2017-2019 Theme: Miracles

Miracles: What is a miracle? Is it an objective reality, a subjective assessment of meaning, or merely a cognitive category? When we speak of miracles across religions, do we even share the same concept? Does “miracle” necessarily connote a divine origin, or can the term apply simply to rare or extraordinary occurrences? Our 2017­–2019 series explored these questions from a variety of religious, philosophical, and scientific perspectives. Click on the titles of these events to find descriptions, pictures, audio files, and sometimes also manuscripts and power point presentations.

The calendar below offers a complete listing of our 2017-2018 lectures and dialogues. In time, we will add the 2018-19 lectures and dialogues too.

You can click on the titles of past events to find descriptions, pictures, audio files, and sometimes also manuscripts and power point presentations.

Programming, Fall 2018

EVENTSPEAKERDATE/TIME/LOCATION
Miracles as StoriesKenneth Woodward, Former religion editor at Newsweek (retired 2002)
Thurs. 09/13
7:00 p.m.
Sussman Theater,
Olmsted Center
Changed in a Flash: How One Woman Was Struck by Lightning, Talked to God, and Came Back to Dream the FutureJeffrey Kripal, J. Newton Rayzor Chair in Philosophy and Thought, Rice University
Thurs. 10/04
7:00 p.m.
Sussman Theater,
Olmsted Center
The Intertwining of Healing and Religion in a Contemporary Chinese American CommunityKin Cheung, Assistant Professor of Asian Religions, Department of Global Religions, Moravian College
Thurs. 10/25
7:00 p.m.
Sussman Theater,
Olmsted Center
The ‘Miracle’ Problem: A Lakota Thought ExperimentFritz Detwiler, Professor of Philosophy and Religion, Adrian College
Thurs. 11/15
7:00 p.m.
Sussman Theater,
Olmsted Center
Firsthand Accounts of a Miracle InvestigatorJoe Nickell, author of The Science of Miracles: Investigating the Incredible
Thurs. 12/6
7:00 p.m.
Sussman Theater,
Olmsted Center

Programming, Spring 2019

EVENTSPEAKERDATE/TIME/LOCATION
What Miracles in the Global South Contribute to Understanding the Human ConditionBilinda Straight, Professor of Anthropology, Western Michigan University
Thurs. 02/14
7:00 p.m.
Sussman Theater, Olmsted Center
Community Event: Miracles and MedicineModerator, Richard L. Deming, MD., Director of the Mercy Cancer Center; Founder and Director of Above + Beyond CancerThurs. 03/07
7:00 p.m.
Mercy Hospital, East Tower Conference Rooms 6 and 7
Saintly ‘Miracles’ and Yogic ‘Magic’ in the Bhakti and Sufi Hagiographies of North IndiaPatton E. Burchett, Assistant Professor of Religious Studies, College of William and Mary
Thurs. 03/28
7:00 p.m.
Sussman Theater,
Olmsted Center
Miracles in Hasidic Judaism: Changing the Natural Order, or Opening the Eyes To What Is Already ThereNehemia Polen, Professor of Jewish Thought, Hebrew College
Thurs. 04/11
7:00 p.m.
Sussman Theater,
Olmsted Center
Final Comparison of Miracles – “Miracles: So What?”David L. Weddle, Professor Emeritus of Religion, Colorado College
Karen Zwier, lecturer in Philosophy and Religious Studies, Iowa State University
Thurs. 05/9
7:00 p.m.
Cowles Library,
Reading Room

Programming, Fall 2017

EVENTSPEAKERDATE/TIME/LOCATION
Miracles: A Philosopher’s StanceKaren Zwier, Visiting Assistant Professor of Philosophy and Interim Director of The Comparison Project, Drake UniversityThurs. 09/14
7:00 p.m.
Sussman Theater,
Olmsted Center
Miracles as Transforming Invitations to Wonder & Gratitude: An Islamic PerspectiveUmeyye Isra Yazicioglu, Associate Professor of Islamic Studies, St. Joseph’s UniversityThurs. 10/05
7:00 p.m.
Sussman Theater,
Olmsted Center
Does ‘the Biblical God who acts’ really act?  Special divine action via quantum mechanics that is objective but not miraculousRobert J. Russell, Founder and Director of the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences and Ian G. Barbour Professor of Theology and Science, Graduate Theological Union, BerkeleyThurs. 10/26
7:00 p.m.
Sussman Theater,
Olmsted Center
On the Role of Miracles in the Vimalakirti Sutra in the Early Medieval ChinaShi Jingpeng, Minzu University of China, Beijing
Thurs. 11/16
7:00 p.m.
Sussman Theater,
Olmsted Center
A Course in Miracles WorkshopSeveral local instructors of “A Course in Miracles,” including Debra Landwehr Engle, author of The Only Little Prayer You Need.
Sat. 12/2
8:30 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Meredith Hall

Programming, Spring 2018

EVENTSPEAKERDATE/TIME/LOCATION
Above + Beyond Cancer: Stories of Discovery, Recovery, and TransformationDr. Richard Deming, Founder & Chairman of Above + Beyond Cancer, Medical Director of Mercy Cancer Center

Yasmina Madden, Assistant Professor of English, Drake University

Thurs. 02/15
7:00 p.m.
Cowles Reading Room
Cowles Library
Naturalism and the Problem of the Unity of Science: How Miracles HelpMark Harris, Senior Lecturer in Science and Religion, Edinburgh University
Thurs. 03/08
7:00 p.m.
Sussman Theater,
Olmsted Center
Fear, Loathing, and Miracles among the Cowherders: Krishna’s Childhood ProdigiesRichard H. Davis, Professor of Religion and Asian Studies, Bard College
Thurs. 03/29
7:00 p.m.
Sussman Theater,
Olmsted Center
Fatima: Examining Catholicism’s Greatest Modern MiracleMichael O’Neill, author of Exploring the Miraculous and creator of the website MiracleHunter.comThurs. 04/19
7:00 p.m.
Sussman Theater,
Olmsted Center
“By Whose Authority?”: Polemical and Political Uses of Miracle StoriesDavid L. Weddle, Professor Emeritus of Religion, Colorado College
Thurs. 05/10
7:00 p.m.
Cowles Reading Room
Cowles Library
Translate »