YEAR OF SPIRIT AND SPIRITUALITY FALL EVENTS
Fall 2005
Click here for a list of spring events in the Year of Spirit and Spirituality. |
Bryan Series: Karen Armstrong, Desmond Tutu
Best-selling author Karen Armstrong, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and award-winning broadcaster Bill Moyers will be Bryan Series speakers during Guilford's Year of Spirit and Spirituality in 2005-06.
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Karen Armstrong Sept. 27 • War Memorial Auditorium, Greensboro Coliseum Complex |
Armstrong will speak Tue., Sept. 27, on the topic "The Spiral Staircase," Tutu Thu., Nov. 3, on the topic "Reconciling Love: A Millenium Mandate," and Moyers Mon., March 13 ("Moyers on America: Religion and the Environment"), at War Memorial Auditorium in Greensboro. Please note the date change for the Moyers event, which was originally scheduled for Tue., March 14.
Armstrong is a writer, lecturer, broadcaster and author of 12 books. Her best-known book is A History of God: The 4000-Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, which was on the New York Times best-seller list for many months. She teaches at the Leo Baeck College for the Study of Judaism and the Training of Rabbis and Teachers in London, England.
Educated at Oxford University, she taught modern literature at the University of London. She was a Catholic nun from 1962-69, and in 1982, she became a freelance writer and broadcaster.
Armstrong's books include Through the Narrow Gate, a bestseller in Great Britain, The Gospel According to Women, Holy War: The Crusades and Their Impact on Today's World, Muhammad: A Biography of the Prophet, Jerusalem: One City, Three Faiths and The Battle for God. Her latest book, published in 2004, is a memoir, The Spiral Staircase: My Climb out of Darkness.
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Archbishop Desmond Tutu Nov. 3 • War Memorial Auditorium, Greensboro Coliseum Complex |
Tutu, one of the best-known and most-honored people in the world today, is Archbishop Emeritus of Cape Town, South Africa, and Chancellor of the University of the Western Cape. As a priest, dean, bishop and archbishop of the Anglican Church in South Africa, he was a leading figure in the struggle against apartheid. For his passionate advocacy of nonviolent change, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984.
After apartheid ended, he was chosen by South African President Nelson Mandela to chair South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission to investigate crimes committed during the apartheid era. He was presented with the highest civilian awards by South Africa and France.
Tutu is the author or editor of numerous books, including Crying in the Wilderness: The Struggle for Justice in South Africa, Hope and Suffering: Sermons and Speeches, and The Rainbow People of God: The Making of a Peaceful Revolution and No Future Without Forgiveness.
Tutu was born in the Transvaal area of South Africa. In his late twenties he began to study for the priesthood in the Anglican Church, was ordained in 1960 and did three years of graduate theological study in England. In 1975 he became the first black person to become dean of St. Mary's Anglican Cathedral in Johannesburg. In 1976, he became bishop of Lesotho.
In 1984, he became the first black bishop of Johannesburg, and in 1986, he was elected the first black archbishop of Cape Town, and thus, titular head of the Anglican Church in South Africa. He was archbishop until his retirement in 1996. He has chaired the Truth and Reconciliation Commission since retirement.
A provocative, original and inclusive thinker on the role of religion in the modern world, since Sept. 11, 2001, she has been a frequent contributor to conferences, panels, newspapers, periodicals and throughout the media on both sides of the Atlantic on the subject of Islam. She lives in London.
Opening Academic Convocation: Robert Thurman
Robert Thurman, a worldwide authority on religion and spirituality, Asian history, philosophy and Tibetan Buddhism, will give a talk entitled "Inner Revolution" during opening academic convocation Sept. 7. The program, which kicks off the Year of Spirit and Spirituality, is at 3:30 p.m. in Dana Auditorium. The general public is invited on a seats-available basis.
In naming Thurman one of the 50 Most Influential Americans in 1997, Time reported, "He is the Billy Graham of American Buddhism. Or perhaps the St. Paul, a latter-day, larger-than-life scholar-activist destined to convey the dharma, the precious teachings of Siddhartha, from Asia to America."
He is author of many books including the bestseller, Inner Revolution (1999). He translated The Tibetan Book of the Dead (1993), a classic of Buddhist wisdom. His latest book is Infinite Life: Seven Virtues for Living Well (2004).
Thurman's search for Enlightenment began while he was a student at Harvard University. After an accident caused him to think more deeply about the meaning of life, he left school on a spiritual quest through Europe and Asia. In India he met the young Dalai Lama. Quickly learning Tibetan, he studied Buddhism intensively and became the first Westerner ever ordained a Tibetan Buddhist monk.
Thurman was a professor at Amherst University (Mass.) for more than 15 years and has also served as a visiting professor of religion at Harvard, Wesleyan University (Conn.) and Smith College (Mass.). Now, as chair of Religious Studies at Columbia University, he imparts the lessons from thousands of years of Buddhist wisdom and philosophy.
Thurman earned his bachelor's degree in English in 1962, his master's in East Asian studies in 1969 and his doctorate in Sanskrit and Indian studies in 1972, all from Harvard. He is a member of the American Academy of Religion, the American Philosophical Association and the International Association of Buddhist Studies.
At the request of the Dalai Lama in 1987, Thurman co-founded Tibet House U.S. in New York City with Richard Gere and Philip Glass (later joined by daughter Uma Thurman and others). This museum and cultural center is dedicated to the preservation of Tibetan civilization and offers programs in all of the Tibetan arts and sciences.
Campus Ministry Visitors
Lon Fendall
J.M. Ward Distinguished Quaker Visitor
Nov. 14-16
Fendall is director of the Center for Global Studies and the Center for Peace and Justice at George Fox University in Newberg, Oregon. He earned his bachelor's degree from George Fox, did graduate work at the University of Ghana and earned a doctorate in history from the University of Oregon. He served as legislative director and campaign manager for former U.S. Sen. Mark Hatfield.
Public talk: "Toward a Progressive Evangelicalism," Nov. 14, 7:30 p.m., Gallery of Founders Hall.
Other Visitors
Arla Patch
Sept. 8-10
Patch is a Quaker sculptor whose life and work as an artist commingled with her spiritual path, bringing together the concept of art and expression as tools for healing. Her workshops are entitled "Tapping the Inner Well."
Public talk: Sept. 8, 7:30 p.m., Gallery of Founders Hall.
Ralph Reed
Sept. 15
Reed is the former executive director of the Christian Coalition, one of the most successful grassroots organizations in modern American politics. He holds a doctorate in history from Emory University.
Public talk: "The Role of Faith in the Renewal of America," Sept. 15, 8 p.m., Dana Auditorium. Free, reserved seat tickets available by e-mailing tickets@guilford.edu or calling 336-316-2400. Maximum of two tickets per request. Guilford student and employee pickup Sept. 6.
Bryant Holsenbeck
Sept. 15-16
Holsenbeck will be creating a recycled bottle cap mandala, derived from the Tibetan Mandala, in the Hege Library atrium, as part of the Thresholds exhibition.
Eleanor Heartney
Sept. 21
Heartney, a nationally recognized New York-based arts writer and cultural critic, is curator of the Thresholds exhibition.
Public talk: Sept. 21, 7 p.m., Joseph M. Bryan Jr. Auditorium.
Indigo Girls and Winona LaDuke
Sept. 23
The platinum-selling recording artists and a Native American activist will present a spoken word and acoustic performance.
8 p.m., Dana Auditorium. Tickets $12 all seats at the Greensboro Coliseum box office, www.tickets.com, selected Lowes Foods Stores in the Greensboro area or by calling 1-888-397-3100. Campus sales for students and employees Aug. 29-31.
Ramadan Panel
Sept. 26, 7 p.m.
A panel in Boren Lounge led by Muslim students; an invitation to fast and pray during Ramadan, which begins Oct. 4.
C.D.C. Reeve
Oct. 6
A UNC Chapel Hill philosophy professor, Reeve is an author of several books and an authority on the topics of ancient Greek philosophy, ethics, metaphysics, moral psychology and the philosophy of sex and love.
Public talk: Oct. 6, 8 p.m., Moon Room of Dana Auditorium.
Julia Butterfly Hill
Oct. 29-30
An environmental activist, Hill sat in a California redwood tree for 738 days to prevent the destruction of the surrounding forest. Her Circle of Life Foundation celebrates the interconnectedness of all life.
Public talk: Oct. 30, 3:30 p.m., Dana Auditorium.
Register for workshops (Oct. 29-30) by contacting Blaine Lukkar at blukkar@guilford.edu or 336-316-2277.
Michael Battle
Nov. 2
An Episcopal theologian and author, Battle has written out of his studies and friendship with Desmond Tutu. His books include The Church Enslaved: A Spirituality of Racial Reconciliation and Reconciliation: The Ubuntu Theology of Desmond Tutu.
Public talk: "The Church Enslaved," Nov. 2, 7:30 p.m., New Garden Friends Meeting, 801 New Garden Road.
Kristin Henderson
Nov. 8-9
Henderson is a Quaker author whose memoir, Driving by Moonlight: A Journey Through Love, War and Infertility, is a reflection on a cross-country journey after 9/11 pondering religion, politics and life in general. Her forthcoming book, While They're at War: The True Story of American Families on the Homefront, is an in-depth portrait of military spouses in wartime and will be published in February 2006.
Public talk: Nov. 8, 7:30 p.m., Gallery of Founders Hall.
Kenneth Woodward
Nov. 9
Woodward was religion editor for Newsweek for 38 years and wrote more than 100 cover stories. A graduate of the University of Notre Dame, he is an expert on the papacy and author of Making Saints and The Book of Miracles.
Public talk: "Pilgrimage in an Age of World Religions," Nov. 9, 7:30 p.m., St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Church, Horse Pen Creek Road.
Shirley Caesar
Nov. 12
An 11-time Grammy winner, Pastor Shirley will perform material from her 40-plus gospel albums.
Concert, 8 p.m., Dana Auditorium. Tickets $15 all seats at the Greensboro Coliseum box office, www.tickets.com, selected Lowes Foods Stores in the Greensboro area or by calling 1-888-397-3100 (sales begin Sept. 1).
Rick Ufford-Chase
Nov. 21
Ufford-Chase was elected moderator of the 216th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) in 2004. He is married to a Quaker and is a church elder, mission co-worker and peacemaker who co-founded Borderlinks, a not-for-profit organization that conducts travel seminars focusing on the issues of Mexican border communities.
Public talk: "Living Our Faith in a World in Need: Human Rights, the Global Economy and Eco-Theology," Nov. 21, 12:30 p.m., Dana Auditorium.
Theatre Studies: "The Power of the Spirit"
Euerybodye
Nov. 11-12, 17-19, 8 p.m., Sternberger Auditorium
An original adaptation of the medieval morality play, Everyman, directed by guest director Mark Rucker. Written in a contemporary version of Middle English, Euerybodye preserves the story and spirit of Everyman with the integration of modern pop culture. The Life Force (God) demands a day of reckoning for Everybody (Euerybodye or Everyman), who has strayed from a moral life in favor of the seven deadly sins. Euerybodye prepares to meet her maker by searching for a companion on the journey to the grave. The proceedings unfold in a high-tech environment that is part MTV awards show and part reality television. The ideologies of this play are remarkably close to Quaker values.
Student-directed One Acts: Applicant, Interview, Mountain Language and The New World Order
Dec. 9-10, 8 p.m., Sternberger Auditorium
Short plays by Harold Pinter, the 2005 Nobel Prize winner for literature, which focus on the indomitable human spirit under intense pressure and deal with resistance to political oppression.
Guilford College Art Gallery
Thresholds: Expressions of Art & Spiritual Life
Aug. 27-Oct. 23
Opening reception Sept. 1, 4:30-6:30 p.m., Guilford College Art Gallery
A multi-media exhibition of works by contemporary artists from Florida, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee curated by Eleanor Heartney, independent cultural critic, curator and author residing in New York. Works by the 54 artists included in the exhibition explore the many borders inherent in religious belief and practice, among them the borders between life and death, body and soul, matter and spirit, past and present, public and private. The exhibition provides a mirror of the multiplicity of spiritual and religious experiences. It also offers a forum for discussing the larger social, political and personal issues raised by religion in contemporary culture.
Gods and Demons, Monkeys and Men: Masks from Southeast Asia
Oct. 31-Dec. 11
Eighty performance masks and puppets form an exhibition curated by Kathy Foley, a professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz. The wood and papier- mâché objects depict the people, animals, and spirits that figure in the traditional dance dramas performed for religious ceremonies and as entertainment. Foley will appear at the opening reception Oct. 31 (4:30-6:30 p.m.).
Do you have suggestions for programming or questions about the theme year? Contact Scott Pierce Coleman, director of the Initative on Faith and Practice, by calling 336-316-2331 or e-mailing scoleman@guilford.edu.