Death and Dying: What is death, religiously speaking? What happens after death, if anything? How ought we die, religiously speaking? And what postmortem rituals must others practice after we are dead? The Comparison Project’s 2015-2017 theme of theologies of death and rituals of dying will explore all these questions, focusing on tensions between traditional theologies and rituals of death and the increasing way in which death has become the domain of medicine and law.
The calendar below offers a complete listing of the events of our 2015-2017 series on death and dying. Below that, we include the events of an auxiliary spring-2016 series on aging that we are co-sponsoring with the Calvin Community Panel on Aging.
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 2016
| EVENT | SPEAKER | DATE/TIME/LOCATION |
| “A Time to Be Born, and a Time to Die” (Ecclesiastes 3:2): A Jewish View of the Modern Medical Complexities of Dying |
Elliott Dorff, Rector and Sol & Anne Dorff Distinguished Service Professor in Philosophy, American Jewish University | Thurs. 09/15 7:00 p.m. Sussman Theater, Olmsted Center |
| The Ritualization of Death: The Journey from the Living-living to the Living Dead in African Religions | Herbert Moyo, Director of the Practical Theology Programme, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa | Thurs. 10/06 7:00 p.m. Sussman Theater, Olmsted Center |
| Community Interfaith Dialogue | Moderated by Norma Hirsch, assistant professor of osteopathic medicine at Des Moines University | Thurs. 10/27 7:00 p.m. Iles Funeral Homes, Dunn’s Chapel, 2121 Grand Ave, DSM |
| Prayers to Dead and Dying: A Trivium of Sorts to a “Santa Muerte” Book of Hours |
Eduardo Garcia Villada, Associate Professor of Spanish, Drake University | Thurs. 11/17 7:00 p.m. Sussman Theater, Olmsted Center |
| Community Interfaith Dialogue | Moderated by Norma Hirsch, assistant professor of osteopathic medicine at Des Moines University |
Thurs. 12/8 7:00 p.m. Iles Funeral Homes, Dunn’s Chapel, 2121 Grand Ave, DSM |
Programming, Spring 2017
| EVENT | SPEAKER | DATE/TIME/LOCATION |
| Buddhism and The Dilemmas of Death | Damien Keown, Emeritus Professor of Buddhist Ethics, Goldsmiths College, University of London | Thurs. 02/09 7:00 p.m. Sussman Theater, Olmsted Center |
| Brain Death: Islamic Theological Responses to Medicalized Dying | Aasim Padela, Director of the Initiative on Islam and Medicine, University of Chicago | Thurs. 03/02 7:00 p.m. Sussman Theater, Olmsted Center |
| “To Die in Peace”: Negotiating Advance Directives in a Navajo Context. |
Michelene Pesantubbee, Associate Professor of American Indian Studies, University of Iowa | Thurs. 03/23 7:00 p.m. Sussman Theater, Olmsted Center |
| Funeral Rituals as Spiritual Practice in Chinese Daoism |
You Bin, Director of the Center for Comparative Scripture and Interreligious Dialogue, Minzue University of China in Beijing | Thurs. 04/13 7:00 p.m. Sussman Theater, Olmsted Center |
| Concluding Comparisons | Allen Zagoren, Associate Professor of Public Administration, Drake University
Lucy Bregman, Professor of Religion, Temple University |
Thurs. 05/04 7:00 p.m. Reading Room, Cowles Library |
Programming, Fall 2015
| EVENT | SPEAKER | DATE/TIME/LOCATION |
| How We Die: Evaluation, Reflection and Prescription | Allen Zagoren, DO, MPA, FACOS, FACN, associate professor of public administration and chair of management and public administration, Drake University; medical director of the wound healing collaborative, Unity Point Health System of Central Iowa; adjunct professor of surgery and nutrition, DesMoines University | Thurs. 9/17 7:00 p.m. Sussman Theater, Olmsted Center |
| Death and Dying in Tibetan Buddhism: Presentation and Demonstration | Tibetan Buddhist Monks from the Tashi Kyil Monastery | Thurs. 10/8 7:00 p.m. Sussman Theater, Olmsted Center |
| La migración y el culto a la Santa Muerte: asirse a lo que sea (“Migration and the Cult of Santa Muerte: Hanging on to Whatever”) | Eduardo González, research professor, Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education, Guadalajara | Thurs. 10/29 7:00 p.m. Sussman Theater, Olmsted Center |
| Christians Encounter Death: Tradition’s Ambivalent Legacies | Lucy Bregman, professor of religion, Temple University | Thurs. 11/19 7:00 p.m. Pomerantz Stage, Olmsted Center |
| Community Interfaith Dialogue | Moderated by Norma Hirsch, assistant professor of osteopathic medicine at Des Moines University Panelists: Sayeed Hussain, pediatrician, West Des Moines Children’s Clinic; Pramod Mahajan, associate professor of pharmacology, Drake University; Joseph Moravec, professor of theology and philosophy, Mercy College of Health Sciences; You Bin, Fulbright visiting scholar, Fuller Theological Seminary |
Thurs. 12/3 7:00 p.m. Iles Funeral Homes, Dunn’s Chapel, 2121 Grand Ave, DSM |
Programming, Spring 2016
| EVENT | SPEAKER | DATE/TIME/LOCATION |
| Community Interfaith Dialogue | Moderated by Norma Hirsch, assistant professor of osteopathic medicine at Des Moines University Panelists: Robert Aubrey, chaplain (retired), Unity Point & Broadlawns; David Kaufman, rabbi, Temple B’Nai Jeshurun; Yogesh Shah, associate dean, Des Moines University |
Thurs. 2/11 7:00 p.m. Iles Funeral Homes, Dunn’s Chapel, 2121 Grand Ave, DSM |
| Eternal Life, Death, and Dying in Jainism | Christopher Chapple, Navin and Pratima Doshi Professor of Indic and Comparative Theology, Loyola Marymount University | Thurs. 3/3 7:00 p.m., Sussman Theater, Olmsted Center |
| Giving Back: Above + Beyond Cancer’s 2015 trip to Nepal | Members of Above + Beyond Cancer’s 2015 mission trip to Kathmandu | Thurs. 3/24 7:00 p.m. Reading Room, Cowles Library |
| Secular Death | Amy Hollywood, Elizabeth H. Monrad Professor of Christian Studies, Harvard University | Thurs. 4/14 6:00 p.m. Sussman Theater, Olmsted Center |
| The Ethical Engagement With the Medicalization of Death in the Catholic Tradition | Gerard Magill, Vernon F Gallagher Chair and Professor of Healthcare Ethics, Duquesne University | Thurs. 5/5 7:00 p.m. Reading Room, Cowles Library |
Calvin Community Panels on Aging, Spring 2016
Calvin Community is a faith-based, not-for-profit continuing care retirement community nestled in Des Moines’ Beaverdale neighborhood. The Church & Community Advisory Board of Calvin has scheduled six public panels to bring educational information on the issues of aging deemed to be of most interest to Iowans. This series will be recorded and made available to community and religious organizations. Each panel will feature a primary speaker as well as responding panelists. Attendees will be able to ask questions. All videos from the Embrace Aging Panels can be found here.
| EVENT | SPEAKER | DATE/TIME/LOCATION |
| Healthy Aging and Brain Wellness | Dr. Robert Bender, Geriatric Specialist, Broadlawns Medical Center | Tues. 1/26 7:00 p.m., Sussman Theater, Olmsted Center |
| Supporting our Parents | Joel Olah, Executive Director, Aging Resources of Central Iowa | Tues. 2/23 7:00 p.m., Sussman Theater, Olmsted Center |
| Care-giving | Charles Wurth, Arbor Springs Management Services | Tues. 3/29 7:00 p.m., Sussman Theater, Olmsted Center |
| Chronic Disease Self Management | Dr. Yogesh Shah, Geriatric Specialist, Des Moines University | Tues. 4/26 7:00 p.m., Sussman Theater, Olmsted Center |
| Economic Security | David Strege, managing partner, Syverson & Strege Company | Tues. 5/24 7:00 p.m., Sussman Theater, Olmsted Center |
| Aging and the Law | Denise Hill, JD, MPA, Director of Health Law Programs, Drake University Law School | Tues. 6/21 7:00 p.m., Sussman Theater, Olmsted Center |
Student Resources on Death and Dying
- A Guide to the Supplementary Resources for 2015-2017
- Student Comparisons (Fall 2015 Comparative Religions Course)
- Student Comparisons and Evaluations (Spring 2016 Philosophy of Religion Course)
- Student Comparisons (Fall 2016 Comparative Religions Course)
- Student Comparisons and Evaluations (Spring 2017 Philosophy of Religion Course)