Uncategorized – Page 21 – The Comparison Project

2016-01-28

12/03/2015: Fall Interfaith Dialogue

Moderator:

Norma Hirsch, Professor of Osteopathic Medicine
at Des Moines University

Panelists:

Sayeed Hussain, Pediatrician, West Des Moines Children’s Clinic
Pramod Mahajan, Associate Professor of Pharmacology, Drake University
You Bin, Fulbright Visiting Scholar of Religion, Minzu University of China
Joseph Moravec, Professor of Theology and Philosophy, Mercy College

Thursday, December 3, 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 Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, and Chinese Religion. 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.

Videos:
Dialogue
Questions

2015-09-18

10/08/2015: Death and Dying in Tibetan Buddhism

Tibetan Buddhist Monks from Labrang Tashi Kyil Monastery.

Tibetan Buddhist Monks from the Labrang Tashi Kyil Monastery

Thursday, October 8, 7:00 p.m.

Sussman Theater, Olmsted Center, Drake University

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What is death and dying in Tibetan Buddhism? Join us, as seven Tibetan Buddhist monks offer a presentation on death and dying as well as a demonstration of prayers, rituals, and dances related to death and dying. In particular, the monks will perform “Chod,” a ritual meditation on death to cut away attachments, and “Skeleton Dance,” a ritual dance of death to cultivate mindfulness of impermanence.

Seven monks from Labrang Tashikyil Monastery in Dehra Dun, India are touring the United States in 2015-16 to teach dharma, educate the public about the culture and religion of Tibet, and to raise funds for their monastery. The tour is being coordinated by the Tibetan Mongolian Buddhist Cultural Center in Bloomington, Indiana. It is the third such tour by the monastery.

View the monks’s powerpoint and hear their presentation

2015-07-032025-02-21

Student Comparisons and Evaluations (S15)

Professor Knepper’s Spring 2105 Philosophy of Religion course looked at discourses of ineffability in Jewish mysticism and Muslim mysticism (as well as a little Zen Buddhism). In their final papers students were asked to describe and compare several of these discourses, then both to explain their commonalities and differences and to evaluate the general claim that ultimate beings and/or experiences are ineffable. Below are some of their final papers:

2014-09-052025-02-21

Student Comparisons and Evaluations (Spring 2014 Philosophy of Religion Course)

Professor Knepper’s Spring 2104 Philosophy of Religion course looked at discourses of ineffability in Chinese Daoism, West African Religion (of the dozos), Sikhism, and Christian mysticism. In their final papers they were asked to describe and compare several of these discourses, then both to explain their commonalities and differences and to evaluate the general claim that ultimate beings and/or experiences are ineffable. Below are some of their final papers:

2014-03-11

03/28/2014: West African Dance Workshop

West African Dance Workshop with Diadié Bathily, Dancer, Caph Guéï, Drummer and introduction and interpretation by Joseph Hellweg

Friday, March 28, 12:15–1:45 p.m.

Studio 55 Theater, Harmon Fine Arts Center

The workshop will cover the study of West African dance and the accompanying music. Special emphasis will be placed on the dance, drumming, culture, language and arts of Ivory Coast, Guinea and Ivory Coast. It will consist of lecture and demonstration followed by active participation by students, primarily dancing and learning about the music. Students will build technique and develop an appreciation and understanding of the relevant resources available and how to research within them.

Diadié (pronounced Jah-Jay) Bathily has danced professionally for over 30 years on stages in Africa, Europe and North America. He is a world-renowned dancer, choreographer, instructor and costume designer. Bathily has conducted master classes and workshops throughout Europe and North America and has performed with or choreographed for such notable companies as the Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble, the Katherine Dunham Centers for Arts & Humanities, Ecole de Danse et d’Echange Culturel with Ms. Marie Rose Guiraud, and Broadway Dance Center. He is the recipient of the N’gowa Prize for dance on the Ivory Coast and has performed at the United Nations, the Village of Arts and Humanities in Philadelphia and many festivals and events around the United States.

In 2003, he founded his own non-profit dance company, Afriky Lolo (Star of Africa) with troupes for adults, adolescents and children. They have performed and presented workshops all over the United States. Bathily was a guest choreographer and performer at Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida and a visiting choreographer at Malcolm X College in Chicago. He also founded a satellite troupe of Afriky Lolo in Chicago.

See photos from the Dance Workshop

Watch a video of the dance workshop: