Tuesday, 2/19, 7 pm, Wilder 112

QUAF is a group that explores the intersection of religions and spiritualities with genders and sexualities. It provides a supportive space, offers educational programming, and advocates for social justice. This general meeting with pizza is open to all students as well as faculty, staff, and community allies. Come hear about plans for the semester, see how you might like to get involved, and help plan for the future. For more information contact Rachel Davidson.

Professor John Strong of Bates College will lecture.

Sponsored by the Mead Swing Lectureship Committee and the Religion Department.

Rachel Tzvia Back's most recent poetry collection, A Messenger Comes(2012), is described by the poet Irena Klepfisz as "poetry that, without apology, centers on grief and its faithful companion, memory"; according to poet Hank Lazer, this collection is "a harrowing & inspiring book of poems."[2] Among her previous poetry collections is Litany (1995),Azimuth (2001), The Buffalo Poems (2003), and On Ruins & Return: Poems 1999-2005 (2005).

 

Back has translated books by Hamutal Bar Yosef and Lea Goldberg and is currently working on translating the work of Tuvia Ruebner. Of her work, critic Andrew Mossin said "with its passionate interrogation and representation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, [Back's] work has its basis in personal, observed experience of a conflict that appears to be without end." Mossin also observed that Back's On Ruins & Return"continues the journey of her earlier volume, Azimuth, to inscribe in a poetry of psalmic intensity and astringent care the geographic, political and po-ethical realities of present-day Israel. Sponsored by Creative Writing, Jewish Studies, and the Office of Religious and Spiritual Life.

Friday, 2/22, 4:30-5:30 pm, Hallock Auditorium, AJ Lewis Environmental Studies Center

Shale gas has been called a 'game changer'--a path to energy independence and economic revival. Politicians and energy companies from Poland to Pennsylvania have been jumping on the bandwagon. So too have landowners, who hope that unlocking the energy resources beneath the ground will make them rich. But at what cost? The environmental dangers of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, could easily offset the benefits. Pulitzer Center journalist Dimiter Kenarov will explore the promises and risks of this rapidly spreading global phenomenon.

Friday, 2/22, 7 pm, West Lecture Hall

Professor Markides, a sociologist of religion, will discuss his journey of exploration and discovery of the mystic tradition of Eastern Christianity that is largely unknown to Western scholars and spiritual seekers. 

Kyriacos Markides received his Ph.D. from Wayne State University in 1971 and is currently a professor of sociology at the University of Maine. Kyriacos' areas of interest in teaching and research are: sociology of religion, sociological theory, sociology of mental illness and sociology of violence and international terrorism. His research has ranged from projects related to political sociology and nationalist movements to the sociology of religion, non-medical healing and Christian mysticism. For the last twenty years he has been exploring the lives and teachings of Christian mystics, healers, and miracle workers and monastics around the world. In this area he has written several important books published in English and in eight other languages. His most recent work is Inner River, A Pilgrimage to the Heart of Christian Spirituality. Sponsored by Oberlin Orthodox Christian Fellowship.

One lecture Monday, 3/4, Tuesday 3/5, Wednesday 3/6 and Thursday, 3/7, all 7:30 pm-9 pm

Monday, 3/4, 4:30 pm, First Church in Oberlin (UCC)

GlobalSolutions.org CEO Don Kraus speaks as part of Oberlin College Peace Week.   His focus will be on U.S. legislative action regarding United Nations conventions on women's rights and climate change. The presentation is a tribute to global peace and justice activist Floyd Ramp (1923-2012), a former Oberlin civic leader. A reception for friends, neighbors and fellow activists of Floyd Ramp will precede in First Church Fellowship Hall at 3 p.m. 

Monday, 3/4, 7:30 pm, Hallock Audorium, "Tales of the Waria" Screening

Tuesday, 3/5, 7:30 pm, Craig Auditorium, Jeff Redding on Trans Rights in Pakistan

In collaboration with the Year of the Queer interdisciplinary series, Shansi sponsors Queer Communities in Indonesia and Pakistan, a 2-day mini-series. The event includes a screening of the documentary, Tales of the Waria, winner of the San Diego Asian Film Festival Best Documentary Award, Barcelona Gay & Lesbian Film Festival Audience Choice Award, & Asian American International Film Festival Audience Choice Award.

 

The second night Shansi welcomes keynote speaker, Jeff Redding, to speak on the 2009 Supreme Court ruling of the Pakistani Court to better provide for their transgendered citizens. He aims to describe these developments and, in the process, use comparative inquiry to critically examine American stories and conceptions about how rights do or do not develop for queer populations around the world, and also in the United States.

Friday, 3/8, 7:30 pm, King 106

In honor of International Women's Day, Loretta Ross will lecture on Reproductive Justice, Religion, and Human Rights. Ross is co-founder of SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective, a network founded in 1997 comprised of 80 local, regional, and national organizations that focus on reproductive justice for women of color. Sponsored by the Mead Swing Lectureship Fund and the Oberlin Institute for Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies.  Event website: http://new.oberlin.edu/arts-and-sciences/departments/gender/intl-wom-day.

Tuesday, 4/2 Muslim Relationships: Gender in Muslim Traditions

Thursday, 4/4 Muslim Relationships: Gender in Muslim Traditions 2

Monday, 4/8 Muslim Women between Private and Public Space

Tuesday, 4/9 Feminine Power and Disempowerment through Muslim History

Wednesday, 4/10 Constructing and Deconstructing the Muslim Woman: Muslim Women and the Western discourse

Saturday, 4/6, 10 am-4 pm, Case Western Reserve University

Students, faculty and staff are welcome, and participants can present a workshop. Transportation from campus will be provided by the Office of Religious and Spiritual Life. To register contact greg.mcgonigle@oberlin.edu. Sponsored by Case Western Reserve University, John Carroll University, and Oberlin College.

Sunday, 4/7, 1-6 pm, Starting at the Multifaith Center

Students of all faiths and philosophies are invited to join in reflective community service in Oberlin and interfaith dialogue. More information coming soon. Contact Adah.Hetko@oberlin.edu or Alyssa.Phelps@oberlin.edu. Sponsored by the Office of Religious and Spiritual Life, the Bonner Center for Service and Learning, and the Interfaith Student Council.

Thursday, 4/25, 7:30 pm, West Lecture Hall

Sponsored by the Office of Religious and Spiritual Life and Oberlin Christian Fellowship.

Sunday, 5/26, 1:30 pm, Finney Chapel

Sponsored by the Office of Religious and Spiritual Life and the Commencement Reunion Weekend Committee.