"RELIGIOUS FOUNDATIONS OF WESTERN CIVILIZATIONS," A LECTURE SERIES PRESENTED BY THE INSTITUTE OF ADVANCED THEOLOGY AT BARD, WILL CONCLUDE IN DECEMBER
ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y.—The lecture series, "Religious Foundations of Western Civilizations," presented by the Institute of Advanced Theology at Bard will conclude with three presentations in December. Free and open to the public, each lecture (except as noted) will begin at 6:30 p.m. in the multipurpose room of the Bertelsmann Campus Center.
The series, developed by Jacob Neusner, research professor of religion and theology at Bard College, is held in conjunction with the undergraduate theology course of the same title. The lectures are designed to survey principal points in the formation of the West at which religion defined the social order and dictated the shape of culture.
On Tuesday, December 3, at 7:00 p.m., John Pruitt, associate professor of film at Bard, will screen Carl Dreyer's film Ordet in the Weis Cinema. Pruitt will discuss the film the following evening, Wednesday, December 4, in the lecture, "From Sacred Narrative to Secular Story. Carl Dreyer's Ordet: A Religious Vision in a Skeptic's Medium."
Leon Botstein, president of Bard College, will present the lecture, "Art and Faith: The Secularization of Music," on Wednesday, December 11.
The series concludes on Wednesday, December 18, with the lecture, "Is Christianity at War with Islam?," presented by Neusner and Bruce Chilton, Bernard Iddings Bell Professor of Religion and director of the Institute of Advanced Theology at Bard College. They will be joined by Th. Emil Homerin, professor of religion and chair of the Department of Religion and Classics at the University of Rochester.
The Institute of Advanced Theology at Bard College was established to foster critical understanding, based on scholarship, that will make true religious pluralism possible. Since its inception in 1996, the Institute’s work has focused on how religions influence history, society, and other religions, and are in turn influenced by them. The Institute gratefully acknowledges support provided by its own members, the Crohn Family Trust, and the Tisch Family Foundation, as well as grants from The Levy Economics Institute of Bard College, the Pew Charitable Trusts, the American Council of Learned Societies, and Bard College.
For further information, call the Institute office at 845-758-7279, e-mail [email protected], or visit the website www.bard.edu/iat.
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(11.15.02)