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Past Speakers
- Emeritus Professor David Dungan launched the Religious Studies Association's Spring semester events with a talk entitled: "Constantine's Bible: Who Made the New Testament?" on Tuesday, January 16, 6pm University Center 217.
Dr Bolaji Bateye, from Obafemi Awolowo University in Ile-Ife (one of our linkage universities), Nigeria delivered a lecture on Tuesday November 14, 2006 at 5-6:30 p.m. in 1210-1211 McClung Tower. Her topic was “From Shrines to Mega-Churches: Nigerian Women and Changing Patterns of Religious Leadership.” She also taught Professor Hackett's African Religions class that week. Dr. Bateye is currently benefiting from a Leventis fellowship at the University of London African Studies Centre until December 06. She was a guest in this country of the American Academy of Religion, and attended the annual conference in Washington, DC from November 18-22, 2006.
- On September 28, 2006, the department co-sponsored a lecture with the Notre Dame Club by Dr. Maura Ryan, Associate Professor of Christian Ethics in the Department of Theology at the University of Notre Dame, on "Women in the Catholic Church: Will Their Role Change in the 21st Century?"
- Dr. Eric Bain-Selbo, 1987 graduate of UT and this department, and presently chair of the religion and philosophy department at Lebanon Valley College, gave a talk on August 31st, 2006 on "Game Day and God: Football, Faith, and Politics in the South." He spoke about his research for his forthcoming book on the subject.
- Dr. Shawn Arthur, a graduate of our Master's program, recently took up a new tenure-track appointment in Asian Religions at Appalachian State University, Boone, NC., following completion of his doctoral program at Boston University.
- Professor David White of UC Santa Barbara, one of the foremost American scholars of ancient and medieval India, and the leading academic expert on Tantra Yoga in the United States, lectured on Thursday, April 20, 2006. David's principal expertise is Tantra Yoga. He also worked with Jim Fitzgerald on the translation of the Mahābhārata, in which various forms of "yoga" play a prominent and important role. David White is the author of three major books, all published by the University of Chicago Press: Myths of the Dog-Man, The Alchemical Body, and The Kiss of the Yoginī, and he is also the editor of Princeton's Tantra in Practice.
- The Humanities Interdisciplinary Workshop with Profs. Hilde de Weerdt of History and Suzanne Wright of Art History brought a speaker from Great Britain in late March, Prof. T.H. Barrett from the Department of the Study of Religions, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. Prof. Barrett's fields are Religious Studies, Chinese History, Chinese Religions and Buddhist Studies. The lecture Prof. Barrett gave at UT 'Climate Change and Religious Response: The Case of Early Medieval China' was the Evans-Wentz lecture he plans to give later in the year at Stanford University.
Prof. Barrett is both a scholar of a broad range of Chinese Religions and a specialist in Chinese Buddhism in the Tang dynasty. He has taught at Cambridge University, as well in both the History and Religion at the University of London. His research interests include the History of East Asian Religion; Buddhism and Daoism in China; Buddhism and the Chinese state; and the early history of printing in China.
Among his most well-known books are "Taoism Under the T'ang: Religion and Empire during the Golden Age of Chinese History," and "Li Ao: Buddhist, Taoist or Neo-Confucian?" He has written important articles on the earliest printing in China, which for the most part was Buddhist printing, including "The rise and spread of printing: A new account of religious factors." Prof. Barrett also gave a more informal talk on Buddhism and printing in China, entitled 'The Mystery of the Precious Seal of the Ruler and the Origins of Printing'.
On Tuesday, November 15, 2005, the Department of Religious Studies and the College of Law co-sponsored a major public lecture by the renowned scholar of myth, Professor Robert A. Segal of Lancaster University, U.K. The lecture was entitled: “From Primitive Science to Hollywood Stars: the Course of Modern Approaches to Myth.” It took place in Room 135 College of Law at 7:30 p.m.
Professor Segal is the author of many books on the study of myth, and on the scientific study of religion. His latest book is Myth: A Very Short Introduction (2004). It focuses on different approaches to myth, from all of the major disciplines--including science, religion, philosophy, literature, and psychology. Segal takes into account the work of such prominent thinkers as Albert Camus, Claude Lévi-Strauss, Roland Barthes, C. G. Jung, and Sigmund Freud. He also considers the future study of myth, and the possible function of myth in the world as the adult equivalent of play. Earlier books include Theorizing About Myth (1999), The Allure of Gnosticism: The Gnostic Experience in Jungian Psychology and Contemporary Culture (co-editor 1995), Joseph Campbell: An Introduction (1991).
Video of the event can be found here.
- On November 2, 2005, Dr. David Tal lectured on "The U.S. in Israel's Thinking." Dr. Tal provided a historical perspective on how Israel perceives the United States. Subsequently on November 3, 12pm, in the Arnstein Jewish Community Center he delivered the lecture "The Other's Other: Engtangled Jews and Arabs." Dr. Tal analyzed the way the Israeli Arabs, Palestinian Arabs, and the Jews perceive one another, and, how these perceptions serve internal needs, in terms of national identity.
David Tal's publications include "War in Palestine 1948 (Israeli History, Politics and Society Series) and "The 1956 War." He is a lecturer at Tel Aviv University, a NATO Research Fellow, and a British Council Scholar affiliated with Jaffee Center of Strategic Studies at Tel Aviv University.
Sponsors for these events included the Fern and Manfred Steinfeld Program in Judaic Studies, the Departments of Religious Studies and History, the Emory Institute for Study of Modern Israel, the Knoxville Jewish Alliance, and Robinson Family Lecture Series on Modern Israel.
The Religious Studies department was pleased to host a visit from John Gager, the William H. Danforth Professor of Religion at Princeton University, Oct. 19-22, 2005. Thanks largely to the activity and generosity of our emeriti professors, Dr. Gager agreed to make presentations to various Knoxville groups, including some of our undergraduate and graduate students, on the history of Christian anti-Judaism. An evening discussion with Dr. Gager and the Religious Studies faculty and graduate students on the topic of inter-religious violence and polemic proved to be particularly interesting and fruitful for cross-cultural dialogue. His visit included a speech at the International House on Friday, October 21, from 12:15-1:15pm, entitled, "Was the Apostle Paul the Father of Christian Anti-Judaism?"
On October 6-9, 2004 a symposium on Jeffrey Stout’s Democracy and Tradition (Princeton University Press, 2004) was held at the University of Tennessee. Stout’s argument in this award winning book is that secular liberals (John Rawls and Richard Rorty) and the new religious traditionalists (Stanley Hauerwas and Alasdair MacIntyre) both underestimate the extent towhich democracy has become a tradition in its own right. Stout is concerned with the character and virtues of the good citizen as well as with the rights of the citizen. Liberals focus on social justice and human rights while traditionalists emphasize the virtues essential to developing good character. Aliberal like Rawls emphasizes social justice and the modern notion of human rights, whereas a traditionalist like MacIntyre considers the concept of human rights a modern fiction and believes that a proper understanding of social justice depends on both religious convictions and the authority of hierarchical religious institutions in our public life (for him the Roman Catholic Church). Stout’s argument is that the American tradition of democracy includes a conversation about both character and rights that is neither as incoherent as MacIntyre fears nor as rigidly tied to liberal assumptions (including classifying religious convictions as private) as Rawls thinks advisable. The symposium's website can be accessed here.
In October 28, 2002, the Department hosted a very well-attended public symposium on Healing, Religion, and Spirituality: "New Initiatives and Challenges" in the University Center Shiloh Room.
In addition to the keynote speaker, Dr. Susan Sered from Harvard University's Religion, Health and Healing Project, there were several speakers from the community who discussed the variety of healing methods available today.
The event was moderated by our local, mass mediated celebrity physician, Dr. Bob (Overholt), despite losing his voice at a UT football game that weekend.
The Asian Foundation helped sponsor the event.
