The nonviolent activism of Mahatma Gandhi, one of the last century's most revered figures, has exerted enormous influence across the world. Gandhi was himself greatly influenced by Jainism, an ancient religion whose practitioners, many of whom live in Gandhi's native state of Gujarat in north-western India, are committed to minimizing harm to living beings....

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In the 16th century, a Hebrew-speaking, battle-scarred, Black-skinned Jew named David Reubeni appeared suddenly in Venice with a desperate plan to restore Jewish pride and political independence. Why did kings, bishops, rabbis, bankers, and even a pope, open their homes and wallets for him? Some answers come from one of the weirdest documents in Jewish...

Zoom or In-Person event Click here to register In this book talk, author Diane Winston explores how after two years in the White House, an aging and increasingly unpopular Ronald Reagan looked like a one-term president, but something changed in 1983. Reagan spoke of his embattled agenda as a spiritual rather than a political project...

In-person and Zoom Register here for both in-person or Zoom The South Asian saint Shirdi Sai Baba has an ever-growing global diaspora. His inspiration and healing energies are boons reinforced for many by his defiance of religious communitarianism. In welcoming all castes, creeds, and nationalities, Baba offers an alternative to the divisiveness of his time...

ROOM FULL for in- person attendance. Accepting Zoom registration only. RSVP required. Register here Explore sources of peace and non-violence with leading teachers, including: Salam Al-Marayati - Muslim Public Affairs Council Professor Carol Bakhos - UCLA Center for the Study of Religion Rabbi Sharon Brous – Ikar Prof./Rabbi Aryeh Cohen - American Jewish University Aziza Hasan - Executive Director,...

In person (Haines 39) or on Zoom Register here for both in-person or Zoom attendance Returning to UCLA by popular demand, this lecture by Walid Saleh (University of Toronto) provides an overview of the major features of Classical Islam that solidified during the early Abbasid period. Such features include the  rise of major religious sciences...

In Person (Royce 306) or on Zoom Register here How do archaeologists unearth the daily life of people from Jesus’s time? Contrary to popular belief, archaeology of first-century Roman Galilee is not about illustrating or proving the gospels, drawing timelines, or hunting treasure. Rather, it is about understanding the lives of people, just like us,...

In person (Kaplan 365) This guest lecture examines the little known multicultural religious protests to the Spanish Conquest of colonial Latin America.  Such protests began in 1511 under the guidance of Dominican friar Antonio de Montesinos and led to “The Great Debate” in which, for the first time in recorded human history, an entire nation...