College of Arts and Sciences

What if it’s too late to avoid some kind of ecological catastrophe? Maybe it’s not, and we should be doing everything we can so that it isn’t. Still, what if it is? Shouldn’t we also be talking about that? What kind of a future do we want to create for ourselves on such a horizon? What might it mean to collapse well?

Mayra Rivera, professor of Religion and Latine Studies at Harvard University, presents, “Icons for Tempestuous Times,” the third lecture in a series of free public lectures by internationally renowned scholars and public intellectuals made possible by the Henry Luce Foundation

Thursday, October 24th at 4:00pm

Clapp Hall, Room 108

2080 Adelbert Rd. Cleveland, OH 44106

Free to the Public, no registration required

Mayra Rivera works at the intersections between philosophy of religion, literature, and theories of coloniality, race and gender — with particular attention to Caribbean thought. Rivera is currently working on a book that explores the relationships between coloniality and ecology through Caribbean thought

Find her most recent book here: Poetics of the Flesh (2015)

Read more about the lecture series and the Finite Futures project

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With the first exams of the Fall semester behind us, it’s never too early to look toward the future! Registration for the Spring 2025 semester begins on November 11th, are you ready to beat the crowd and build your dream schedule? Now is your chance to plan ahead; spring courses are officially live on SIS!

See the complete list and descriptions for all RLGN classes offered, here.

For JWST, visit here.

For AFST, visit here.

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What if it’s too late to avoid some kind of ecological catastrophe? Maybe it’s not, and we should be doing everything we can so that it isn’t. Still, what if it is? Shouldn’t we also be talking about that? What kind of a future do we want to create for ourselves on such a horizon? What might it mean to collapse well?

Andrea Jain, professor of religious studies at Indiana University, presents “Swallowing the Future: Cynicism, Nostalgia, and Other Capitalist Techniques for Going Nowhere,” the second lecture in a series of free public lectures by internationally renowned scholars and public intellectuals made possible by the Henry Luce Foundation

Thursday, October 10th at 4:30pm

Clapp Hall, Room 108

2080 Adelbert Rd. Cleveland, OH 44106

Free to the Public, no registration required

Andrea Jain is editor of the Journal of the American Academy of Religion | Oxford Academic (oup.com)

Find her books here: Selling Yoga: From Counterculture to Pop Culture and Peace Love Yoga: The Politics of Global Spirituality

Read more about the lecture series and the Finite Futures project

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Religious Studies is happy to welcome Dr. Chris Chapple, Doshi Professor of Indic and Comparative Theology and founding director of the Master of Arts in Yoga Studies at Loyola Marymount University. Dr. Chapple will be presenting a short lecture on Wednesday, October 2nd in the Tomlinson Hall Library. The event is free to attend, no registration required, refreshments will be provided

Wednesday, October 2nd

12pm – 2pm

Tomlinson Hall Library, Rm 239

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Professor Jue Liang (along with Professor Kati Fitzgerald from Wittenberg University) has been invited to speak at the Frank Museum of Art, Otterbein University on Friday, October 4, 4pm-5:30pm. Titled “To Be a Woman: Mothers, Yoginis, & Tantric Teachers in Tibetan Buddhism,” this is a special lecture in conjunction with the museum’s current exhibition, Gateway to Himalayan Art. Find out more here: https://www.otterbein.edu/gateway-to-himalayan-art-the-rubin-museum/.

Free to the Public, no registration required

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What if it’s too late to avoid some kind of ecological catastrophe? Maybe it’s not, and we should be doing everything we can so that it isn’t. Still, what if it is? Shouldn’t we also be talking about that? What kind of a future do we want to create for ourselves on such a horizon? What might it mean to collapse well?

Bayo Akomolafe, the 2025 Hildegarde and Elbert Baker Visiting Scholar in the Humanities, presents “Death is a Distraction: Responsibility at Posthuman Precipices,” the first lecture in a series of free public lectures by internationally renowned scholars and public intellectuals made possible by the Henry Luce Foundation

Wednesday, September 25th at 6pm

Thwing Center, Excelsior Ballroom

11111 Euclid Ave. Cleveland, OH 44106

Free to the Public, no registration required

For more on Bayo Akomolafe visit: www.bayoakomolafe.net and www.emergencenetwork.org

For more on Finite Futures visit: Finite Futures | h.lab | Case Western Reserve University

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Professor Deepak Sarma has written an article for Canopy Forum: On the Interactions of Law & Religion, diving into the cross-racial surrogacy and surrogacy in India from a Hindu perspective, a perspective not yet studied significantly. The article raises critical questions about surrogacy between Hindu surrogates and non-Hindu parents, highlighting concerns over bodily exchanges and their effects on purity and karma. While the Brahminical perspective stresses maintaining caste boundaries, it notes that most Hindus don’t follow these strict beliefs. Dr. Sarma also addresses the 2018 ban on commercial surrogacy in India and the lingering bioethical concerns surrounding earlier surrogacy cases.

Click here to read the full article

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Dr. Timothy Beal recently traveled to Aarhus University in Denmark to deliver the Keynote Lecture at the 21st biennial conference of the International Society for Religion, Literature and Culture.

The purpose of the ISRLC Conference 2024 is for scholars working specifically or broadly in religion, literature, and culture to reflect on and exemplify what scholarship within the Humanities, including Theology, has to offer in contributing to a renewed mission for the Humanities, and in concretising its value for our rapidly changing world.

Dr. Beal’s keynote, “What’s So Generative about Generative AI? Talking with Machines about Creativity, Process, and Attention,” thoroughly embodied this mission.

Read more about the conference and his lecture here

In this vein, Dr. Beal, with a generous grant from Henry Luce Foundation, will be hosting a 5 part lecture series, “Finite Futures” this Fall, beginning September, 25th with renowned speaker, Bayo Akomolafe

Read more about the lecture series and Finite Futures here

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On September 3rd, Pope Francis embarked on an 11-day tour of Southeast Asia, including stops in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste, and Singapore. This has kept Professor Jonathan Tan, the Archbishop Paul J. Hallinan Professor of Catholic Studies, busy with interviews and sitting on a panel of experts to discuss this momentous tour. You can listen now to Professor Tan talking about Pope Francis and China with host, Noel King on Vox’s “Today, Explained” Podcast, “The Popes Big Bet on China”— which is also available on selected NPR stations.

As Pope Francis returns to Rome from his 11 day tour of the Asia-Pacific, Dr. Tan writes his own op-ed for UCA News, “The Holy See, Beijing, and the future of Sino-Vatican relations,” on the current negotiations between the Holy See and Beijing on renewing the 2018 joint accord on the appointment of bishops (due for renewal in October 2024) and on the politics of Sino-Vatican and church-state relations generally.

Read More to explore the many articles and interviews from various media outlets on Pope Francis’s tour, briefly described and linked here

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