2012-2013 Religious Responses to Suffering – Page 3

2013-01-23

10/25/2012: Dancing Our Troubles Away: Native American Ways of Alleviating Suffering

Michelene Pesantubbee, Associate Professor of Religious Studies and American Indian Native Studies, University of Iowa.

Thursday, October 25 7:00 p.m., Olin 101

Professor Pesantubbee is an associate professor of Religious Studies at the University of Iowa. She earned her Ph.D. in Religious Studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara. She specializes in Native American religious traditions primarily Cherokee, Choctaw, and Lakota traditions. Dr. Pesantubbee is the author of Choctaw Women in a Chaotic World and she has published several essays on Native American religious movements.

Professor Pesantubbee’s talk will examine how several Native American groups have responded to the effects of colonization by drawing on traditional dances to heal individuals and communities. She will focus primarily on Cherokee booger dances and the Lakota ghost dance as ritual means for countering despair and suffering and instilling hope and harmony.

Pesantubbee, Dancing Our Troubles Away

Listen to audio of Pesantubbee’s lecture:

2013-01-23

09/27/2012: Sikhism and Suffering: Understanding and Healing after the Milwaukee Massacre

Nikky-Guninder Kaur Singh, Crawford Family Professor of Religion, Colby College

Thursday, September 27 7:00 p.m., Harvey-Ingham 104

Sikhism accepts suffering — biological, psychological, and spiritual — as a natural part of life. According to Sikh scripture, “our entire world is full of suffering” (GG, p. 954). But it also acknowledges suffering (dukh) as a medicine that is beneficial (daru). In light of the recent Milwaukee tragedy, Professor Singh will explore the Sikh understanding of suffering and its curative value for our global community.

Nikky-Guninder Kaur Singh is the Chair of the Department of Religious Studies and Crawford Family Professor at Colby College. She has published extensively in the field of Sikhism, and her views have been aired on television and radio in America, Canada, England, India, Australia, and Bangladesh. Born in India, Professor Singh came to American to attend Stuart Hall, a Girls’ Preparatory School in Virginia. She later received her BA in Philosophy and Religion from Wellesley College, her MA from the University of Pennsylvania, and her Ph.D. from Temple University.

Singh, Sikhism and Suffering

2013-01-23

09/12/2012: Drake Student Interfaith Dialogue

Wednesday, September 12

The Comparison Project kicked off its 2012-2013 programming on Wednesday, September 12 with a student interfaith dialogue. The student panel, composed by Nashmi Albadarin, Chloe Ginsburg, Samantha Kenison, Joshua Jeun, Sumit Sen, and Erin Shoup, addressed explanations of and responses to suffering in the religious traditions of Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Christianity. The event afforded an opportunity for substantial audience Q&A, and concluded with a brief catered reception.