Secular Rituals: How Nonreligious People Make Religion Less Religious

Royce 306

As more Americans become nonreligious, life-cycle rituals and other ceremonies that religious experts once performed are increasingly the responsibility of everyday people and ritual experts for hire. Very secular people avoid rituals or work hard to minimize their resemblance to religion. Secular people who have left strict religious groups often rebel by inverting the rituals...

The Báb, Sayyid Ali Muhammad Shirazi (1819 – 1850): His Life, Writings, and Religion

UCLA Faculty Center

Schedule: 8am-9am: Light breakfast 9am-12:30pm: Morning Session: The Movement of the Báb Welcome by Dr. Simon Joseph (UCLA) Moderated by Dr. Nahid Pirnazar (UCLA) Performance by Dr. Manouchehr Sadeghi Introduced by Dr. Latifeh Hagigi (UCLA) Presentations by Dr. Sholeh Quinn (UC Merced), Dr. Abbas Amanat (Yale University), and Dr. Janet Afary (UC Santa Barbara) 12:30pm-2pm:...

Book Talk: Blackbird Blues

Kaplan 365

CHICAGO, Illinois – The height of the Civil Rights era merges with the hauntingly beautiful swinging sounds of Chicago jazz in award-winning reporter and psychologist Jean K. Carney’s debut novel, “Blackbird Blues” (Oct. 1, 2019, Bedazzled Ink Publishing). Following the death of her teacher and mentor Sister Michaeline, aspiring jazz singer Mary Kaye meets Lucius,...

Prayer Books from Medieval Byzantium: New Evidence for Religion and Society

Young Research Library Room 11348

Byzantine prayer books (euchologia) contain—in addition to the eucharistic and other sacramental liturgies— a vast number of short prayers pronounced by the clergy on particular occasions in the life of a person or in the annual cycle of a community. Although these prayers address the concerns of all levels of society, regardless of social and...

Muhammad’s Treaty Guaranteeing Equal Rights for Jews Under Islamic Rule

Royce 306

According to classic Islamic law and historical memory, Jews and Christians living under Muslim rule are governed according to a set of rules authorized by the great `Umar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, the second caliph and the noble conqueror who carved out the imposing empire of Islam. These rules established legal status for monotheistic religious minorities, but...

Religion and Revolution: The Puritan Movement (c. 1560-1660) in Britain Reconsidered

Royce 306

Who were the “Puritans”? The short answer is, a party within the two state churches (Scotland and England) dissatisfied with anything short of a “thorough” or “perfect” Protestantism that eliminated every trace of “idolatry,” curtailed the authority of the monarchy in matters of religion, and set a high standard for being a “sincere” Christian. A...

2020 Winter Calendar

Click here for 2020 Winter Calendar of Events

The Genesis of Good and Evil: The Fall(Out) and Original Sin in the Bible

Royce 306

Genesis 3 is classically understood in Christian tradition as the biblical account of the Fall of humanity from divine grace, resulting in humanity’s general sinful condition. As John Milton began his epic poem, Paradise Lost: "Of Mans First Disobedience, and the Fruit/ of that Forbidden Tree, whose mortal tast/Brought Death into the World, and all...

The ‘Religionization’ of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

UCLA Faculty Center

There has long been a popular misconception that the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians is driven by religion. This is historically inaccurate, but religion is having an increasing impact on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict today. In this talk, Professor Dov Waxman will explore the growing role of religion in the conflict, and the implications of this...