- Interfaith Prayers for Our Nation
- Jihad in Context
- Evangelism in the Movies: Then and Now
- 2001 - 2003 NEXUS Interfaith Dialogue Series: "How to Be a Perfect Stranger"
- Spring 2002 Symposium: For God and Country: Exploring the Relationship Between Religion and Nationalism
Interfaith Prayers for Our Nation
September 13, 2001
A gathering hosted by the Center in the immediate aftermath of 9/11, including the lighting of peace candles and prayers offered by Jewish, Christian, and Muslim clergy.
Jihad in Context
October 18, 2001
An educational panel presentation on jihad (holy war), co-sponsored by the Center and the Tidewater Chapter of The National Conference for Community and Justice (NCCJ).
Basic Overview of Islam, Dr. Craig Wansink, Professor of Religious Studies, Virginia Wesleyan College.
Brief History of the Crusades and their Impact upon Christian-Muslim Relations, Dr. Clay Drees, Professor of History, Virginia Wesleyan College.
Basic Introduction to Modern Islamic Thought, and to Religion and Politics in the Modern Muslim World, Dr. Mumtaz Ahmad, Professor of Political Science, Hampton University.
Ramifications of the September 11th Attacks on the Daily Life of Muslims in the Hampton Roads Area, Dr. Horus Alkebu-Lan, Mid-Atlantic Sectional Facilitator for the Muslim American Monitoring Team.
Evangelism in the Movies: Then and Now
Introduced by William M. Jones, Ph.D., Virginia Wesleyan Professor of Political Science, these two acclaimed films offer images of evangelism in America and give us the opportunity to consider what they continue to reveal about religion in our culture.
The Apostle (1997)
Starring Rober Duvall
October 9, 2001
Elmer Ganry (1960)
Starring Burt Lancaster
October 23, 2001 (re-scheduled from September 11)
2001-2003 NEXUS Interfaith Dialogue Series: "How to Be a Perfect Stranger"
A series of panel discussions, each consisting of leaders and members of one faith group; followed by an optional visit to a worship service of the group. This series extends over two program years, 2001-2002 and 2002-2003. See the 2002-2003 Programs listing for additional information.2001-2002 Calendar
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormon): Bennetts Creek Ward, Suffolk
Panel: October 22, 2001
Service: October 28, 2001
Conservative Jewish: Temple Israel, Norfolk
Panel: November 26, 2001
Service: December 1, 2001
Unitarian Universalist: Unitarian Church of Norfolk
Panel: January 28, 2002
Service: February 10, 2002
Roman Catholic: Church of the Ascension, Virginia Beach
Panel: April 22, 2002
Service: April 28, 2002
Bonus Event
Tour of the Association for Research and Enlightenment (ARE)
June, 2002
Symposium: For God and Country: Exploring the Relationship between Religion and Nationalism
This symposium is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Edmund (Del) Carlson, Virginia Wesleyan College Professor of Political Science and Interim Director of the Center from January 1997 to August 1998.
An exploration of the role of religion in shaping national consciousness; nationalism’s excesses; how religion may become co-opted in the interests of nationalism; how religion curbs or promotes abuses of power and crimes against human rights.
Funding provided by a grant from the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities and Public Policy (VFH).
America: God’s Chosen Land
February 5, 2002
Catharine Cookson, J.D., Ph.D., Director of the Center for the Study of Religious Freedom, Virginia Wesleyan College.
Examines America's self-identity as God's Chosen Land and how this has led paradoxically to both persecution of religious outsiders and to prophetic calls for America to live up to its vision of the beloved community.
Public Religions, Political Conflicts
February 12, 2002
Jose Casanova, Ph.D., Graduate Faculty Political and Social Science, New School University.
Examines the increasing role religion plays in the construction of the modern world and explores the "deprivatization" of religion in contemporary life. Raises questions about the claims of both nations and global market forces to be "value neutral."
Promoting Religious Freedom As a Means of Winning the War on Terrorism
February 26, 2002
Thomas F. Farr, Ph.D., Director, Office of International Religious Freedom, U.S. Department of State, Washington D.C.
Based on the State Department's Annual Report on International Religious Freedom, discusses cases where nationalistic concerns have led to a curtailment of religious freedom for minority religious groups, as well as instances where religious insights have contributed to a respect for human rights.
Islam and Nationalism
March 5, 2002 e
Tamara Sonn, Ph.D., William R. Kenan Distinguished Professor of Humanities in the Department of Religion at the College of William and Mary.
Sonn approaches the topic through her areas of specialization, Islamic intellectual history and Islam in the contemporary world.
From Apartheid to Reconciliation: Religion in South Africa
March 19, 2002
David Chidester, Ph.D., Department of Religious Studies, University of Cape Town, South Africa.
Examines the South African colonial era's religious nationalism, as well as the current government's efforts to create a cohesive nation by developing a public school curriculum that covers both the many indigenous traditions in South Africa and the religions brought by the Dutch and English.
Ritual Unity: Nationalism and Modes of Religiosity
March 26, 2002
Harvey Whitehouse, Ph.D., School of Anthropological Studies, The Queens University, Belfast, Ireland.
After spending two years doing fieldwork on religious ritual among the Pomio of Papua New Guinea, Whitehouse has developed an important new theory about the role that religious rituals play in creating and shaping a sense of national identity.
Israel, Judaism, and Nationalism
April 2, 2002
Nir T. Boms, M.A., Vice President, Foundation for the Defense of Democracies and former Officer of Public and Academic Affairs for the Israeli Embassy in Washington.
Explores the role of Judaism in the formation of Israeli nationalism, and the role played by Israel in creating an American Jewish identity.
Fire, Blood, & the Cross: How the KKK Returned as a Religious Nationalist Movement, 1915-1930
April 16, 2002
Glenn M. Zuber, Ph.D. candidate, Indiana University
Reflects upon home-grown terrorism and violence done in the name of religion using the revived Klan in the 1920's as an example of a religious nationalist movement.
Religion and the Reich: The Role of Religion in German Nationalism
April 23, 2002
Ted Vial, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Religious Studies, Virginia Wesleyan College.
As Germany became unified in 1871, explores how religion shaped people's identities as Germans rather than Prussians or Saxons, and how religion shaped the kind of nation Germany would become, and the kind of nationalism that would drive it.