Author: Timothy Knepper

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10/06/2016: “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

Thursday, October 6, 7:00 p.m.
Sussman Theater, Olmsted Center, Drake University
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Dr. Herbert Moyo’s talk will address Ndebele theologies and rituals of death and dying, especially as these involve ongoing relationships with the ancestors. Moyo will focus on the ways in which the modern medicalization of life and death offer challenges to these traditional philosophies and practices.
Dr. Moyo teaches practical theology, religion and governance, and church leadership in the School of Religion, Philosophy, and Classics at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. Moyo’s research focuses on church and state relations in Africa, the relationship between traditional African religions and the Christian church, and coping with death and dying in Africa.
Response by Willy Mafuta, United Methodist minister and adjunct professor of religion
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09/16/2016: “A Time to Be Born, and a Time to Die” (Ecclesiastes 3:2): A Jewish View of the Modern Medical Complexities of Dying

Elliot Dorff

Elliot Dorff Rector 2011

Rector and Sol & Ann Dorff Distinguished Service Professor in Philosophy, American Jewish University
Thursday, September 15, 7:00 p.m.
Sussman Theater, Olmsted Center
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Dorff will be discussing how the medical and social features of contemporary societies make treating the dying much more morally fraught than it was in the past, and, given that, what the Jewish tradition can advise us on how to treat the dying not simply as patients, but as people worthy of respect.

Elliot Dorff is Rector and Distinguished Service Professor at American Jewish University and Visiting Professor at UCLA School of Law. He served on three federal commissions on matters of health care and now serves on a commissions on matters of health care and now serves on a commission for the State of California. He is the author of Matters of Life and Death: A Jewish Approach to Modern Medical Ethics.

To listen to the lecture:

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05/05/2015: The Ethical Engagement With the Medicalization of Death in the Catholic Tradition

Gerard Magillmagill%20photo
Vernon F. Gallagher Chair and Professor of Healthcare Ethics, Duquesne University
Thursday, May 5, 7:00 p.m.
Reading Room, Cowles Library
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To engage the medicalization of death & dying ethically, the Catholic Sacramental tradition provides the context for its Natural Law approach. This recognizes both dignity and futility in the dying process and uses double effect reasoning to resolve medicalization-related dilemmas. The presentation discusses a variety of scenarios in end-of-life care including PVS patients, maternal-fetal conflicts, and terminal sedation in palliative care (as a response to assisted suicide).

In 2007 Professor Gerard Magill was appointed as the the Vernon F. Gallagher Chair for the Integration of Science, Theology, Philosophy, and Law at Duquesne University. He is a tenured Professor in Duquesne University’s Center for Healthcare Ethics where he mentors students in its Master’s and Doctoral programs.

Video of the presentation

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04/14/2015: Secular Death

Amy Hollywoodhollywoodamy_0
Elizabeth H. Monrad Professor of Christian Studies, Harvard University
Thursday, April 14, 6:00 p.m.
Sussman Theater, Olmsted Center
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Amy Hollywood came to Harvard Divinity School after teaching at Rhodes College, Dartmouth College, and the University of Chicago. She is the author of The Soul as Virgin Wife: Mechthild of Magdeburg, Marguerite Porete, and Meister Eckhart, which received the Otto Grundler Prize for the best book in medieval studies from the International Congress of Medieval Studies.  Professor Hollywood is currently exploring the place of the mystical, often redescribed as enthusiasm, within modern philosophy, theology, and poetry.
Listen to the audio of the presentation below:
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