On Thursday, November 19 at 6:00 pm in Aliber 101 (2847 University Ave), Dr. Sudev Sheth, Senior Lecturer of International Studies at the Lauder Institute and the Wharton School and Senior Lecturer in the Department of History at the University of Pennsylvania, will lecture on “Who Owns Wealth? Gandhi’s Answer to Capitalism.”
Who owns wealth, and what responsibilities come with creating it? While modern debates about capitalism often focus on markets versus government, Gandhi offered a strikingly different perspective. He argued that wealth should not be viewed as absolute private property but as a trust held on behalf of society. Drawing on the stories of some of India’s most influential business families, this lecture explores Gandhi’s idea of “trusteeship” and how it shaped generations of entrepreneurs. It concludes by considering what Gandhi’s vision might contribute to contemporary debates about business, inequality, and corporate purpose.
Dr. Sudev Sheth is Senior Lecturer of International Studies at the Lauder Institute and the Wharton School, and Senior Lecturer in the Department of History at the University of Pennsylvania. His research explores the history of capitalism in India through the lives of merchants, entrepreneurs, and business families. Combining literary sources, archival manuscripts, and business records, he investigates how commerce has influenced culture, politics, and urban life. His current work traces merchant life in Ahmedabad across centuries while exploring the ways business gives form to cities and ideas. He is the author of Bankrolling Empire: Family Fortunes and Political Transformation in Mughal India(Cambridge University Press, 2024).
On Sunday, November 29, we will celebrate the birthday of the first and founding Guru of Sikhism, Guru Nanak, at the gurdwara in Johnston, Sikhs of Iowa Khalsa Heritage, Inc (4820 NW 59th Ave, Johnston).
The service will include many of the elements of a typical Sunday worship service: the signing of hymns (kirtan), reading from sacred scripture (Guru Granth Sahib), community prayers (aardas), and the sharing of the sacred sacrament (karah prashad, the “holy pudding”), after which a free vegetarian meal will be served (langar). Dress modestly, remove shoes at door, and don a head scarf (available at the door for both women and men). Also, refrain from pointing outstretched legs toward the holy book/altar.
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 25, 2027 at 6:00 pm in Aliber 101 (2847 University Ave), Nimi Wariboko, Walter G. Muelder Professor of Social Ethics at Boston University, will lecture on “Global Dollar and War: Trump’s Resignification of America’s Empire.”
Dr. Nimi Wariboko is a public intellectual, poet, and scholar with multiple dimensions of competence: philosophical, economic, political, historical, literary, and theological. His scholarship is innovative, impactful, and prodigious. He is the Walter G. Muelder Professor of Social Ethics at Boston University School of Theology and Director of the African Studies Center at the Pardee School of Global Studies, Boston University. He is a transtylistic poet and a transdisciplinary scholar. Before his academic career began decades ago, he was an investment banker in Lagos and on Wall Street.
On Thursday, April 22 at 6:00 pm in Aliber 101 (2847 University Ave), Dr. David Loy, professor, writer, and Zen teacher in the Sanbo Zen tradition of Japanese Zen Buddhism, will lecture on “Pave the Planet or Wear Shoes? Buddhist Reflections on Capitalism and Consumerism.”
The Buddha said that all he taught was how to end dukkha (suffering in the broadest sense). How much does our economic system relieve our dukkha? How much does it aggravate it?
David Robert Loy is a professor, writer, and Zen teacher in the Sanbo Zen tradition of Japanese Zen Buddhism.
David lectures nationally and internationally on various topics, focusing primarily on the encounter between Buddhism and modernity: what each can learn from the other. He is especially concerned about social and ecological issues. A popular recent lecture is “Healing Ecology: A Buddhist Perspective on the Eco-crisis”, which argues that there is an important parallel between what Buddhism says about our personal predicament and our collective predicament today in relation to the rest of the biosphere. You can hear David’s podcast interview with Wisdom Publications here. Presently he is offering talks and workshops on Ecodharma: Buddhist Teachings for the Ecological Crisis”, his latest book published in 2019. He also leads meditation retreats. (To find out about forthcoming lectures, workshops and retreats, please see the Schedule page.)
Loy is a professor of Buddhist and comparative philosophy (now retried from academia). His BA is from Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota, and he studied analytic philosophy at King’s College, University of London. His MA is from the University of Hawaii in Honolulu and his PhD is from the National University of Singapore. His dissertation was published by Yale University Press as Nonduality: A Study in Comparative Philosophy.(A second edition was published by Wisdom Publications in 2019). He was senior tutor in the Philosophy Department of Singapore University (later the National University of Singapore) from 1978 to 1984. From 1990 until 2005, he was professor in the Faculty of International Studies, Bunkyo University, Chigasaki, Japan. In January 2006, he became the Besl Family Chair Professor of Ethics/Religion and Society with Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio, a visiting position that ended in September 2010. In April 2007, David Loy was visiting scholar at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. From January to August 2009 he was a research scholar with the Institute for Advanced Study, the Hebrew University, Jerusalem. From September through December 2010 he was in residence at Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado, with a Lenz Fellowship. In November 2014, David was a visiting professor at Radboud University in the Netherlands. In January through April 2016, David was visiting Numata professor of Buddhism at the University of Calgary.
David Loy is one of the founding members of the new Rocky Mountain Ecodharma Retreat Center, near Boulder, Colorado. Please visit the website at rmerc.org for more information. An article about the Ecodharma Center recently appeared in the local newspaper, the Daily Camera, which you can read here.
David is married to Linda Goodhew, a professor of English literature and language (and co-author of The Dharma of Dragons and Daemons). They have a son, Mark Loy Goodhew.
Note: Unless he is traveling, every Wednesday morning David leads an online meditation [35 minutes] followed by a “dharmette” [brief dharma talk] starting at 8:00am Colorado [mountain] time. It’s free and everyone is welcome. Please use this Zoom link for Meditation with David for access. To confirm the zoom link for each week (there’s a substitute when I’m traveling), check here
