Year of Spirit and Spirituality
Spring 2006
Religion and the spiritual quest figure among the foundational sources for nearly every field in higher education. Without knowledge of these sources, it is impossible to appreciate fully the history or content of disciplines as diverse as English literature or modern science, to say nothing of art, music, theatre, philosophy, history, religious studies, business or justice and policy studies. Furthermore, at a Quaker-founded college, it is natural for the search for truth to encompass spiritual reflection alongside intellectual, critical reflection.
Through a theme year focusing on Spirit and Spirituality, Guilford College will create a context in which to explore the foundational sources of its academic disciplines, as well as to engage in spiritual inquiry. The Year of Spirit and Spirituality will provide an opportunity for dialogue among members across its diverse community around queries of the following sort:
- To what essential commitments should I devote my life?
- Am I "called" to a life in relationship with God/Spirit/Ultimate Reality…? What would this feel like? How would I know? How can I explore this?
- What language feels suitable to my experience of God/Spirit/Ultimate Reality…?
- Do I have fears, doubts and concerns about spirituality and faith -- either my own or others'? Do my fears and doubts create barriers for meaning and growth in my life?
- If I base my search for truth in intellectual sources of inquiry, such as science, how can I explore other possible sources of truth, clarity and meaning?
- Where can we find common spiritual ground, despite our coming from so many different places? How can we stand in the particularity of our own experience and beliefs while honoring the different life experiences of others and the language with which they express themselves?
Though invited speakers, special curricular offerings, extracurricular and co-curricular programs, The Year of Spirit and Spirituality will invigorate the learning and personal growth of all who are connected to Guilford. Ultimately, theme-year programming will encourage a yearlong conversation about one of the central Quaker testimonies -- direct and immediate access to the Divine -- and the social principles that flow from that testimony.
As 18th century New Jersey Quaker John Woolman put it, "There is a principle, placed in the human mind, which is pure and proceeds from God. It is deep and inward, confined to no religion, nor excluded from any where the heart stands in perfect sincerity."
Click here for a list of fall 2005 events in the Year of Spirit and Spirituality. |
Bryan Series: Bill Moyers
Award-winning broadcaster Bill Moyers will be the third Bryan Series speaker during Guilford's Year of Spirit and Spirituality in 2005-06. He will speak Mon., March 13 ("Moyers on America: Religion and the Environment"), at War Memorial Auditorium in Greensboro. Please note the date change for the event, which was originally scheduled for Tue., March 14.
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Bill Moyers March 13 • War Memorial Auditorium, Greensboro Coliseum Complex |
Since 1986, when he and his wife, Judith, established the independent production company Public Affairs Television, Moyers has produced hundreds of hours of programming including Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth, Amazing Grace and Genesis. His books include the 1971 bestseller Listening to America and the 2004 book Moyers on America: A Journalist and His Times.
Before establishing Public Affairs Television, he served as executive editor of the Bill Moyers Journal on public television, senior news analyst for the "CBS Evening News," and chief correspondent for the acclaimed documentary series, "CBS Reports." Moyers hosted a PBS news magazine, "NOW with Bill Moyers," for three years through December 2004.
A survey of television critics by Television Quarterly, the official journal of The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, placed Moyers among the 10 journalists who have had the most significant influence on television news. In 1996, he received the Charles Frankel Prize (now the National Humanities Medal) from the National Endowment for the Humanities "for outstanding contributions to American cultural life." He has received every major journalism award, including the coveted Gold Baton, and more than 30 Emmy Awards.
In addition to broadcasting, Moyers was deputy director of the Peace Corps in the Kennedy Administration and special assistant to President Lyndon Johnson from 1963-67, including two years as White House press secretary. He left the White House in January 1967 to become publisher of Newsday.
A native of Oklahoma, Moyers earned a bachelor's degree in journalism at the University of Texas at Austin and degrees from the University of Edinburgh and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (Texas). He is an ordained Baptist minister.
Bryan Series speakers in the fall included best-selling author Karen Armstrong (Sept. 27, "The Spiral Staircase") and Archbishop Desmond Tutu (Nov. 3, "Reconciling Love: A Millenium Mandate").
Reserve your seats now!Season passes for this year's Bryan Series are sold out. A limited number of single-event tickets for the Bill Moyers event (March 13) are on sale at the Greensboro Coliseum advance box office, online (www.Tickets.com), by phone (1-888-397-3100) or at selected Lowes Food Stores in the Greensboro area. A service charge applies to all tickets purchased online or by phone. Subject to availability, Guilford students and employees may present a valid college ID at the Greensboro Coliseum box office beginning at 7 p.m. the night of the event in order to receive a free ticket. |
Campus Ministry Visitors
Peter Blood and Annie Blood-Patterson
Luby Casey Campus Ministry Visitors
Jan. 21-24
Blood and Blood-Patterson have more than 25 years of experience in song-leading at conferences and gatherings throughout the United States, Canada and Australia. Residents of Cheyney, Pa., they authored the best-selling Rise Up Singing: The Group Singing Songbook.
Workshop: Jan. 21, 1-4 p.m., Boren Lounge of Founders Hall. Concert: Jan. 21, 7:30 p.m., Greenleaf Coffee Co-op, Mary Hobbs Hall.
Luby Casey Campus Ministry Lecture: Jan. 23, 7:30 p.m., Founders Hall Gallery.
Arthur Magida
Jan. 26-27
The author of several books, including Prophet of Rage: A Life of Louis Farrakhan and His Nation and The Rabbi and The Hit Man, Magida has been editorial director for Jewish Lights Publishing and a contributing correspondent for PBS's "Religion and Ethics Newsweekly." His current project, Opening the Doors of Wonder, an exploration of religious rites of passage, will be published in the summer of 2006.
Public talk: Jan. 26, 7:30 p.m., Gallery of Founders Hall.
Niyonu Spann
Judith Weller Harvey Quaker Scholar
March 26-28
Spann is dean of Pendle Hill, a Quaker Center for Study and Contemplation in Wallingford, Pa. She received vocal training and her bachelor's degree at the Oberlin Conservatory and her master's degree in organization development/human resources from American University.
Public talk, March 27, 7:30 p.m., Gallery of Founders Hall.
Other Visitors
Jerry Neal
Jan. 22
The founder of and an executive with RF Micro Devices, Neal is co-author of Built on a Rock, the story of his humble upbringings in Randolph County, N.C.
Public talk: Jan. 22, 3 p.m., Carnegie Room of Hege Library.
Melanie Weidner
Feb. 4-10
A contemplative Quaker artist called to the integration of art and spirituality.
Workshops: Feb. 7 and 9, 7 p.m., Gallery of Founders Hall.
Diskin Clay
Feb. 6
Clay, who is Director of Undergraduate Studies and RJR Nabisco Professor of Classical Studies at Duke University, will give this year's Rembert W. Patrick Memorial Lecture.
Public talk: "The Art of Hell," 7:30 p.m., Leak Room, Duke Memorial Hall.
Fergus Bordewich
Feb. 13
Author of Bound for Canaan: The Underground Railroad and the War for the Soul of America, will speak about Quaker ties to the Underground Railroad.
Public talk: 7:30 p.m., Community Center.
David Purpel
Feb. 16
Scholar in the field of spirituality and education will speak to the connections and contradictions between the spirit-informed life and life in the classroom.
Public talk: 5 p.m., Boren Lounge.
Tova Hartman
Feb. 23
Hartman is a Jewish scholar and a lecturer at Hebrew University's School of Education in Jerusalem. Her latest book is Appropriately Subversive: Modern Mothers in Traditional Religions.
Public talk: "The Ethics of Sacrifice and the Sacrifice of Ethics: Jewish and Greek Sources for an Ethic of Love and Memory," 7:30 p.m., Moon Room of Dana Auditorium.
Anna Rosmus
Feb. 27
Rosmus, a German author, historian and activist, is the real-life heroine of the film The Nasty Girl (which will be shown Feb. 20 at 7:30 p.m. in Bryan Auditorium). Her visit is sponsored by Richard and Barbara Jennings and the Initiative on Faith and Practice.
Public talk: 7:30 p.m., Joseph M. Bryan Jr. Auditorium.
Arthur Larrabee
Feb. 28
Larrabee is a Philadelphia Quaker attorney and expert on clerking and Quaker decision-making.
Tea and discussion: 4 p.m., The Hut. Public talk: 7 p.m., Gallery of Founders Hall.
Huston Smith
March 13-15
Smith is internationally known for his best-selling books The World's Religions and Why Religion Matters. His newest book, released in September, is The Soul of Christianity: Restoring the Great Tradition. He has taught at Washington University, MIT, Syracuse University and the University of California, Berkeley.
Q&A: March 15, 3:30 p.m., Boren Lounge. Public talk: March 15, 6:30 p.m., Sanctuary of First Presbyterian Church, 617 North Elm Street. Parking in Fisher Park Circle and other street spaces in the vicinity of the church.
Carol Orsborn
March 20
Founder of Overachievers Anonymous, Orsborn authored How Would Confucius Ask for a Raise? and Inner Excellence. She has served as an adjunct faculty member of Vanderbilt University's Divinity School.
Public talk: 7 p.m., Gallery of Founders Hall.
Amy Tan
March 30
Author of the international best-seller, The Joy Luck Club, and other books, including The Bonesetter's Daughter. Her latest novel, released in October 2005, is entitled Saving Fish from Drowning. Sponsored by the Freeman Asian Studies Grant as part of the Freeman Asian Arts Festival.
Public talk: "The Opposite of Fate," 8 p.m, Dana Auditorium.
Linda Hogan
March 30-April 1
A Chickasaw writer and college English professor, Hogan has played a prominent role in the development of Native American poetry, particularly in its relationship to environmental and anti-nuclear issues.
Public talk: March 31, 7:30 p.m., Carnegie Room of Hege Library.
Marc Francis
April 4 and 11
Francis, a former Guilford baseball player, is now a pastor in Charlotte. He will present CSI: Guilford (Christian Statements Investigated), which explores the relevance of Christian faith in today's world.
Public talks: 7 p.m., Boren Lounge.
George Looney
April 5
Looney is author of Animals Housed in the Pleasure of Flesh, Attendant Ghosts and The Precious Rhetoric of Angels. He will read from his award-winning poetry.
Public talk: 7 p.m., Gallery of Founders Hall.
Garrison Keillor
April 11
Host of the popular public radio program "A Prairie Home Companion" and author of best-selling books including Homegrown Democrat, Keillor will present two performances of his one-man show, "Lake Wobegon Days."
Performances, 4:30 and 7 p.m, War Memorial Auditorium. 7 p.m. show is sold out. Tickets $20 and $35 with a limited number of VIP seats available at the Greensboro Coliseum advance box office, www.Tickets.com, selected Lowes Foods Stores in the Greensboro area or by calling 1-888-397-3100.
Other Programs
Spiritual Revival: "Fire Shut Up in My Bones"
Feb. 15-18
A four-evening revival in the African American church tradition, featuring Superintendent Hubert R. Davis (Feb. 15-16) and Rev. Dr. Daphne Wiggins (Feb. 17-18). Davis is the founder of Nehemiah Christian Center Church of God in Christ in Durham, N.C. Wiggins is the associate pastor and coordinator of congregational ministries at Union Baptist Church, Durham, and was the first African American female professor at Duke University Divinity School.
7 p.m. all evenings, Persimmon Grove AME Church, 404 Dolley Madison Road.
A Celebration of John and Carol Stoneburner
April 7-8
Alumni and the current community will honor the Stoneburners for their long-term contributions to the college. John Stoneburner is approaching retirement as E.F. Craven Professor of Religious Studies.
The Initiative on Faith and Practice will sponsor Taize worship, programs exploring the Bible for beginners, spiritual practices and prayer. Faculty and staff share their spiritual journeys monthly during Meaning with a Meal. Other programs are planned on science, pseudo-science and religion, spirituality and sexuality and the relevance of Christian faith in today's world.
Theatre Studies: "The Power of the Spirit"
Marisol by Jose Rivera
March 24-25, 30-31 and April 1, 8 p.m., Sternberger Auditorium
An apocalyptic urban fantasy which urges society to "wake up" and somehow find a way to recover the long-lost and much-needed compassion for our fellow man, as this is the only way to save our world. During a war in heaven, an angel comes to Earth to warn Marisol of danger, triggering an urban odyssey for her that brings about a moving triumph of the human soul. Marisol finds herself on the streets, homeless, where her many encounters include a woman beaten for exceeding her credit limit and a homeless burn victim in a wheelchair looking for his lost skin. With the apocalypse well under way, the angels have traded in their wings for Uzis and wear leather motorcycle jackets and fatigues. As the action builds to a crescendo, the masses of homeless and displaced people join the angels in the war to save the universe.
Senior Company
April 21-22, 8 p.m., Sternberger Auditorium
Theatre studies seniors form a prototypical theatre company and produce their own work.
Guilford College Art Gallery
Raymond Materson's Healing Through Art
Jan. 9-Mar. 1
The work of a needlepoint artist whose work provides compelling portrayals of life, addiction, incarceration and scenes from sports and theater, chronicling stories from his life with passion, humor and hope. Materson will be in residence Feb. 20-22 and will present a stage production based on his book, Sins and Needles: A Story of Spiritual Mending, Feb. 20 at 8 p.m. in Dana Auditorium.
Creativity in Confinement: Selections from the Contexts Collection at Books Through Bars
Jan. 9-Mar. 1
An exhibition featuring artwork by prisoners from the "Contexts Collection" of Books Through Bars, a non-profit, collectively run group dedicated to promoting prisoner education and public education about the criminal justice system. Contexts is a prisoner art project organized by members of Books Through Bars for outreach and education. Designed to provide a dramatic means for prisoners' voices to be heard, the exhibit consists of works donated by prisoners in exchange for it being made available to the public. More than 200 works of art make up the Contexts collection and all proceeds from sales go to support the work of Books Through Bars.
Divine Visions of Outsider Artists
Jan. 9-Mar. 1
A powerful influence in art for centuries, religion is especially prevalent in "Outsider Art," defined as art representing the personal, spiritual and often spontaneous expressions of artists who have received no formal training in art. Many artists included in Divine Visions of Outsider Artists were "called" to preach through their art. Like the early Quakers, they are open "to an inward necessity, to an inner force, power, passion." Articulating their intuitive experiences and spiritual concerns with urgency (and occasionally whimsy), they pay little heed to the tenets of formal artistic training. Others, while not having experienced such visions, nonetheless are drawn to religious subjects as relief to lives punctuated by poverty, broken homes, illiteracy, illness, and/or addiction.
Dates, times and locations for all programs listed above are subject to change. All events are free unless otherwise noted.
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.