Parliament of Worlds Religion 2009 Melbourne Australia

Author(s): Parliament of the World’s Religions
Publisher: USA Parliament of the Worlds Religions

Page 199

PROGRAM D Saturday, December 5, 2009
11:30am-1:00pm INTERRELIGIOUS SESSION
variety of ways of connecting with Her as She manifests to them. The panellists, all Pagan men of different traditions, will discuss their experiences, ideas, perspectives, and practices with regard to the Goddess and will respond to questions and facilitate discussion among audience attendees. This panel presentation welcomes audience members of all faith traditions. Drake Spaeth, PsyD is program faculty in the MA Clinical Psychology Department, Counseling Specialization at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology. He is also an ordained minister of Circle Sanctuary and is affiliated with Gaia's Womb and Earth Traditions. His interests encompass contemporary Paganism, shamanism, mysticism, Western esotericism, Jungian psychology, Humanistic-Existential psychology and Transpersonal psychology. He is intrigued by the places where psychology, religion and spirituality converge. Patrick McCollum is the Director and Chair of the National Correctional Chaplaincy Directors Association and statewide Wiccan chaplain for the California Department of Corrections. McCollum has taught Pagan Chaplaincy Training at the Leadership Institute, part of Circle Sanctuary's annual Pagan Spirit Gathering. He is the National Coordinator of the Lady Liberty League Prison Ministries Program and a member of the National Advisory Council of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State. Michael York is a Professor of Cultural Astronomy and Astrology the Bath Spa University's Sophia Centre. He directs the New Age and Pagan Studies Programme for the College's Department for the Study of Religions. He co ordinates the Bath Archive for Contemporary Religious Affairs, directs the Amsterdam Center for Eurindic Studies, and codirects the London-based Academy for Cultural and Educational Studies He has authored several books. River Higginbotham is active in teaching, networking, and promot ing Paganism and other earth-centred religions, on a local and national level. He is a founding member of the Council for Alternative Spiritual Traditions. River is an Eclectic Pagan and has been involved in spiritual exploration and earth-centred religions for the past fifteen years. He is a mechanical engineer with a dual degree in solar engineering. His interests include travel, history, aviation and community building Rev Donald Lewis-Highcorrell is First Priest and Paramount High Priest of the Correllian Tradition Don received his training from Rev Krystel High-Correll, Chief Priestess of the Correll Mother Temple. Don also received training from the blv Lady Laveda, the blv Lady Gloria, and Lady Bitterwind, Elders of the Correllian Tradition. In addition Don has studied both formally and informally with a variety of teachers from many Traditions,
minority societies and highlight lessons learned from successful and less than accomplished models. Dr Siti Musdah Mulia has been a research professor at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) since 2003. She also lectures at Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University, Jakarta. Since 2007, Dr Mulia has been the chairperson of the Indonesian Conference on Religion for Peace, an NGO actively promoting interfaith dialogues, pluralism and democracy She is the author of many books and an activist for democracy, human rights and gender issues. Imam Afroz Ali is the Founder and President of the Sydney-based Al-Ghazzali Centre for Islamic Sciences & Human Development. He has received licences to teach in various Islamic Sciences, having learned from the most esteemed Islamic scholars of our time. He has initiated philanthropic as well as sustainable environmental projects in Australia and abroad and continues to advocate peace, acceptance, justice and interpersonal rights. Ali received the International Ambassador for Peace award Ikebal Patel is the President of The Australian Federation of Islamic Councils, the peak body articulating the interests of Australian Muslims. The Australian Federation of Islamic Councils manages 5even Islamic schools, including one of the largest Australian schools, of which Ikebal is the Board Chairman. Ikebal is the Chair of the Australian Capital Territory Muslim Advisor Council and an Advisory Committee Member to the National Centre for Excellence in Islamic Education. He is a cochairman of the National Dialogue between Australian Christians, Jews and Muslims Tariq Ramadan (www.tarigramadan.com) is Professor of Contemporary Islamic Studies at Oxford University. He is currently Senior Research Fellow at Doshisha University in Kyoto, Japan. He is active both at the academic and grassroots levels and lectures extensively throughout the world on theology, ethics, social justice, ecology and interfaith as well as intercultural dialogue Through his writings and lectures, he has con tributed substantially to the debate on the issues of Muslims in the West and Islamic revival in the Muslim world. Professor Ramadan is currently president of the European think tank, European Muslim Network (EMN). in Brussels. Fuad Effendi was born in Menturo, East Java, Indonesia in 1947. He is a lecturer in Arabic Literature at the State University of Malang. In 1996, he was cofounder of the Padang Bulan religious studies class that promotes plurality and social harmony. As an Ustadz, he has travelled alt over Indonesia and visited Australia, Brunei and Egypt Dr Ali Reza Arafi is the President of the Al-Mustafa International University. Qum. He holds a degree in Islamic Jurisprudence (Fiqh and Usul). He has many research projects to his credit in different fields of Islamic sciences and has been teaching in different universities and seminaries for the past several years. Dr Arati has presented numerous papers at different seminars of world repute and is the author of three books in the field of education,
Divided We Fall Valarie Kaur, Writer and Co-Producer Room 107 Film
Islamic Education: Vehicle for Social Cohesion Dr Siti Musdah Mulia Imam Afroz Ali Ikebal Patel Dr Tariq Ramadan Fuad Effendi Dr Ali Reza Arafi Room 106 Panel Discussion This panel will explore the ways in which Islamic educa tion has historically been a vehicle for both enlightenment and social cohesion while addressing the contemporary challenges Muslims face when the Islamic educational process is used as a tool for extremism, violence and gender-based oppression. This illustrious group from France, Australia, Indonesia and Iran will also examine debates on this issue within Muslim majority and Muslim
Valarie Kaur, a 20-year-old college student, travelled throughout the United States in the aftermath of the September 11th attacks, documenting the reaction against Sikh, Muslim and Arab American communities. In 2005, director Sharat Raju and his crew joined Valarie as she retraced her steps across the country, revisiting her original interviewees and speaking with many others about race and religion in 21st century America
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