CONFERENCE PROGRAM 

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 25TH 

9:55am

Gregory Simpson, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences

Welcome Address

10am – 11:30am

Gadadhara Pandit Dasa, Columbia University & NYU

Keynote Address: ‘Teaching Hinduism to non-Hindus’

                                                           

11:30am – 1pm:            Lunch Break

1pm – 2pm

                       

Daniel Liechty, Illinois State University

‘A Psychosocial Theory of Religion: Its Significance for Academic Religious Studies’

2pm – 3pm

Jack Laughlin & Kornel Zathureczky, University of Sudbury

‘Citizens United for Religious Studies Education: Teaching Religion Beyond the Curses of Literacy & Eliminationism’

3pm – 4pm

Katherine Jo, University of Illinois—Champaign-Urbana

‘Philosophy as Religious Education: Exploring the Common Ground & Divergent Truths of the Religious and the Secular’

4pm – 5:30pm  

Mark Berkson, Hamline University

Keynote Address: ‘Why, How, & Who?  Exploring the Big Questions in Religious Studies Pedagogy’

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 26TH 

9am – 10am     

Michael Barnes Norton, University of Arkansas

‘The Importance of the Study of Religion for Philosophy: Two Cases’

10am – 11am

Lisa Landoe-Hedrick, University of Chicago Divinity School

‘Cognitive Maturity & Responsible Selves: Pragmatist Insights for Interpersonal Communication & their Methodological Import for Religious Studies’

11am – Noon

Nathan C. Walker, Columbia University Teachers College

            ‘Teaching Legal Research & Analysis in Religious Studies’

                                   

Noon – 1pm:  Lunch Break

1pm – 2pm

            Daniel Breyer, Illinois State University

‘Naturalizing Religion: Three Buddhist Ideas that Even Non-Buddhists Can Endorse’     

Distinguished Speakers

Mark Berkson is Chair of the Department of Religion at Hamline University in St. Paul, MN. Professor Berkson’s research focuses on comparative religion, religious ethics, and interreligious dialogue. In 2008, he received Hamline University’s prestigious Outstanding Faculty Award. Recently, Professor Berkson produced a lecture series with The Great Courses entitled Cultural Literacy for Religion: Everything the Well-Educated Person Should Know.

Gadadhara Pandit Dasa (aka, Pandit) is a Hindu monk, a dynamic lecturer, and the first-ever Hindu chaplain for Columbia University and New York University. Pandit regularly contributes to the Huffington Post and recently published his autobiography, Urban Monk - Exploring Karma, Consciouness and the Divine. Recently, NPR featured Pandit in its story, ‘Long Days and Short Nights of a Hindu Monk.’

Mark Muesse is an Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Rhodes College in Memphis, TN. Professor Muesse’s research focuses on comparative religion and spirituality. This August, he published his most recent book, The Age of Sages: The Axial Age in Asia. In 2008, Professor Muesse won the Clarence Day Award for Outstanding Teaching, Rhodes College's highest faculty honor. Unfortunately, Professor Muesse experienced health problems that prevented him from attending the conference. Look for a version of his paper on the conference blog soon: http://whystudyreligion.blogspot.com