UNI Speakers Bureau - Religion
Please call the Office of University Marketing and Public Relations at 319-273-2761 or email stacey.christensen@uni.edu, to request a speaker. Speakers do not charge fees, unless otherwise noted. Upon request, we will provide background information to introduce the speaker. When the topic or event warrants, the Office of University Marketing and Public Relations will send a news release to media serving your area.
RESEARCH ON PRAYER AND PATIENT OUTCOMES
There is little doubt that, under many circumstances, prayer can improve patient outcomes. But is this due to the intercessory power of prayer, or is it due to a form of placebo effect. In other words, does the person get better simply because they believe prayer helps? Presenter reviews the issues and the research on prayer and patient outcomes.
LITERATURE AND THE BIBLE
How literature can be used to lead children to the lessons and stories of the Bible.
LITERATURE AND THE BIBLE.
Christian leaders and educators are concerned that children have no interest in the Bible and do not know its content. This presentation shows how literature can be used to lead children to the lessons and stories of the bible. Excerpts from popular children's literature titles will be used to demonstrate how lessons of the Christian faith are woven into stories and can be used as a teaching tool for faith formation. Additionally, speaker can present her book "A Parent's Guide to Harry Potter" and offer it for purchase and signing.
HARRY POTTER AND CHRISTIAN FAITH FORMATION
Places Harry Potter in the fairy tale genre and addresses the fears and concerns of some members of the Christian community who believe Harry Potter promotes witchcraft/occult/wicca. Speaker will point out Christian parallels in the books and offer ways to be in meaningful Christian conversations with children that actually teach Christian lessons and values. Speaker will also discuss how parents can use the books to foster healthy moral development. Also speaker can present her book "A Parent's Guide to Harry Potter" and offer it for purchase and signing.
RELIGION AND POLITICS
RELIGION AND SOCIETY
HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE.
Explores the speaker's identity as a child of Holocaust survivors and the effects of the Holocaust on contemporary Jewish identities.
SEPHARDIC STUDIES.
Who are the Sephardic Jews? Where do they come from? What language(s) do they speak? This is a sizable component of the world Jewish community, but historically it is culturally and linguistically different from the majority of American Jews.
THE PEOPLE OF THE COMIC BOOK: IT'S A MAN! IT'S A JEW! IT'S SUPERMENSCH!
Did you know Superman is Jewish? Come learn how Clark Kent and Superman embody the real and fantasy lives of their creators, two Jewish teenagers in Depression era Cleveland. Many comic book heroes are from the imagination of Jewish men. Presentation explores themes of gendered power and powerlessness, of diasporic longings and immigrant uncertainties that these men inscribed into their superhuman creations. Talk also looks into these and other issues to generate new understandings of our heroes, and our selves.