Parliament of Worlds Religion 2009 Melbourne Australia

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

Page 235

PROGRAM DES
Sunday, December 6, 2009
the grassroots character development program Sharing Circles, which contributes to the character and spiritual development of children aged two and beyond.
Philip Boo Riley is an Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Santa Clara University, where he has been active since 1978. His teaching and research interests focus on the Silicon Valley faith communities and how such organisations are shaped by regional dynamics. He lives in Santa Clara with his wife Mary Beth.
Paramahamsa Prajnanananda is the current spiritual leader of the Kriya Yoga international organizations. These organizations were founded by his master, Paramahamsa Hariharananda, who spread the teachings of Kriya Yoga all over the world. Paramahamsa Hariharanandaji was Swami Shriyukteshwar and Paramahamsa Yogananda's most outstanding direct disciple, one of the greatest realized Kriya Yoga masters in the lineage of Mahavatar Babaji Maharaj and Lahiri Mahasaya.
Taking Our Place in the Interreligious Movement: Women in Society, Peacemaking, and Interfaith Dialogue
Trish Madigan
Rev Denise Yarbrough
Sussy Gumo
Shehara Viswanathan
Natalie Lindner Lhuillier
Room 213
Panel Discussion
This program contains four sessions. [1] World Peace: Myth or Reality. A growing body of UN research shows that capitalising on the activities of women peacebuilders not only advances women's rights, but also leads to more effective programs. This presentation is by Pushpa Wood, a Hindu woman from New Zealand, and Trish Madigan, a Christian woman from Australia, both participants in the intergovernmental International Dialogues on Interfaith Cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region. (2) Make a World of Difference: Gender, Religion and Human Rights-A Kenyan Perspective. Gender equality and the empowerment of women is one of the prioritised agendas of the Millennium Development Goals. The aim of this paper is to examine how women are marginalised politically, economically, socially and spiritually in Kenya. (3) Women and a Model for Interfaith Dialogue. The central topic of this theme will be the roles and representation of women in each faith tradition. [4] Too Political?! The Story of Believing Women for a Culture of Peace. Members of this women's interfaith group will share stories of challenges and opportunities, and reflect on the experience of women and the goal of the interfaith movement to 'hear each other and heal the earth'.
Trish Madigan is a Catholic Dominican sister, a member of the Women's Interfaith Network and a Christian representative on the Australian National Dialogue of Christians, Jews and Muslims. In 2002 Trish participated in a Consultation of the Pontifical Council for Inter-Religious Dialogue for the Asian region held in Seoul, South Korea. She has been an Australian delegate at four regional intergovernmental conferences of the International Dialogue on Interfaith Cooperation for Peace and Harmony. Rev Denise Yarbrough is the Canon for Christian Formation and Theological Education at the Episcopal Diocese of Rochester, New York, and acts as the Interreligious and Ecumenical Officer for the Diocese. She teaches interfaith studies and world religions at Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School and serves on various interfaith bodies. She has
authored a curriculum for interfaith education in Christian congregations and is working on a book on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.
9:30-11:00am INTRARELIGIOUS SESSION
Dr Sussy Nyakan Gumo teaches theology and philosophy in the Department of Religion at Maseno. She received her BA in education in 1991 and MA in 1995 from the University of Nairobi, and her PhD in religion in 2005 from Maseno University. She lectures on research methods, gender issues, religion and community development, religion and culture, and comparative religion.
Shehara Viswanathan is a member of the Uniting Church in Australia and the Convenor of the Young Women's Interfaith Network. From 19992003 Shehara was the Australian representative on the Women's Advisory Committee of the World Council of Churches in Switzerland. During this time she helped organise an International Young Women's Leadership Conference in Kenya. In 2002 she was one of a team of four who represented the Australian churches on a solidarity visit to Sudan.
Natalie Lindner L'Huillier has a professional background in pastoral ministry. Natalie received her undergraduate degree in Christian Theology from the Brisbane College of Theology. With the support of the National Council of Churches Ecumenical Leadership Fund, she travelled to Ireland to complete a Masters of Philosophy at the Irish School of Ecumenics, Trinity College, Dublin. Natalie has recently taken up a position as Indigenous Research Support Officer within Australian Catholic University's Indigenous Research Office.
Decolonising our Hearts and Minds, Healing the Earth and Ourselves: North American Indigenous Perspectives
Nancy Martin
Ines Talamantez Javier Davila Room 214 Lecture
This panel of papers explores the need to decolonise our ways of thinking, to face honestly and directly the plight of North American Indigenous peoples, and to move beyond it. This is necessary in order to recover the wisdom and traditions that are endangered or forgotten and to move toward healing and reconciliation both between peoples and with the earth. The session will include the following papers: 'Decolonising our Hearts and Minds' by Ines Talamantez, professor of Native American Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara; 'Genocide in the Guise of a Helping Hand' by Javier Davila, professor of Infectious Diseases, University of California, Irvine and founder of the Native American Healing Center in Southern California; and 'Remembering Who We Are, Recovering the Sacred: First Nations Voices from the Yukon', a presentation by Nancy M Martin, professor of Religious Studies, Chapman University and co-founder of the Global Ethics and Religion Forum.
Nancy M Martin is associate professor of Religion and Griset Lecturer in Ethics at Chapman University, California, USA. Dr Martin has published widely and lectured internationally on religion in South Asia and comparative religious ethics. She is co-editor of a series of volumes on comparative religious ethics including The Meaning of Life in the World Religions and Human Rights and Responsibilities in the World Religions'.
A member of the Mescalero Apache tribe, Ines M Talamantez is a professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Professor Talamantez is the author of 'Teaching Religion and Healing and has contributed articles to 'Native Religions and Cultures of North America: Anthropology of the Sacred', and 'Unspoken Worlds: Women's Religious Lives'. The past president of the Indigenous Studies Group at the American Academy of Religion, she is a pioneering figure among American Indian scholars.
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