UH Philosophy Department lectures
The University of Houston Department of Philosophy is sponsoring several interesting lectures this academic year, including a talk on Monday, October 19, by William Ian Miller of the University of Michigan. The UH Libraries have several books by Prof. Miller available for checkout, including Eye for an Eye, which is also the title of his lecture.
Emerging Disciplines Symposium
Here’s an upcoming event at Rice University of possible interest to students and scholars of philosophy and religion:
The Emerging Disciplines Symposium will feature prominent scholars from across academic disciplines who are shaping important new fields of scholarly inquiry. Participants will discuss the research questions that have served as the impetus for their new approaches, the methodological strategies that their emerging field entails, intellectual opportunities and challenges requisite to the emerging field, graduate student engagement, strategies for sustaining new research models, and other related issues.
The speakers represent a broad range of interdisciplinary fields, including music and the mind, neurohistory, deep history, cultural economy, cognitive approaches to art history, digital humanities, and new approaches to Americas studies.
This one-day symposium is sponsored by the Mellon Foundation, the Council on Library and Information Resources, and Rice University’s Humanities Research Center.
The Humanities Research Center has copies of several books written by the participants. Please stop by Herring Hall 306 on the Rice Campus or call 713-348-4227 if you would like to borrow one.
The symposium will be held on Friday, September 18, and is free and open to all, no pre-registration required.
The Birth of Christianity: A Jewish Story
I’m finally back in business after maternity leave, office furniture disruptions, and the winter holidays, so you can expect regular posts again.
The Houston Museum of Natural Science is currently hosting an exhibit of interest to scholars and students of religion. “The Birth of Christianity: A Jewish Story” features a selection of ancient manuscripts and artifacts illustrating “the cultural, political and personal events that shaped Jerusalem and the surrounding region more than 2,000 years ago.” It runs through April 12, 2009.
Fall events
I don’t have time at the moment to update the usual events calendar, but check out what’s on offer at Rice’s Humanities Research Center and Scientia program to see some of the interesting lectures and symposia scheduled for coming months. The Jung Center, the Rothko Chapel, and the University of St. Thomas have also listed events for the fall.
Codex Judas Conference at Rice
I just found out that Rice University is hosting a major conference on the Tchacos Codex, a fourth-century Coptic book that contains the Gospel of Judas, the Apocalypse of James, the Letter of Peter to Philip, and a fragment of Allogenes and Satan. The conference begins today, March 13, and runs through March 16. Many highly-regarded scholars from around the world will be presenting papers, and all sessions appear to be open to the public. Two evening lectures, to be held tonight and Friday, are intended for a general audience and look especially interesting. These events will be followed by receptions and book signings.
Galveston Sacred Places Tour
If you’re looking for a way to take advantage of the gorgeous weather forecast for the Houston area this weekend, I highly recommend a trip to Galveston for the annual Sacred Places Tour. Scheduled for Saturday, February 9, from 9:00 to 4:30, the tour offers visitors the chance to see ten historic places of worship, a cemetery, and a labyrinth. Fran Gale, an architectural conservator, will speak at 9:00 at St. Joseph’s Church, and the tour sites open at 10:00.
Leibniz Conference
Welcome to the spring semester!
Rice University will host the First Annual Conference of the Leibniz Society of North America on its campus January 25-27. Speakers include the University of Houston’s Prof. Gregory Brown, as well as society president Martha Bolton of Rutgers University and the two most recent winners of the Leibniz Society Essay Contest, Larry M. Jorgensen of Valparaiso University and Jeffrey McDonough of Harvard University.
Upcoming Events at Rice
The Religious Studies Department at Rice University has announced a couple of fall events worth adding to your calendar.
The Burkitt Lecture will take place on Tuesday, September 25, and feature the Most Reverend Buti J. Tlhagele, Archbishop of Johannesburg, South Africa, speaking on the topic "Post Apartheid Challenges: HIV/AIDS and Security in South Africa." The event begins at 7:30 in 100 Herring Hall and is free and open to the public. If you would like to help publicize the event, a full-color flyer is available.
Friday, October 26, and Saturday, October 27, will bring the conference "Venturing Beyond the Beyond: A Generational Symposium on the Visual Imagery and Mystical Hermeneutics of Elliot R. Wolfson." Prof. Wolfson will participate in this conference, along with a number of distinguished invited speakers, and it will take place in the Kyle Morrow Room of Rice’s Fondren Library. Further details can be found on the events calendar of the Humanities Research Center.
“Lucy’s Legacy” at HMNS
Yesterday I attended a panel discussion at Rice University about the newly opened exhibit at the Houston Museum of Natural Science, "Lucy’s Legacy: The Hidden Treasures of Ethiopia." This exhibit, which includes the world-famous hominid skelton "Lucy," has received a lot of media attention, mainly because of several controversies related to it, including the risks involved with transporting fossil remains and displaying them to the public, the propriety of cooperation between museums and corrupt governments, and the role of museums in addressing the evolution debate.
Although much of the panel presentation focused on these controversies, I was interested to learn that the museum’s exhibit includes much more than Lucy; according to the website, over 100 Ethiopian artifacts, including manuscripts and treasures from ancient dynasties, are also on display. Ethiopia has an exceptionally rich religious heritage, so I imagine some of the show might be of interest to historians of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam.
The panel discussion should be available later as a webcast and podcast. "Lucy’s Legacy" will be on display in Houston until April 2008.
Lecture Series: Medical Ethics and the Holocaust
Over the course of the next several months, the Holocaust Museum Houston is presenting a 15-part lecture series entitled "Medical Ethics and the Holocaust." The series opens on September 9 with a panel discussion featuring three Nobel Prize winners. This opening event and the closing lectures will take place at Cullen Performance Hall on the University of Houston Main Campus, with the other lectures held at the museum, 5401 Caroline Street. These events are free and open to the public but require registration.
