PREVIOUS OUTREACH ACTIVITIES

On Sunday mornings, when not hiking in the Great Smoky Mountains, I used to be found in the studios of WNOX Newstalk 99-East Tennessee's largest news radio station, co-hosting from 9:30-11:00 a.m. our department radio program-"Religion and the Human Prospect." Charles Reynolds, our then department head who began this popular program in January 1997, and I (together with other colleagues) interviewed people on a range of topics of public interest. These included religion and healing, native American religion, new religions, Biblical interpretation, religion in Latin America, the religious dimension of the Gulf War, and women and religion. It was a call-in program so we were kept on our toes by the variety of new and regular callers. It is always a salutary exercise to have to represent one's academic interests to a wider audience!  Unfortunately, the program lost its lease due to station re-management.

In October 2002, I was privileged to coordinate a public symposium on "Healing, Religion and Spirituality." It was an extension of the graduate course on "Religion, Healing and Spirituality" that I created in fall 2002 with generous funding from the Aslan Foundation. Approximately 200 people turned out to hear a range of speakers from medical and religious fields to talk about their efforts in the realm of religious and spiritual healing. Professor Susan Sered, Director of the Religion, Health and Healing Initiative at Harvard University's Center of World Religions gave a wonderful response. The evening was further enriched by the presence of our moderator, local allergist Dr Bob Overholt--otherwise known as "Dr Bob" and host of the popular and now nationally syndicated "Dr Bob Show" on PBS.

In May 1998 I attended the People's Summit (P8) in Birmingham, England which was intended to counter and/or supplement the G8 Summit occurring at the same time in Birmingham. In addition to panels on the detrimental effects (i.e. reduced money available for health care and education) of the massive debt crisis in many developing countries, there was a huge demonstration and appeal (JUBILEE 2000) organized by Christian Aid http://www.christian-aid.org.uk and the New Economics Foundation and 70 other non-governmental organizations. Petitions were presented to the G8 leaders asking them to cancel the international debt of the world's poorer nations. Over 50,000 people-many wearing red--joined hands around the conference site. It was possibly the largest demonstration ever held in support of international development. I met people there from Cuba, Nigeria, Sudan, Guatemala, Jamaica, the US, but the majority seemed to be middle-class English folks from different church communities. I never imagined that so many people in Britain cared that every baby born in Tanzania is already owing $190.

The P8 version= http://www.africapolicy.org/action/debt.htm

The G8 version= http://birmingham.g8summit.gov.uk

The Jubilee 2000 demonstration in Birmingham. The atmosphere was lively and memorable.

Small drama groups of young people acted out the asymmetries of international power relations

Others were more explicit about their concerns. This particular Anglican dignitary had been waiting many years in front of St. Philip's Cathedral in Birmingham before being able to express his views!

The atmosphere that day in Birmingham was charged, caring and colorful. Unbenownst to me another protest was already brewing in a different part of the city, with another message and another constituency. This was the "RECLAIM THE STREETS" demonstration. Led there by friends, I witnessed a massive social movement in action with all its counter-cultural urges. Mainly young people, they installed banners and volley-ball nets across the streets, played chess and painted road and body surfaces, and teased the mounting police contingents. In conjunction with similar protests occurring around the world at about the same time in 22 different cities (San Francisco, Bogota, etc.), they graphically expressed their disgust at motorized pollution and inhumane urban development.

Here are some of the scenes I shot. Sound clips (if I had them) would have expressed the anger felt by many of these young people toward society and authority. You would also have heard the sounds of a very joyous street party, followed later by the sounds of an unruly (somewhat drunken and drugged) minority resisting police arrest.

The G8 was also an issue!

If you feel strongly about the unfair treatment meted out to the world's poorest nations with regard to economic restructuring and debt repayments--the least you can do is sign the petition below and spread the word. http://reports.guardian.co.uk/debt/petition.html