Conscience, Culture, Politics -- March 27-28, 2008
Home

Conscience, Culture, Politics -- March 27-28, 2008

 

PHOTOS ::: VIDEOS ::: FLYER

As conflicts between patriarchal customs, conservative religious principles, and liberal democratic law threaten to further polarize citizens both within and between nations, it is all the more vital to find ways to foster dialogue and create avenues of resolution.  Over the course of the two days, several distinguished speakers will address the nature of contemporary political and cultural conflict and discuss alternative ways to help shape our changing world

March 27, 2008:

3:30-5 PM:  b.h.yael, Professor of Integrated Media, Ontario College of Art and Design

5:15-6:15 PM:  Ellen Chesler, Director of the Eleanor Roosevelt Initiative on Women and Public Life at Roosevelt House, Hunter College

7:30 PM Keynote Address:  Jonathan Kirsch: A WORLD THAT REFUSES TO END: The Strange and Persistent Power of the Apocalyptic Idea in Western Religion, Politics and Popular Culture, From the Book of Revelation to I Am Legend.

 

March 28, 2008:

10:00-11:45 AM: John Walliss, Director of Center for Millennialism Studies, Liverpool Hope University

Noon-1:45 PM: Lunch and Roundtable Discussions led by Scott Alocci, Jesse Astwood, Dan Blondell, Lena Marvin, Sam Houghteling, Roy Ben-Moshe

2:00-3:00 PM: Joseph Viteritti, Blanche D. Blank Professor of Public Policy and Director of the graduate program in Urban Affairs at Hunter College

 

Program

Thursday, March 27

3:30-5 PM:  Screening of “Trading the Future,” a film about apocalypse and eco-crisis, and discussion with Director b.h.yael, Professor of Integrated Media, Ontario College of Art and Design. University Scholar:  Astra Noel

b.h. yael is a Toronto based filmmaker, video and installation artist. Her work has exhibited nationally and internationally and has shown in various settings, from festivals to galleries to various educational venues. Her works include Fresh Blood, A Consideration of Belonging, and In the Middle of the Street. In 2006, she premiered Palestine Trilogy, three videos that focus on activist initiatives, addressing the politics of Palestine and Israel in sites of solidarity

5:15-6:15 PM:   Lecture on Human Rights and Public Policy by Ellen Chesler

Ellen Chesler, Distinguished Lecturer and Director of the Eleanor Roosevelt Initiative on Women and Public Life at Roosevelt House, Hunter College, CUNY, and author of Woman of Valor, has recently returned to teaching after a long career in government and philanthropy, most recently at the Open Society Institute, the international foundation founded by George Soros. 

6:30 PM:   Dinner (RSVP Required: http://macaulay.cuny.edu/rsvp)

7:30 PM:   Keynote Lecture by Jonathan Kirsch

University Scholars:  Joanna Kata and Dan Blondell

Title: A WORLD THAT REFUSES TO END: The Strange and Persistent Power of the Apocalyptic Idea in Western Religion, Politics and Popular Culture, From the Book of Revelation to I Am Legend.

Jonathan Kirsch, author of A History of the End of the World and ten other books, including the national best-seller The Harlot by the Side of the Road: Forbidden Tales of the Bible (Ballantine).  Kirsch is also a book columnist for the Los Angeles Times, a broadcaster for NPR affiliates KCRW-FM and KPCC-FM in Southern California, an Adjunct Professor on the faculty of New York University, and an attorney specializing in publishing law and intellectual property in Los Angeles.


Friday, March 28

10-11:45 AM:  Lecture by John Walliss, “Celling the Endtimes: The Contours of Rapture.” University Scholar: Sam Houghteling

John Walliss, Director of Center for Millennialism Studies, Liverpool Hope University, is the author of Apocalyptic Trajectories, which focuses on apocalyptic or millenarian religious movements, especially where they have engaged in violent activities either against themselves or others.  He is co-editor of several books at the intersection of the sociology of religion and social theory, including series on apocalypse and popular culture with Equinox Press and Sheffield Phoenix Press.

12-1:45 PM:  Lunch and Roundtable Discussions led by members of the “Imagining the End of the World” course:  Scott Alocci, Jesse Astwood, Dan Blondell, Lena Marvin, Sam Houghteling, Roy Ben-Moshe

(RSVP Required: http://macaulay.cuny.edu/rsvp)

2:00-3:00 PM: Conversation about "Conscience and Compromise" with Joseph Viteritti

Joseph Viteritti, the Blanche D. Blank Professor of Public Policy and Director of the graduate program in Urban Affairs at Hunter College, CUNY, specializes in education policy, state & local governance, and public law. He has published nine books and more than one hundred articles and essays, including The Last Freedom: Religion from the Public School to the Public Square (Princeton University Press)