Global Philosophy of Religion in the Local Des Moines Community
On Saturday, February 28 from 5:45–7:00 pm, we will attend a Ramadan prayer and iftar meal” at Ezan Islamic and Cultural Center, the Bosnian Islamic mosque at 6206 Douglas Ave in Des Moines. The event includes the sunset (maghrib) prayer, the breaking of the fast, and an iftar meal.
Please dress appropriately: women should be covered below the elbows and knees and should cover their head/hair with a scarf. Men should wear long pants.
On Sunday, March 8 from 10:00am–12:00pm (roughly), we will join the Hindu Temple and Cultural Center (33916 155th Lane, Madrid) in the annual celebration of Holi. Guests will be able to tour the temple, observe the Holi fire ritual (Holika Dahan), throw colored powered at one another, and dance.
Please dress accordingly if you are going to participate in the throwing of colors.
Lunch is available for purchase from the temple.
This event is part of the “Meet My Religious Neighbor” series, which is co-programmed with CultureALL, the Des Moines Area Religious Council, and Interfaith Alliance of Iowa.
On Thursday, March 26 at 6:00 pm in the Harkin Institute (2800 University Ave), Dr. Helen Lee Turner, Professor of Religion at Furman University, will lecture on “Disability and Personhood among the Navajo People.”
For those wishing to attend the lecture virtually, please sign on here at least five minutes in advance: https://drake-edu.zoom.us/j/85200467120.
A Navajo (Diné) medicine man summarizes Navajo perceptions of disability and difference in the following way: “Before the white man came, we were blind [to disabilities]. You brought us the gift of sight. I think we were happier when we couldn’t see.” The Diné have no word for “disability.” Long before people with physical or intellectual limitations began to challenge the perspective of ableism seen in modern medicine and culture, the Navajo believed that no one should be autonomous. Indeed, relationships, even dependent ones, are necessary for health in the Navajo culture. This presentation will focus on traditional Navajo views of relational accountability that prioritize the integration and caretaking of disabled members of the tribe and challenge the understanding of personhood and self-actualization and even the standards of what it means to be healthy in most of modern America.
On Thursday, April 9 at 6:00 pm in the Harkin Institute (2800 University Ave), Dr. Sarah Jean Barton, Assistant Professor of Occupational Therapy and Theological Ethics at Duke University, will lecture on “’The Work of the People’: Disability and Participation in the Christian Tradition.”
For those wishing to attend the lecture virtually, please sign on here at least five minutes in advance: https://drake-edu.zoom.us/j/89204347295.
Dr. Barton’s talk will explore how theologies and practices of public Christian worship – liturgy – both challenge and provide creative alternatives to typical characterizations of work (e.g. individuality, efficiency, and hypercognitivity) that marginalize disabled communities.
