Spread and Stack: The Development of the Roman Catholic Church from 33-461

Kaplan 365

In this talk by Gabriel Rossman, he attempts to explain the development of Christianity over its first six centuries from a highly localized charismatic sect to a hierarchical structure spanning much of the world. Rossman conceives of the formation of the Catholic Church as an illustrative case of large social structures forming in three overlapping...

Progressive Activists and the Bible

Online on Zoom

Some of America's most effective reformers did not just refer to the Bible, but fused their own struggles with its narratives, seeing themselves as part of a cosmic divine battle within history. Claudia Setzer will have us consider how abolitionist Frederick Douglass, Civil Rights leader Fannie Lou Hamer and others used multiple methods of biblical...

Power and Alterity in Black Religious Thought

Kaplan 365

Who is the human? What is legitimate religion? Who is left out of these discourses? Questions of power, humanity, and alterity animate religious discourse and responses to oppression. Leveraging the Rastafari movement and interrogating religious racism this talk will allow us to grapple with 20th century Black religious discourses and their continued relevance for thinking about how...

Symposium – Women and Goddesses in Jainism

Hershey Hall Salon 801 Hilgard Av, Los Angeles, United States

Photo credit: Samyak Modi   Throughout the history of Jainism, one of the world’s oldest living religions, Jain women have played a crucial role. Jain renouncers, whose self-denying lifestyle is revered as the highest ideal, are predominantly female, while Jain laywomen tend to be significantly more religiously active than their male counterparts. In this symposium,...