Uncategorized – Page 20 – The Comparison Project

2016-09-19

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

Video of the Lecture

2016-08-25

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

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:

2016-03-28

04/14/2015: Secular Death

Amy Hollywood

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:

2016-03-032025-02-21

Embrace Aging: Care-Giving

Charles Wurth

Arbor Spring Management Services

Tuesday, March 29, 7:00 p.m.

Sussman Theater, Olmsted Center, Drake University

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In a World of Dementia And Alzheimer’s Disease

Chuck Wurth specializes in care for those with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia. He and his family have worked to redesign dementia care through a holistic program in a home-like setting.

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Moderator: Martha Willits, AARP Iowa State President

Willits is the volunteer Iowa State President of AARP, the nonprofit, nonpartisan organization for 50+ with 370,000 members in Iowa. She was formerly president and CEO of the Greater Des Moines Partnership as well as formerly President and Chief Professional Officer of the United Way of Central Iowa.

Video of the Lecture

Continuing education credit is available for nurses and other healthcare professionals who attend this event. It is approved by Iowa Board of Nursing Provider #302, HCI Care Services for 0.15 CEUs or 1.5 contact hours of continuing education.

2016-01-28

02/11/2015: Spring Community Interfaith Dialogue

Moderator:

Norma Hirsch, Professor of Osteopathic Medicine
at Des Moines University

Panelists:

Robert Aubrey, Chaplin (Retired); Unity Point and Broadlawns
David Kaufman, Rabbi, Temple B’nai Jeshurun
Yogesh Shah, Associate Dean, Des Moines University

Thursday, February 11, 7:00 p.m.
Iles Funeral Homes, Dunn’s Chapel
2121 Grand Ave, Des Moines

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How do the religions of the world understand death and dying? What rituals do they practice as preparation for death and in response to death? What effects has the “medicalization of death” had on these traditional understandings and practices? And what does the medical community need to know about traditional religious theologies and rituals related to death and dying?

The Comparison Project’s Community Interfaith Dialogue will explore these questions from the perspectives of Judaism, Catholicism, and Buddhism. Our moderator and panelists will focus particularly on the tensions between traditional theologies and rituals of death and the way in which death has increasingly become the domain of medicine and law. There will be ample time for questions from the audience.

The video from the panel can be viewed here.