Religion And Spirituality (audio)

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]

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 called “globalization” today – relates to global interdependence in all areas of human endeavor, and bears on contemporary discussions about ecological and evolutionary spiritualities as well as international peace and social justice. Series: "Burke Lectureship on Religion and Society" [Humanities] [Show ID: 24413]

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 institutional change and whether the increasing Hispanic presence in the Church is likely to alter the character of American Catholicism. Series: "Ethics, Religion and Public Life: Walter H. Capps Center Series" [Humanities] [Show ID: 23428]

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" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 23430]

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]

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. Series: "UC Berkeley Graduate Lectures" [Humanities] [Show ID: 23825]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

Author of the bestseller, “Jerusalem: The Biography,” Simon Sebag Montefiore speaks of the world's most contested place through the lives of those who created, destroyed, conquered, wrote about and believed in the Holy City of Jerusalem. Series: "Taubman Symposia in Jewish Studies" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 23503]

Since the 20th century there has been a massive shift of the Christian population from the Global North (Europe and North America) to the Global South (Africa, Asia and South America). Peter Phan, professor at Georgetown University, traces the development, major features and implications of this new face of Christianity. Series: "Burke Lectureship on Religion and Society" [Humanities] [Show ID: 22878]

Menachem Mendel Schneerson built the Lubavitcher movement from a relatively small sect within Hasidic Judaism into the powerful force in Jewish life that it is today. Samuel Heilman, Professor of Sociology at CUNY, explores Schneerson’s beliefs and the rise of orthodox Judaism. Series: "Taubman Symposia in Jewish Studies" [Humanities] [Show ID: 22631]

Atlantic Editor James Bennet interviews Dr. Deepak Chopra and physicist Leonard Mlodinow on their upcoming book about spirituality and science as part of The Atlantic Meets The Pacific, hosted by The Atlantic and UC San Diego. Series: "The Atlantic Meets The Pacific" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 22484]

His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama returned to UC Irvine to engage students and the community about compassion and global leadership. Series: "Great Minds Gather Here" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 22640]

Created by UCSD Music faculty member Shlomo Dubnov, Kamza and Bar Kamza tells the Talmudic story of the fall of Jerusalem in a multimedia hyper-cinema experience that includes performance, video, online chatting, hypertext and live debate. [Humanities] [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 22436]

Host Harry Kreisler welcomes John Witte, Jr., Director of the Center for the Study of Law and Religion at Emory University. Witte explores the evolution of legal studies and the emergence of an interdisciplinary study of religion and law. He describes the nature of each realm and the dialectic that shapes their interaction. He traces religion's role in securing political and civil rights in the West exploring the implications of this for addressing the complexity of a multicultural world in which many religions seek a place in the global community including the questions raised by the introduction of Sharia law into Western courts. Series: "Conversations with History" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 22442]

John Witte, Jr., Director, Center for the Study of Law and Religion, Emory University, explores a new issue of religious freedom and family law that is now confronting many Western democracies: to what extent may Islamic and other religious communities have the freedom to develop their own internal religious laws to govern the sex, marriage, and family lives of their voluntary faithful. Series: "UC Berkeley Graduate Lectures" [Public Affairs] [Show ID: 21039]

Darwin is deservedly given credit for the theory of biological evolution. Most important, however, is that he discovered natural selection, the process that accounts for the adaptive organization of organisms and their features; that is, their "design.” UC Irvine professor Francisco J. Ayala, explains that the design of organisms is not intelligent, as would be expected from an engineer, but imperfect and worse. Natural selection is Darwin's gift to religion, because the dysfunctions and waste of the living world need not be attributed to the Creator, but explained as an outcome of a natural process. Series: "Burke Lectureship on Religion and Society" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 21385]