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| Boniuk Center for Religious Tolerance Newsletter |
February 2009
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Greetings!
We have a busy spring semester planned at the Boniuk Center, and we hope you will take advantage of the many events and activities we are offering.
Specifically, please mark your calendars for next week's lecture on Free Speech and Hate Speech by Professor Robert O'Neil. More information about the lecture and the series of which it is a part is below.
Our Public Scholar Fellows, Andrea Jain and Heba Khan, are busy this spring. Heba is finishing up a series at Brith Shalom on "Exploring Islam" at Congregation Brith Shalom. Both Andrea and Heba begin a 6-part class in World Religions at Emerson Unitarian Universalist Church on Tuesday, February 3rd. Read below to get the details on both the events. We are very proud of our Public Scholar Fellows for the work they do in public world religions education.
Finally, please mark your calendars in advance for May 1-2, 2009 when the Boniuk Center presents "The Gold: A New Musical" at the Miller Outdoor Theater. You will not want to miss this extraordinary musical theater production which is the Center's Holocaust Remembrance activity for 2009.
As always, thank you for your interest in and support of the Boniuk Center, and for making a personal commitment to the practice of tolerance, respect and compassion in your daily life.
Best Regards,
Dr. Jill Carroll
Executive Director
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Free Speech, Hate Speech
Series Begins Feb 5th at 7:30pm
 Join us for the first of two lectures in our Bridge Builders Series on free speech in the university. Our first guest speaker is Prof. Robert O'Neil, who will be presenting a talk entitled "Speech in the University: Both Freer and Less free than Elsewhere".
The lecture will be held on Thursday, February 5th, on the Rice Campus in Herring Hall 100 at 7:30pm. Click here for the campus map and parking information.
Prof. O'Neil is the founding director of The Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression and former president of the University of Virginia. He served until June, 2007, as a member of the University's law faculty, teaching courses in constitutional law of free speech and church and state, first amendment and the arts, and a new course entitled "Free Speech in Cyberspace." In the spring of 2009, he is a visiting professor at the University of Texas Law School in Austin. He has written several books, including The Rights of Public Employees (second edition, 1993), Classrooms in the Crossfire (1981), Free Speech in the College Community (1997), The First Amendment and Civil Liability (2001), and Academic Freedom in the Wired World (2008) as well as many articles in law reviews and other journals.
Prof. O'Neil's lecture will be the first half of a two part lecture series dealing with "Hate Speech in the University". Our second speaker, Prof. Alexis Tsesis, will present in March, and to conclude the series we will have a small, structured round table discussion in April for 25 participants who attended both presentations in their entirety. More information on how to sign up for the round table will be available at the lectures.
Our intention in this new, added format for our Bridge Builders Series is to bring people together from different perspectives for meaningful discussion and engagement.
Please join us for this event! It is free and open to the public.
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Faith Tour
Feb. 8th, 12-5pm
 Register now for this Amazing Faiths Project event offered by the co-operators of the Project - Interfaith Ministries and the Boniuk Center. This month's tour will visit the Jain Society of Houston and one other site to be announced. Learn about Jainism from one of the Boniuk Center's public scholars, who will accompany the tour as a docent. The tour is free, but you must sign up to attend.
Click here for more information and to register for this exciting and informative faith tour.
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Exploring Islam
Public Lecture at Brith Shalom
Heba Khan, one of the Boniuk Center's public scholar fellows will finish her 2-part series on "Exploring the World of Islam" being held at Congregation Brith Shalom on Tues, Feb. 3 from 7-8:15pm. Brith Shalom is located at 4610 Bellaire Blvd, Bellaire, TX, 77401. The lecture is free and open to the public. Please RSVP by contacting Gail in the Brith Shalom office at gail@brithshalom.org or by calling 713-667-9201. For information, contact Pam Geyer at pgeyer@medcetera.com or call 713-666-7300.
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The Gold: A New Musical
The Story of a man in search of the gold
The Boniuk Center is proud to partner with Arts with an Impact, a non-profit organization dedicated
to empowering generations through the arts, and Miller Outdoor Theater to bring the production of a new musical, The Gold, to the public as the Center's annual Holocaust Remembrance activity for 2009. This free, family friendly event will be held on Friday and Saturday May 1st and 2nd and spreads the universal message of compassion, courage, perseverance and tolerance. While the event is free, tickets are required for covered seating. To learn more about this event, please visit: The Gold. The Center has committed a substantial amount from its general operating budget to the production of this free public show. We are currently seeking underwriters and individual donors to help support us in presenting this important event to the Houston public. For information on the different giving levels and
their benefits please see our Giving Levels. If you are interested in sponsoring or underwriting the event, please contact our office at 713-348-4536 .
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World Religions Class
Tuesdays in February
Join Boniuk Center Public Scholars Andrea Jain and Heba Khan as they begin a 6-session world religions class at Emerson Unitarian Universalist Church beginning Tuesday, February 3rd from 7-8:30pm. Emerson Unitarian Universalist Church is located at 1900 Bering Drive, Houston, TX, 77057.This series is free and open to the public, and is being offered as part of the Amazing Faiths Project.Click here to sign up for the class and to learn which religions will be covered in the lectures. We are grateful to the folks at Emerson Unitarian for hosting this series. Emerson is an affiliate of the Boniuk Center and has joined us to spread the message of tolerance, respect and compassion for people of all and no faiths. Click here to learn more about Emerson Unitarian Universalist Church.
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Tolerance Lapel Pins
 Hundreds of these stylish pins go out every month from the Center's offices to people all over the world. They are a free and easy way to keep the goals of tolerance, respect and compassion front and center in daily life.
The tolerance lapel
pins are a great gift to share with friends or family members and are
still absolutely free. Send in your request for one today!
To get your free lapel pin, simply contact us with your full name and postal mail address. Email us here with your request.
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"Peaceful Coexistence" Radio
Join Dr. Jill Carroll, Kym King and Calvin Preece every other Friday from 10-11am for the Center's radio show "Peaceful Coexistence" on Houston's Pacifica station KPFT 90.1FM. We interview interesting guests, discuss religion in the news, provide information about different religious communities, and promote tolerance and understanding among people of different faiths. If you miss us "live" you can listen to all our past shows on your computer via podcast. It's simple! Click here to go to the Center's podcast archive. |
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