Philosophy & World Religions

Tickets & Premiums

Tickets:  $30.  Tax deductible.  Tickets go on sale September 1, 2008.

How to purchase tickets and reserve a premium

Come by: Baker Hall 135 on UNI campus

Call: 319/273-6221 or 319/273-6223

Email:  benefit-lectures@uni.edu

At the door if still available

Premiums

The following presentations and mini-courses about religion, ethics, and philosophy are available on a first-come basis to organizations or groups of individuals at two levels—the 10-ticket level and the 30-ticket level.  Payment must be received within 10 days of reserving a premium, after which it will be made available to someone else.

Presentations available at the 10-ticket ($300) level

              These presentations are 30-60 minutes long, depending on the needs of the purchaser. Formats may be formal or informal.  Normally, presenters should not be asked to travel more than two hours each way for these presentations.  Specific dates and locations should be arranged directly with the presenter. Call 319/273-6221 to contact presenters.  Premiums expire on Aug 15, 2009.

1.  Business Ethics: Why Government Is Not “the Problem.”  Many believe that business ethics happens at individual and organizational levels only, but good government is also essential.  Donna Wood, David W. Wilson Professor of Business Ethics.

2.  What’s Wrong with the Golden Rule?  It’s nearly universal, but the Golden Rule isn’t quite the all-purpose ethics guide that we like to think it is.  Donna Wood, David W. Wilson Professor of Business Ethics.

3.  Globalization & Business Citizenship: The News Isn’t All Bad!  Globalization brings benefits as well as harms.  The case of the Danish company Aarhus in Burkina Faso illustrates how sustainable enterprise can operate.  Donna Wood, David W. Wilson Professor of Business Ethics.

4.  The Role of Philosophy in a Democracy.  Socrates, the founder of Western philosophy, viewed philosophy not as an ivory-tower luxury, but as a collective activity that is essential to a democratic society.  Why?  Edgar Boedeker, Associate Professor of Philosophy.

5.  Human Rights and the Duty to Realize Them.  A full discussion of the “Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” including its purpose, enforcement, the predicament of refugees, and other critical issues.  William Clohesy, Professor of Philosophy.

6.  Is Religion Moral?  Many who claim to be religious have done evil things in the name of their God or gods.  Explore the way that morality emerges in religion, and how critical ethical reflection holds the key to judging religious action.  Jerome Soneson, Associate Professor of Religion.

7.  One Family’s Experience in the Holocaust.  Harry Brod tells an amazing tale of Berlin’s Jewish Hospital, where his mother was a nurse and he was born, her parents’ concentration camp experiences, and his father’s resistance in the forests of Poland.  Harry Brod, Professor of Philosophy & Humanities.

8.  Fathering as a Service Occupation?  How can we support more positive ways to be a father?  Harry Brod, Professor of Philosophy & Humanities.

9.  What’s a Straight White Male Doing in the Feminist, Anti-Racist, and Lesbian and Gay Liberation Movements?  Why and how do those from dominant social groups join those from subordinated groups as allies for justice?  Harry Brod, Professor of Philosophy & Humanities.

10.  Digging for Jesus.  Introduction to recent archaeological discoveries about Jesus and the first Christians.  Ken Atkinson, Associate Professor of Religion.

11. The Dead Sea Scrolls.  What do these ancient manuscripts, discovered in a cave and a source of intrigue and conflict, tell us about the development of Christianity?  Ken Atkinson, Associate Professor of Religion.

12. When Women Were Priests.  Meet the female Christian leaders in the New Testament and other early Christian documents.  Ken Atkinson, Associate Professor of Religion.

13. Understanding Religious Cults.  Why do people like us join marginal religious groups such those recently in the news?  Betty DeBerg, Professor of Religion.

14. If We Are Not There, Our Parents Are: Ethical Issues in Aging and Death.  Most people die long, drawn out, painful deaths where their wishes are ignored.  Why does this happen and how can we spare ourselves this fate?  Francis Degnin, Assistant Professor of Philosophy.

15. Ethics, Aids, and Alzheimers.  Reflect together on common religious interpretations of disease.  Is it God’s punishment?  Are we being tested by God?  Francis Degnin, Assistant Professor of Philosophy.

16.  You Can’t Make this Stuff Up: Adventures of a Medical Ethicist.  A selection of strange cases from real life and what they have to teach us.  Francis Degnin, Assistant Professor of Philosophy.

17. Mary Magdalene: Prostitute or Apostle?  What do the Bible and biblical scholars conclude about Mary Magdalene, her relationship with Jesus, and her life after his death?  Susan Hill, Associate Professor of Religion.

18. The Seven Deadly Sins Then and Now.  The place of the seven deadly sins—lust, gluttony, anger, envy, pride, greed, sloth—in Christian teaching and their continuing relevance in today’s world.  Susan Hill, Associate Professor of Religion.

19. Religion in Contemporary China.  China is increasingly important in world affairs.  Though officially an atheist nation, much religious activity is going on in China.  James Robinson, Associate Professor of Religion.

20.  Buddhism and Zen.  Buddhism is not only an important religion in Asia, but increasingly so in the U.S.  This talk will focus on Buddhism as a religion without a god, with an emphasis on Zen Buddhism.  James Robinson, Associate Professor of Religion.

21.  Voices of Thunder: African American Women in the Pulpit.  Listen to the historic and contemporary voices of African American women preachers on moral and social issues.  Scharron Clayton, Associate Professor of Ethnic & Cultural Studies.

22.  The Ethics of Gossip.  Discussion of the definition of, motives for, and ethics of gossip.  Margaret Holland, Associate Professor of Philosophy.

23.  The Hip Hop Church.  Explore the intersection of the Black Church and hip hop culture.  Scharron Clayton, Associate Professor of Ethnic & Cultural Studies.

24.  The Family Altar:  Ancestor Worship in Asia.  In much of Asia, people believe that deceased family members maintain an ongoing relationship with the living that is celebrated through ancestor worship.  This show-and-tell presentation features items from family altars, and explains their meaning. Martha Reineke, Professor of Religion.

25.  More Than 900 Gods!  Hinduism includes the worship of many gods and goddesses.  Are these idols--or manifestations of the sacred?  This show-and-tell presentation features religious objects and images of the gods, and discusses their meaning.  Martha Reineke, Professor of Religion.

26.  The Religion of the Dalai Lama.  Explore the Tibetan Buddhist faith that undergirds the ethical commitments of the Dalai Lama, refugee from Tibet and Nobel Prize winner.  James Robinson, Associate Professor of Religion.

27.  What Do We Really Know, and Why Do We Care?  We believe that we “know” many things.  What does it mean to “know” something?  Chances are this presentation will change the way we think.  Reza Lahroodi, Associate Professor of Philosophy.

Mini-courses available at the 30-ticket ($900) level

                  These mini-courses consist of four sessions that are 60-90 minutes each.  Normally presenters should not be asked to travel more than two hours each way.  Specific dates and locations should be arranged directly with the presenter. Call 273-6221 to contact presenters. Premiums expire on Aug. 15, 2009.

1.  Comparative Christianity.  Within global Christianity are many different ways of being Christian and of understanding the faith.  Explore Eastern Orthodoxy, Roman Catholicism, and the varieties of Protestantism.  Betty DeBerg, Professor of Religion.

2.  Youth is Wasted on the Young: What Death Teaches Us about Living.  Only when one knows how to die does one really know how to live.  Francis Degnin, Assistant Professor of Philosophy.

3.  Faith, Science, and Intelligent Design.  What is the reality behind the hot political rhetoric surrounding this issue?  Can science and faith co-exist?  Francis Degnin, Assistant Professor of Philosophy.

4.  Angels around the World.  A look at angels and angel-like beings in Christianity and other religions around the world.  James Robinson, Associate Professor of Religion.

5.  Was Reverend Wright Wronged?  Explore the teaching, preaching, worship, and social justice ministry of the Black Church.  Scharron Clayton, Associate Professor of Ethnic & Cultural Studies.