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2010 Schedule of Programs
Fordham Center on Religion and Culture Programs and Events: all events are free and open to the public, unless noted otherwise. Please be advised that event details such as location, contact information, and RSVP information are specific for each program. Due to the popularity of our programs, seating is on a first come, first serve basis.
When the Saint Met the Sultan
A Medieval ‘Summit’ with 21st-Century Lessons?
Wednesday, February 17, 6-8 PM
Fordham University, Lincoln Center Campus
12th Floor Lounge, 113 West 60th Street
Free and Open to the Public
RSVP: CRCevent@fordham.edu, 212.636.7347
In 1219, in the middle of the Fifth Crusade, Francis of Assisi crossed enemy lines and met the sultan of Egypt in search of peace.
{That’s a fact}
What really happened in this meeting? What does it teach us about the encounter between Christianity and Islam? What does it tell us about the use and abuse of history?
{That’s a debate}
Four authors, four contrasting views:
Paul Moses, Brooklyn College, journalist and author, The Saint and the Sultan: The Crusades, Islam, and Francis of Assisi’s Mission of Peace.
John Tolan, University of Nantes, historian and author, Saint Francis and the Sultan: The Curious History of a Christian-Muslim Encounter.
Kathleen Warren, OSF, filmmaker and author, Daring to Cross the Threshold: Francis of Assisi Encounters Sultan Malek al-Kamil.
Adnan Husain Queen’s University Canada, historian and author, Identity Polemics: Encounters with Islam in the Medieval Mediterranean World (1150-1300).
Religion & Madness: Spirituality & Pathology
Cosponsored with the Fordham University Theatre Program
Tuesday, 2 March 2010, 6-8 p.m.
Fordham University, Lincoln Center Campus
Pope Auditorium, 113 West 60th Street
Free and Open to the Public
RSVP: theatredept@fordham.edu, 212-636-6340
Ever since ancient Greece honored Dionysus, patron of the theatre and source of divine frenzy, religion and madness have been linked on the stage. To cap a season of plays dealing with these elemental forces, Fordham’s Theatre Program and the Fordham Center on Religion and Culture are mounting an unusual forum that will combine dramatic excerpts with commentary by a psychologist, a theologian and an actress.
For many moderns, the only question has been whether religion is the cause of mental disturbance or the result of it. And today, believers themselves recognize that neurosis, obsession, hallucination and even the most destructive pathological conduct can be rooted in religion. But religion, they would point out, has also proved itself the wellspring of healing, sensitivity, strength and perseverance. Some argue that it is the essence of sanity. Both religion and madness take the self beyond the self—and beyond social convention. For the theatre, that has made religion and madness entry points for exploring what is normal or abnormal, wisdom or folly, liberating or oppressive, heroism or fanaticism, reality or delusion.
This forum will look for insight into sanctity and sanity, the brighter and darker sides of religion, and the power of theatre as well as the art and science of healing.
Moderator:
Matthew Maguire, Director of the Fordham University Theatre Program; he will introduce excerpts from this season’s plays and serve as moderator.
Panelists:
James Jones, clinical psychologist, is professor of religion at Rutgers University and author of many books including Religion and Psychology and Terror and Transformation.
George Drance, S.J., actor, Fordham artist-in-resident and teacher, is a contributor to the book Working on the Inside: The Spiritual Life Through the Eyes of Actors by Retta Blaney.
Julie White, actress, won a 2007 Tony Award for her performance in "The Little Dog Laughed" and has appeared in many Broadway plays and television programs, including "Grace Under Fire."
A Season of Madness- Multiple refractions of madness provide the thematic thread running through the four plays of Fordham Theatre Program’s 2009/10 season:
Don DeLillo, "The Day Room," a mental ward where it’s hard to tell patients from doctors.
Emily Mann, "Mrs. Packard," the fight of a reformer whose husband committed her for defying him.
Maria Irene Fornes, "Sarita," the woes of obsessive love that drive a girl to an act of madness.
William Shakespeare, "Hamlet," a tale of murder and madness—both real and feigned.
For more information about Fordham Theatre Program’s 2009/10 season, go to: www.fordham.edu/theatre
More 2010 programs to come... please check back soon!
Transcripts Coming Soon!
Headline Forum: Becoming Latino
The Transformation of U.S. Catholicism
Wednesday, December 9, 2009 |6-8 pm
Fordham University, Lincoln Center Campus
Pope Auditorium, 113 West 60th Street
In two decades Latino Catholics will constitute at least 40 percent of the Catholic population in the United States -- and possibly a majority. How will that transform American Catholicism? What challenges does it present in terms of pastoral practices, institutional changes, new leadership and cultural and socio-economic divisions? What lessons can the church draw from its immigrant past. What entirely new lessons will the church have to learn? A panel of experts looks at these questions -- from demography to spirituality to politics and beyond.
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