Parliament of Worlds Religion 2009 Melbourne Australia

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

Page 201

PROGRAM
Saturday, December 5, 2009
David Little is Professor of the Practice in Religion, Ethnicity, and International Conflict, Harvard Divinity School, USA.
Judith A Mayotte is a Member of the Board of Directors of the Desmond Tutu Peace Foundation in Cape Town and Professor of Theology at Marquette University, USA and South Africa.
Nathan Tierney is Professor of Ethics at California Lutheran University. USA.
Brian Orend is the Director of International Studies at the University of Waterloo, Canada.
Gerrie Ter Haar is a Professor of Human Rights in The Hague, Netherlands.
Shin Chiba is a Professor of Political Thought at the Institute for Peace Research, International Christian University, Japan.
Frank Brennan SJ is an Order of Australia [AO] Fellow, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies at ANU, and Professor of Law in the Institute of Legal Studies at the Australian Catholic University. He is also the chair of the National Community Consultation on Human Rights in Australia.
Multifaith Insights on Deep Ecology
Vidya Sarveswaran
Kiyokazu Okita
Dr Dorji Wangchuk Raymond Ogunade Manjulika Ghosh Room 111
Panel Discussion
Deep Ecology' is a term coined in the early 1970s by the Norwegian environmental philosopher Arne Naess. Deep Ecology calls for a paradigm shift in our consciousness of the natural world, in which we overcome our humancentred attitudes and look upon nature as an end in itself, independent of human needs. The vision of Deep Ecology has had a far-reaching impact on the environmental movement throughout the world. In this panel, participants will make the connections between the core principles of Deep Ecology and their own traditions and perspectives, including Buddhism, Hinduism, Catholicism, Gestalt Ontology and the Yoruba tradition of West Africa. This program provides an opportunity to reflect on how the insights of Deep Ecology can help us to heal the earth and ourselves in a time of crisis.
Vidya Sarveswaran is a research scholar from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, India. She was a Fulbright Fellow for the year 2008-2009 and specialises in the field of Literature and Environment. Her other interests include deep ecology, creative writing and film studies. Kiyokazu Okita is a doctoral candidate at the Faculty of Theology. University of Oxford. His doctoral research focuses on Baladeva Vidyabhusana's philosophy and its relation to other Vedantic schools. He holds a BA in Religious Studies from International Christian University (Tokyo) and a Master's degree in the Study of Religion from Oxford.
Dorji Wangchuk was born in 1967 in East Bhutan. After the completion of his ten-year training in the Tibetan monastic seminary of Ngagyur Nyingma Institute at Bylakuppe, Mysore, South India, he studied Buddhism at the University of Hamburg, where he received his MA [2002] and PhD (2005) degrees. Currently he is on the faculty of the Department. of Indian and Tibetan Studies, Asia-Africa Institute, University of Hamburg.
Raymond Ogunade holds a PhD from the University of Ilorin specialising in Yoruba Religion, Science and Religious Dialogue. He is a recipient of the Science and Religion Course Program, by the Center for Theology
and the Natural Sciences, and John Templeton Foundation, USA. He is also a member of various academic bodies including the Inter-religious and International Federation for World Peace, and an awardee of the Metanexus Institute on Religion and Science.
11:30am-1:00pm
INTERRELIGIOUS SESSION
Dr Manjulika Ghosh is Professor, Department of Philosophy, University of North Bengal, Darjeeling, West Bengal. Her specialisation includes Philosophy of Language, Ethics and Phenomenology. Her papers have been published in professional journals in India and abroad. She has coedited the anthology on Meaning and Reference under the SA program of her department.
Talkin' 'Bout My Generation -
Daily Youth Session
Simran Jeet Singh Gurvinder Pal Singh Shakila Wijenayake Mala Wijenayake Heba Ibrahim
Manny Waks
Room 201
Panel Discussion
The parents of many of today's youth grew up in a world very different from the one in which we now live. With the progress of society comes change, and with that change comes challenges. Add religion, culture and migration into the mix and the challenges become even more complex. This session will explore the religious and cultural challenges that arise between the generations. Young people and their parents from Buddhist, Muslim, Sikh and Jewish backgrounds will share their experiences, challenges, and successes with respect to navigating crossgenerational issues.
Simran Jeet Singh is the executive director of the Sikh Spirit Foundation. He is also a PhD candidate in the Department of Religion at Columbia University with a specialisation in Sikh and Punjab studies. In 2009, he received an MA from the Department of Middle East and Asian Languages and Cultures from Columbia University, where he focused on devotional traditions of pre-modern South Asia.
Dr Gurvinder Pal Singh is a board member for the Sikh Research Institute and the Sikh Spirit Foundation. He holds a PhD in Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics from Drexel University in the United States. He has published over 50 technical papers and reports in this field, has been awarded six US patents for his innovations and in 1986, founded Karta Technologies.
Shakila Wijenayake is a member of the Youth Committee of the 2009 Parliament of the World's Religions.
Mala Wijenayake is the founder of the Northern Suburbs Buddhist Temple in Victoria, Australia. She has gained distinction for her outstanding voluntary services to the Sri Lankan and Buddhist community in North West Victoria
Heba Ibrahim is a board member of the Islamic Council of Victoria where her portfolios include interfaith and government, policy and advocacy as well as many other areas affecting the Muslim community. She also recently became a board member of the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils taking on the area of youth where she aims to create a network of Muslim youth activists, representatives and workers nationwide.
Manny Waks is a Jewish community activist with a history of religious immersion. He has served in the Israel Defence Forces and subsequently worked in the Israeli security establishment. In Australia, he has com pleted a degree in International Relations (La Trobel and worked with the Lowy Institute for International Policy in Sydney. In 2006, he was appointed as Executive Officer of the B'nai B'rith Anti-Defamation Commission.
www.parliamentofreligions.org 197 www.jainelibrary.org