, Bee has published on a wide range of topics in Buddhist Studies, Queer Theory, and Critical Disability Studies.

NOTE THAT THIS LECTURE WILL BE DELIVERED REMOTELY FROM AMSTERDAM. THOSE WHO WISH TO VIEW IT FROM SUSSMAN THEATER, MAY DO SO (AND ALSO ENJOY THE REFRESHMENTS PROVIDED THERE!). THOSE WHO WISH TO VIEW IT FROM HOME (OR ELSEWHERE), MAY ALSO DO SO. IF YOU WISH TO DO THE LATTER, PLEASE SIGN ON HERE BY 5:55 (AS THE LECTURE BEGINS AT 6:00 PM): https://drake-edu.zoom.us/j/81809413064.

https://drake-edu.zoom.us/j/81809413064.

See below for a video of the lecture:

On September 26^th at 6:00pm in Drake’s Meredith 106, Dr. Brad Crowell will facilitate a student-centered discussion about childhood religious trauma, its lingering effects into early adulthood, and different attempts to address and overcome it.

Have you struggled with mental health effects, fears, or questions from religion? Join us on September 26th at 6 pm for a safe and empowering conversation with The Comparison Project; Dr. Brad Crowell facilitates a student-centered discussion about childhood religious trauma, its lingering effects into early adulthood, and different attempts to address and overcome it. Come and join a stimulating and healing discussion made complete with a light dinner. 

We welcome all students who can help create a kind and respectful environment.

On Thursday, September 12 in Drake’s Sussman Theater (lower level of Olmsted Center), Dr. Cody Dolinsek will deliver the inaugural lecture of the 2024–26 lecture & dialogue series on religion, disability, and work: “Disability and Religion: A Dialogue of Dissonance in Search of Harmony.”

Religion and disability, at least as conceived in biblical religion, particularly in Judaism and Christianity, are out of harmony. For example, the Torah forbids the disabled offspring of the Levitical priests to participate in the priestly service. The blind and the lame, among others, are explicitly excluded from administering the most sacred rituals of their faith. In the Christian New Testament, Jesus is portrayed as healing those with disabilities–speech impediments, deafness, and blindness. The implication is that living without these disabilities makes one more whole, more complete. At the same time, the Bible seems to celebrate disability. When Moses protests that he has a speech impediment and therefore is not the best man for the job of speaking to Pharaoh, demanding that Pharaoh release the Israelites from slavery, God reminds Moses that it is God who has made the lame, the blind, etc. This talk seeks to navigate these tensions and to propose that while the tensions are probably irresolvable, the Bible provides its adherents with constructive ways to acknowledge and celebrate disability.

Dr. Dolinsek, blind from birth, has taught philosophy for Drake University since the fall of 2015, and he also teaches philosophy for the Des Moines Area Community College, Urban Campus. He earned his B.A. in Philosophy from Drake University in 2005 and his PhD in Philosophy in 2020. His areas of specialization are Ancient Philosophy and Philosophy of Religion. He is the author of Philosophy is for Everyone: An Introduction to Something You’ve Already Been Doing, published by Kendall Hunt in 2024. 

Those wishing to attend this lecture by zoom can sign-in here by 5:55pm: https://drake-edu.zoom.us/j/83530174120. 

Please see below for an audio recording of Dr. Dolinsek’s lecture.

On April 12-14, Drake will host the 6th annual Iowa Interfaith Conference (IIC), this time in conjunction with the regional conference of the upper-Midwest American Academy of Religion (UWMAAR) on April 12-13.

These conferences will feature site visits (on Friday evening, Saturday evening, and Sunday morning/afternoon) and panels and keynotes (on Friday afternoon and Saturday morning and afternoon). The on-campus events will be held in Meredith Hall.

Here, in brief is the schedule for both events. (Also see below for detailed schedules of each and attire/etiquette information about the site visits.)

FRIDAY, APRIL 12
-3:30 pm: reception
-4:00-5:15 pm: first session (panels 1 & 2)
-6:00-6:45: Visit to Hindu Temple and Cultural Center of Iowa (33916 155th Ln, Madrid)
-7:00-8:30: Visit to Islamic and Education Center: Bosniak (17630 Bosniak Ln, Granger), dinner
-9:00: Ice Cream social at Drake Diner

SATURDAY, APRIL 13
-7:45: breakfast
-8:15-9:30: second session (panels 3, 4 & 5)
-9:30: coffee break
-10:00-11:15: plenary address: Dr. Douglas Kries, “Religions and Their Communities: Is Religion Friend or Foe?”
-11:15-11:45: lunch
-11:45-1:00: screening of and panel about digital stories from Drake’s interfaith camps (Varsity Theater)
-1:00-2:15: session 3 (panels 6 & 7)
-2:30-3:25: interfaith plenary address: Sarah McCammon, “Making Sense of Religious Pluralism as an E(x)vangelical”
-3:25: coffee break
-3:45-5:00: session 4 (panels 8, 9 & 10)
-5:15-6:30: session 5 (panel 11)
-5:45-6:45: visit to Wat Lao Buddhavas (1804 E Park Ave, Des Moines)
-7:00-8:30: visit to Hindu Cultural and Educational Center (1940 E Army Post Rd, Des Moines), dinner

SUNDAY, APRIL 14
-9:00-11:30: visit to St Mary Coptic Orthodox Church
-12:00-1:30: visit to Iowa Sikh Association

On Sunday, April 14, we will celebrate the annual holiday of Vaisakhi from roughly 11:00 am to 1:00 pm with the Sikh gurdwara in West Des Moines, the Iowa Sikh Association (1115 Walnut St.).

The service will include many of the elements of a typical Sunday worship service: the signing of hymns (kirtan), reading from sacred scripture (Guru Granth Sahib), community prayers (aardas), and the sharing of the sacred sacrament (karah prashad, the so-called “holy pudding”), after which a free vegetarian meal will be served (langar). Dress modestly, remove shoes at door, and don a head scarf (available at the door for both women and men). Also, refrain from pointing outstretched legs toward the holy book/altar.

On Friday, April 5 from 7:30–9:00pm, we will attend a Ramadan prayer and iftar meal” at Ezan Islamic and Cultural Center, the Bosnian Islamic mosque at 6206 Douglas Ave in Des Moines. The event includes the sunset (maghrib) prayer, the breaking of the fast, and an iftar meal.   

Please dress appropriately: women should be covered below the elbows and knees and should cover their head/hair with a scarf. Men should wear long pants.

On Sunday, March 24 from 11:00am–1:00pm (roughly), we will join the Hindu Temple and Cultural Center (33916 155th Lane, Madrid) in the annual celebration of Holi. Guests will be able to tour the temple, observe the Holi fire ritual (Holika Dahan), throw colored powered at one another, and dance. (Please dress accordingly if you are going to participate in the throwing of colors.) Lunch is available for purchase from the temple. (This event is part of the “Meet My Religious Neighbor” series, which is co-programmed with CultureALL, the Des Moines Area Religious Council, and Interfaith Alliance of Iowa.)

On Sunday, February 18, from 3:00–5:00 pm, Drake University’s The Comparison Project, in conjunction with the “Iowa Interfaith Exchange,” hosts a “Roads to Religion” in the Olmsted Center (Parents Hall) on Drake’s campus. The event, which is free and open to the public, features dozens of local religious communities, collectively representing 10+ religious traditions. These communities will be arranged throughout the hall as if on a map of the metro area. Visitors will receive a map to guide them in their exploration of them.

The event will also include a four musical and recitational interludes, one each by the Java Jews, the Hindu Cultural and Educational Center, Masjid an Noor, and St. Mary’s Coptic Orthodox Church. Food and drink will be provided by Drake’s catering service.

The Comparison Project engages in the practice of comparative philosophy of religion, increases understanding of local-lived religion, and cultivates interfaith literacy and leadership. It is supported by Arthur Vining Davis Foundations, Drake’s Center for the Humanities, Drake’s Stringellow and Hay Lectureships, Drake’s Slay Fund for Social Justice, Drake’s Principal Cener for Global Citizenship, Humanities Iowa, and Cultivating Compassion: The Dr. Richard Deming Foundation.

The ”Iowa Interfaith Exchange” includes Drake’s The Comparison Project and three other local nonprofits: CultureALL, the Des Moines Area Religious Council, and Interfaith Alliance of Iowa.

On Thursday, April 11 at 7:00pm in Sussman Theater (Olmsted Center, Drake University) Seth Villages, Postdoctoral Fellow for Boston University’s Computing and Data Sciences, will offer our “Comparative Philosophical Conclusions”

Seth Villegas is a postdoctoral fellow for Boston University’s Spark! Program and the Computational Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences Initiative. In this role, Seth teaches data science ethics in Spark! courses and acts as a risk consultant on Spark! projects. He designed an assessment process that helps undergraduates to understand the risks associated with their projects.

Seth earned his PhD in Theological Studies at Boston University. His research interests include the ethics of experimental life-extension technologies and of posthumous chatbots, AI companions designed to mimic lost family members and friends. Seth hosts a podcast, called DigEthix, that he hopes can demystify the ethical challenges of emerging technologies.

Below find the audio and PPT of Seth’s lecture.

On Thursday, March 21 at 7:00pm in Sussman Theater (Olmsted Center, Drake University) Jennifer Huberman, Professor of Humanities and Social Sciences at University of Missouri-Kansas City, will speak on “The Magic, Science, and Religion of Pet Cloning: An Homage to Malinowski.”

Jenny Huberman is a cultural anthropologist with wide-ranging research interests. Her first ethnography, Ambivalent Encounters: Childhood, Tourism and Social Change in Banaras, India (Rutgers University Press 2012), explored interactions between Western tourists and children working in the informal tourist economy in the city of Banaras, India.  Her second book, Transhumanism: From Ancestors to Avatars (Cambridge University Press 2020), examines the values and visions animating the Transhumanist Movement in the United States. It shows how transhumanist attempts to use science and technology to usher in an enhanced post-human species speak to long-standing concerns within the discipline of cultural anthropology. Jenny’s third book, The Spirit of Digital Capitalism (Polity Press Forthcoming 2022), explores the ideological transformations that have accompanied the rise of digital capitalism, and it asks, how are digital technologies making new forms of capital accumulation and domination possible? Jenny has also published numerous chapters and articles on death in the digital age, and in the future, she plans to explore how and why boredom has emerged as a central dis-ease of contemporary society. She likes to remind her students that the one of the great things about studying anthropology is that “the grist” for “the anthropological mill” is only as limited as their imaginations.  

This talk explores how Bronislaw Malinowski’s seminal essay, Magic, Science and Religion offers anthropologists new perspectives on the phenomenon of cloning. Taking ViaGen Pets as a case study, I show how cloning is conceived as a technology of immortalization that enables pet owners to secure continuing bonds with their deceased pets. I also argue that while making of clones may begin as a technoscientific endeavor, predicated upon cell cultivation technologies in a laboratory, it is only completed in and through “the magical thinking” that pet owners bring to the process. Pet cloning thus reminds us, that magic, science, and religion, as Malinowski famously proposed, can and do exist together because they each fulfill different needs.

Below, please find a recording of Prof. Huberman’s PPT and talk (audio).