Wednesday, May 10: Matt Katz on “Moral Injury from Auschwitz to America”

Dear friends,

Please join the Theology and Religious Ethics Workshop for a presentation by Matthew Katz, M.Div.

When: Wednesday 5/10 at 4:45 pm
Where: Swift 106

Here is Matt’s abstract:

Lawyering in the inner-city for a decade representing victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, police abuse, etc., having been motivated growing up with the stories of Holocaust survivors to work for “never again,” put me in the eye of the story of our contemporary American version of man’s injustice to man. Religious Ethics at the Divinity School exposed me to the theory of moral injury, which scholars and psychologists have traditionally used to explain PTSD in veterans of war. By discussing how this theory might apply to the emotional, moral and physical violence endemic to today’s legal system, we might discern new ways of understanding the theory as well as our modern methods of meaning making.

This workshop is free and open to everyone. Food and wine will be served.

We hope to see you there!

Raúl

TOMORROW, Wednesday, April 26: RL Watson presents “Darkness as Moral Aesthetic: Failing Attempts at Empathy”

Dear friends,
Please join us for our next workshop!Wednesday, April 26th
4:45 – 6 pm
Swift room 201

RL Watson presents “Darkness as Moral Aesthetic: Failing Attempts at Empathy.”

Abstract: To be in “darkness” is to be morally in the wrong, defunct, and ignorant, and these understandings of this family of words are supported and generated again and again with startling reliability by our society and its antecedents. It is increasingly in poor taste to make explicit use of darker-skinned human bodies to represent these negative attributes, and, accordingly, darkness has been increasingly relegated to its role as a conceptual descriptor, disassociated from essentializations of the skin as marker of moral (dis)ability. However, the presumed separation between the use of darkness as a symbol of badness, and the use of darkness as an aesthetic descriptor is a false one, not borne out by representations of darkness, depravity, the demonic, and darker bodies. Moreover, belief in the possibility of this semantic separation allows for discrimination, separation, invisibility, and death to take hold unabated, as our perception of dark bodies invokes a miasma of violence, fear, rejection, disgust, and any number of responses deemed only natural when one responds to moral darkness, unassociated with any particular body. (E.g., Darren Wilson’s infamous description of Michael Brown: “It looked like a demon.”)

Questions for discussion: What options may there be for combating the effects of our semantic inheritance? Is it possible to defund our aesthetic descriptors of their attendant moral meanings? Is recognition of the attending liabilities in our use of aesthetic language to describe or imply moral conditions sufficient to combat the disproportionately felt ill effects of these frameworks?

The event is free. Food and drinks will be provided. All are welcome!

Hope to see you there!

Wed 4/12: Join Sara-Jo Swiatek on “The ‘Human Prejudice’ and Nonhuman Others”

The Theology and Religious Ethics Workshop and the Animal Studies Workshop invite you to join us for a joint event:

Wednesday, April 12, 2017
4:45 – 6:00 pm
Swift 106
The ‘Human Prejudice’ and Nonhuman Others presented by Sara-Jo Swiatek, PhD Student, Religious Ethics with a response by David Barr, PhD Candidate, Religious Ethics

Sara-Jo Swiatek offers a critical reading of Bernard Williams’s essay, “The Human Prejudice” (2006). According to Williams, “human being” is an ethical concept that involves loyalty to, or identity with, one’s own species. On his account, “human being” is a perfectly coherent and morally relevant category. The fact that we use “human being” implicitly as an ethical concept, he suggests, merely indicates that there is no need to provide an alternative set of criteria to evaluate creatures one by one. Since humans are the only species that can reflect on and be motivated by species membership, we need not concern ourselves with justifying the human prejudice. In fact, there may be something serious at stake in rejecting it.

While Williams’s essay raises important questions regarding how we conceive of ourselves as a species, affirming species identity and preserving the human prejudice cannot get us out of the problems it is assumed to address. Williams’s approach is limited because he fails to account for the emotional aspects of the so-called human preference and offers us a distorted picture of how we relate to both human and nonhuman animals. The work of moral philosopher Mary Midgley helps us to see that the morality of species identity must be put into context with other human preferences and understood with respect to our capacity to form deep emotional bonds with other social creatures.

David considers how some of the debates in environmental ethics might challenge or support Sara-Jo’s position. Following his response, all are welcome to join the conversation.

Workshops are free and open to the public. Food and drink will be provided.
 
Bernard Williams, “The Human Prejudice” available at: https://uchicago.box.com/s/qhuiy0zzt961njyqv2zewizd43tun5vl

TOMORROW, Wed. January 25th: Rick Durance presents “‘You Have No Right To Do As You Like With Me’: Womanist Discourses on Theological Retrieval”

Friends,

Please join us TOMORROW for a nice presentation and discussion with our dear Rick Durance. Please, see the information below.

Wednesday 1/25
4:30 PM – 5:50 PM
Swift Hall room 200

Rick Durance presents “You Have No Right To Do As You Like With Me”: Womanist Discourses on Theological Retrieval

Abstract:
M. Shawn Copeland recounts a story of resistance within Harriet Jacob’s autobiography about her life in slavery. In response to claims of ownership by others, she responds, “You have tried to kill me, and I wish you had; but you have no right to do as you like with me.” Copeland describes that act as a fundamental and profound self-affirmation against those who would seek to claim other’s bodies or minds, especially those of women (“Wading Through Many Sorrows,” 122).


In response to such moments in Copeland’s work including her book Enfleshing Freedom, this paper seeks to examine methodological tensions in recapitulating history in certain theologies (an issue raised by Womanist scholars). This paper begins by highlighting how memory and history relate in Copeland’s work as well as how Medieval and Historical theologians have emphasized them, such as in the works of Burcht Pranger and Willemien Otten. Furthermore, one can distinguish several different sub-genres of constructive theology that have placed an explicit focus on history and reintegration of this matter into the present, including the mid-20th century Catholic movement of Nouvelle Théologie and the more recent Protestant movement of “Theology of Retrieval.” This essay offers that Womanist Theology also seeks to determine how contemporary scholars adjudicate and retrieve history. In such cases, remembering in Womanist theology becomes an act of ethical importance and ultimately resistance when opposing any effort to obscure the past or reify previous structures. It concludes by proposing that Womanism and other Liberationist theologies can productively participate in, and even further, the aims of Medieval and Early Modern Christian studies within theological discourses. 

 
Discussion will follow the presentation. Light refreshments will be served. All are welcome. Rick’s paper is attached below.

Hope to see you tomorrow!

Raúl and Miriam

Call for Paper Proposals

Dear Colleagues,

The Theology & Religious Ethics Workshop invites paper proposals for winter and spring of 2017.

We invite conference papers, dissertation chapters, papers prepared for publications, and other works-in-progress,concerning topics in theology and religious ethics. Students from all degree programs are encouraged to participate.

Theme for this year: Religion and Violence

While the Workshop welcomes submissions on any theme, we particularly encourage this year’s presenters to consider questions of religion and violence, such as the following:

What constitutes a violent act? What must violence symbolize if it is to be considered religious violence? What kinds of moral questions arise when we inflict violence on ourselves, on our own bodies? Can acts of violence be interpreted as acts of love? Is there a redemptive value in violent death as some religious traditions argue? How are we to make sense of the way in which violence in contemporary times goes ‘viral’? What does it mean to bear witness to violence from the comfort and safety of our own homes? Does violence ever bring people together—can it be a form of intimacy—or must it always tear and separate? How is divine violence depicted in literature, scripture, and the arts? 

Six Presentation Formats

The Theology and Religious Ethics Workshop offers six different styles or formats for our biweekly meetings: Conference-Style Format, Debate, Panel Discussion, Second Opinion, “Tell Us Your Story”, and “Tell Us Why it Matters.” We hope that by offering these different formats students will engage and experiment with different forms of intellectual inquiry. We encourage presenters to try a new format to diversify the conversation!

If you are interested in presenting, please write to us with the following information:

  • A tentative title for your presentation
  • Your program and departmental affiliation
  • The format you are choosing
  • Your preferred term (winter or spring)
  • A brief abstract of your project (200-300 words)

The Theology and Religious Ethics Workshop will meet Wednesdays, 4:30-5:50, in Swift 208. Please join us!

Wednesday, Nov. 30th: Theology and Religious Ethics Workshop end of the year dinner

Dear friends,

The year is ending and winter is coming, but before things get too cold to leave our homes we want to invite you to a special end of the year dinner sponsored by the Theology and Religious Ethics workshop and the Theology and Ethics clubs.
When: Wednesday, November 30th at 7:00 pm.
 
Where: Raúl’s place (details will be sent later)
 
Now, due to limitations of space and budget we will have to keep the crowd under a reasonable number. So please email me (rzegarra@uchicago.edu) to confirm that you are coming and if you are bringing someone else with you. We will make it “first come first serve”. As soon as we know who is coming, we will email back with details  (address, where to park, menu, etc.).
Our cook will be the fantastic Tamar, so get ready for some amazing food! There will be meat lovers’ and vegetarian options, but please let us know if you have any special dietary restriction. We will be sure to provide enough wine, but feel free to bring any other spirits you may like.
Hope to see you soon!
Raúl and Miriam

Wednesday 11/9: Ekaterina Lomperis on “Costs of our Healing: On Martin Luther, Facebook, and the Problem of Global Health”

Wednesday 11/9, 4:30 PM – 5:50 pm, Swift 208

Ekaterina Lomperis, “Costs of our Healing:  On Martin Luther, Facebook, and the Problem of Global Health”

The paper examines little-studied theological teachings about medicine by the founder of the Protestant Reformation, Martin Luther, based on close readings of his writings, especially his lectures on Genesis and Deuteronomy. I argue that, for Luther, human pursuits of healing were spiritual and morally charged enterprises. I further show that his writings on medicine were informed by his concerns about the limits of healing and ethical dangers inherent in the pursuits of health.  Renewed attention to such concerns can shed a new light on present public conversations regarding medicine: from Facebook’s new biomedical research initiative to global health inequalities.

This session will be co-sponsored by the Theology and Religious Ethics Workshop and the Global Christianities Workshop. Light refreshments will be served. Attendees are encouraged to email elomperis@uchicago.edu for a copy of her paper to read in advance of the workshop.

Two events this week! Joanna Nowotny on Wednesday Nov. 2nd and Devin O’Rourke on Friday Nov. 4th

Dear friends,

Please join us this week for two great presentations:

“Kierkegaard IS a Jew! The reception of Sören Kierkegaard in Jewish Modernity.” 

November 2, 4:30 – 5:30 pm
Swift 208

Joanna Nowotny, PhD student at ETH Zurich, will lead a presentation and discussions on her paper, “Kierkegaard IS a Jew! The reception of Sören Kierkegaard in Jewish Modernity.” This workshop is open to all. Light refreshments will be served. Attendees can email joanna.nowotny@lit.gess.ethz.ch to read the full paper in advance.

and

“The Agony of Inter-religious Dialogue: Reimagining a Contemporary Discursive Practice.”

November 4, 4:30 – 5:30 pm
Swift 208

Is engaging in inter-religious dialogue really the best way for religious people in morally and religiously diverse societies to live together responsibly? Join the Theology and Religious Ethics Workshop to consider this question as Devin O’Rourke leads a presentation and discussion on “The Agony of Inter-religious Dialogue: Reimagining a Contemporary Discursive Practice.” This workshop is open to all. Light refreshments will be served. Attendees can email dorourke@uchicago.edu to read the full paper in advance of the workshop.

We really hope to see you there!

Raúl and Miriam

Workshop Call for Proposals

The Theology & Religious Ethics Workshop invites paper proposals for the 2016-2017 academic year.

We invite conference papers, dissertation chapters, papers prepared for publications, and other works-in-progress, concerning both research and teaching in theology and religious ethics. Students from all degree programs are encouraged to participate.

The Theology and Religious Ethics Workshop is an intellectual forum that hosts vibrant conversations on topics related to theology and religious ethics. Acknowledging that theology and religious ethics are two distinct areas of study, an important aim of the Workshop is to bring the relationship between the two disciplines into focus. We encourage presenters to make the nature of this relationship part of their concerns while participating in the Workshop, though it need not be addressed explicitly. All methodological approaches, historical periods, and geographical contexts are welcome for discussion.

Theme for this year’s Workshop: Religion and Violence

What constitutes a violent act? What must violence symbolize if it is to be considered religious violence? What kinds of moral questions arise when we inflict violence on ourselves, on our own bodies? Can acts of violence be interpreted as acts of love? Is there a redemptive value in violent death as some religious traditions argue? How are we to make sense of the way in which violence in contemporary times goes ‘viral’? What does it mean to bear witness to violence from the comfort and safety of our own homes? Does violence ever bring people together—can it be a form of intimacy?—or must it always tear and separate? How is divine violence depicted in literature, scripture, and the arts?

The Theology and Religious Ethics Workshop offers five different “styles” or formats for our biweekly meetings. We hope that by offering these different formats students will engage and experiment with different forms of intellectual inquiry. Last year was the first time we tried them and they worked very well for both the presenters and audience. We encourage you to experiment with one or more of them and join us in this effort to diversify the ways in which we keep the conversation going.

If you are interested in presenting, please write to us with the following information:

  • A tentative title for your presentation
  • Your program and departmental affiliation
  • The format you are choosing
  • Your preferred term (winter or spring)
  • A brief abstract of your project (200-300 words)

The Theology and Religious Ethics Workshop will meet Wednesdays, 4:30-5:50, during the 2016-2017 academic year. Meetings will take place every other week.

Wednesday, June 1

Navigating Normativity: Pedagogical Challenges and Opportunities of Diverse Commitments in the Classroom (with the Theology & Religious Ethics Workshop)
4:30 – 6:30 PM
Location: Swift 106

It as become a truism that there is no neutral position from which course material may be examined, either on the part of students or of teachers. Not exclusively but certainly not least in religious studies, students and teachers alike enter a class with held positions of some kind toward the objects of inquiry. Particularly when the material at hand is disturbing or provocative (e.g. the Crusades; demonic possession), ethically uncompromising (e.g. animal rights activism; the Left Behind novels), or under contemporary public scrutiny (e.g. race relations; religiously motivated violence), being able to monitor and respond to the range of attitudes brought to bear by participants in the classroom is essential to ensuring learning. However, just how to relate to these commitments and to what extent address them explicitly can trouble even veteran teachers.This workshop is intended to cultivate sensitivity and strategy in relation to the commitments of students and teachers, which come together in an inevitable but variable mixture specific to each classroom setting. Teaching effectively to and not only about diversity is a challenge that we will embrace. There will not be one solution but rather a palette of possibilities with which teachers may choose to proceed in light of their pedagogical contexts and goals. Our panel represents three different fields in three different institutional settings:

Prof. Laurie Zoloth (Northwestern University) is Professor of Religious Studies, Professor of Bioethics and Medical Humanities at the Feinberg School of Medicine, and Director of Graduate Studies at Northwestern University’s Department of Religious Studies. She is co-chair of the American Academy of Religion’s Section on women and Religion and a member of the Society for Scriptural Reasoning, and she has been a member of the NASA National Advisory Council.

Prof. Jonathan Ebel (U of I Urbana-Champaign) is Director of Graduate Studies and Associate Professor, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Department of Religion. His research program involves religion and war, religion and violence, lay theologies of economic hardship all within the American context. He is a graduate of the University of Chicago Divinity School (PhD, 2004).

Prof. Valerie Johnson (DePaul University) is Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Political Science at DePaul University. Her research focuses on urban politics, African-American politics, and urban education.

See more at: https://divinity.uchicago.edu/60116-navigating-normativity-pedagogical-challenges-and-opportunities-diverse-commitments-classroom#sthash.9B3uv6Fr.dpuf