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PROGRAM DE
Friday, December 4, 2009
David Wilson, a Religious Studies PhD candidate, is a Christian Spiritualist medium and a member of the University's Chaplaincy Commillee, an advisory body of staff and students.
New Muslim Cool
Jennifer Maytorena Taylor, Producer/Director Room 107
Film and Panel Discussion
Twelve years ago, Puerto Rican American rapper Hamza Perez renounced his life as a drug dealer and converted to Islam. Moving to Pittsburgh's tough North Side, he founds a religious community, rebuilds his shattered family, and, through his music, takes his message of faith to young people. But when the FBI raids his mosque, Hamza must confront the realities of the post-9/11 world and reach for a deeper understanding of his faith..
American filmmaker Jennifer Maytorena Taylor has won awards at festivals around the world, including two Emmys. Her credits include the documentaries Special Circumstances, Ramadan Primetime', 'Paulina. Home Front" and "Immigration Calculations. She has done several television series and short films, and held fellowships at the Banff Centre for the Arts, the Knight Center for Specialized Journalism, and the Sundance Institute Documentary Lab. She also serves as a guest lecturer and teacher in documentary film production.
Listening With a Heart of Mercy
Anthony Manousos Ruth Broyde-Sharone Noor-Malika Chishti Room 108
Interactive Workshop
When we listen and speak to others with a heart of mercy. we create a positive connection with our dialogue partner that builds trust, inspires respect, facilitates openness and enhances communication. During this interactive workshop, we will learn how compassionate listening has been effectively used in difficult settings, such as Israel/ Palestine, and also in local interfaith contexts. We will open the workshop by watching a four-minute video called Listening With a Heart of Mercy', followed by a discussion to explore the challenge posed by a Haredi Rabbi: Can one remain loyal to religious beliefs while extending respect and compassion to devotees of other faiths? A short video segment of the Compassionate Listening Project will then show how others have used deep listening to create a space for reconciliation and healing. To close the session, participants will engage in the exercises they have observed, discuss how to deepen their own ability to listen compassionately, and examine how compassion for one another can expand to caring for the earth.
Dr Anthony Manousos travelled to Israel/Palestine with the Compassionate Listening Project and serves on the Christian Interfaith Relation Committee of Friends General Conference and the Southern California Committee for a Parliament of the World's Religions. For twelve years, he was editor of Friends Bulletin, the official publica
Jain Education International
tion of Western Quakers, and he has edited several books, including Compassionate Listening and Other Writings by Gene Hoffman. Anthony has also written Islam From A Quaker Perspective'.
4:30-6:00pm OPEN SPACE
A public speaker, documentary filmmaker and journalist, honoured internationally for her interfaith activism and her contribution to cultural education, Ruth Broyde-Sharone is a leader in dialogue with the US Muslim community. She travels frequently to college campuses to lead interfaith programs and screen her film God and Allah Need to Talk. Ruth. also serves as Partner Cities Associate for the Parliament of the World's Religions. Her new book, 'Minefields and Miracles: My Global Adventures In Interfaith, will be published in 2010 (www.filmsthatmatter.com). Noor-Malika Chishti serves as an authorised Representative of Pir Zia Inayat Khan, head of the Sufi Order International, and was ordained a Cheraga, or minister of Light, in the Universal Worship. Active in Muslim/ Jewish/Christian dialogue groups for many years, she founded a Muslim community in cooperation with the Village Church and a Jewish congregation. Their program of shared environmental and social action and shared holy days brings together members of the three Abrahamic faiths.
Not in God's Name
Paula Fouce, Director Dr Michael Beckwith Joseph Prabhu Room 109 Film
In India in 1984, filmmaker Paula Fouce was trapped in the religious tumult following the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her own Sikh bodyguards. Her own life threatened, Fouce could not understand the horrifying conflicts so often spread in the name of God. Inspired especially by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Paula and a team of award winning filmmakers united to create this beautiful documentary on the search for tolerance. Paula Fouce is President of Paradise Filmworks and the director, writer and producer of 'Not in God's Name'. Sent by her university to Nepal to study art and philosophy, she became fascinated with Eastern religions. Not in God's Name' illustrates the importance of religious tolerance in our conflicted world and features leaders from seven different religions.
Paula Fouce is President of Paradise Filmworks and the director, writer and producer of 'Not in God's Name. Sent by her university to Nepal to study art and philosophy, she became fascinated with Eastern religions. Not in God's Name' illustrates the importance of religious tolerance in our conflicted world and features leaders from seven different religions. Dr Michael Beckwith is Founder and Spiritual Director of the Agape International Spiritual Center. A co-founder and President of the Association for Global New Thought, Dr Beckwith is the originator of the Life Visioning Process. He is a noted author and international keynote speaker, and has been the recipient of the Gandhi-King-Ikeda Award and the Humanitarian Award of the National Council for Community and Justice.
Joseph Prabhu is a Professor of Philosophy at the California State University at Los Angeles and the President of the Society for Asian and Comparative Philosophy. He is also the author of Human Rights in CrossCultural Perspective' and 'Liberating Gandhi: Community, Empire and a Culture of Peace (forthcoming!. He is a Program Task Force Chair and Trustee of the Council for a Parliament of the World's Religions.
For Private & Personal Use Only
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