Spring 2021 Navigating Topographies of Belonging and Difference: Contemporary Shared Sacred Sites in the Mediterranean
Dr. Karen Barkey The Haas Distinguished Chair of Religious Diversity at the Othering & Belonging Institute and Professor of Sociology at UC Berkeley Watch the Lecture
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Spring 2020 Rethinking the Study of African Indigenous Religion in the 21st Century
Dr. Jacob Olupona Professor of African Religious Traditions, Professor of African and African American Studies in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Watch the Lecture
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Spring 2019 How Religious Education Can Make America Great: Reflections on Diversity, Tribalism and Interfaith Leadership
Eboo Patel Founder and President, Interfaith Youth Core (IFYC) Watch the Lecture
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Spring 2018
The Surjit Singh Lecture for 2018 was cancelled. Dr. Saba Mahmood, professor of anthropology at UC Berkeley and a long-time friend of the GTU, had been invited to be the speaker. Despite her battle with pancreatic cancer, Dr. Mahmood accepted the GTU's invitation and had hoped to offer the Singh Lecture as a capstone to her renowned academic career, but was unable to do so. Dr. Mahmood passed away on March 10, 2018.
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February 22, 2017 A Jain-Inspired Approach to the Diversity of Worldviews
Jeffery D. Long Professor of Religion and Asian Studies, Elizabethtown College, Elizabethtown, PA Watch the Lecture
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May 25, 2016 Toward a More Perfect Union: The Contribution of Judith Berling to Religious Pluralism in Theological Education
The Revd. Dr. Philip Lauri Wickeri Advisor to the Archbishop on Theological & Historical Studies
Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui (Anglican-Episcopal)
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April 10, 2015 Interreligious Relations as Friendship: Mahatma Gandhi and Charles Freer Andrews
Anantanand Rambachan Professor of Religion, Saint Olaf College View the PowerPoint Presentation Watch the Lecture Watch Indian Kathak Dance performance
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February 21, 2013
Spirtual Other/ Spritual Self: Models of Transformative Interfaith Work
Jennifer Howe Peace Assistant Professor of Interfaith Studies, Andover Newton Theological School Read the Transcript Watch the Lecture
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February 28, 2012 Can Religion Survive the Challenge of Human Evolution?
Robert Bellah Elliot Professor of Sociology Emeritus, UC Berkeley Read the Transcript Listen to the Lecture Listen to the Q&A
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April 12, 2011 Being Interfaith Now: New Dimensions in American Religious Pluralism
Kate McCarthy (Ph.D. '94) Associate Professor of Religious Studies, CSU Chico View the PowerPoint Presentation Read the Transcript Listen to the Lecture
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April 13, 2010 The Theology of Forgiveness in a Comparative Perspective
Anri Morimoto Professor & Chair, Department of Philosophy and Religion, International Christian University, Japan
Listen to the Introduction by Jeffrey Kuan (PSR) Listen to the Lecture
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April 29, 2009 The U.S. and the Muslim World: Rethinking the Discourse
Shibley Telhami Anwar Sadat Professor for Peace and Development at the University of Maryland, College Park Listen to the Lecture Listen to the Q&A
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 April 17, 2008 Islam, Love, and Justice: A Message of Hope in a Conflicted World
Omid Safi Associate Professor of Religious Studies,University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
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November 8, 2006 Sacred Sites in Changing Landscapes: Shamans and Commercial Shrines in the Republic of Korea
Laurel Kendall Curator, Division of Anthropology, American Museum of Natural History |

November 2, 2005 The Galileans of the South: The Untouchables and Christianity
Felix Wilfred Chair, Department of Christian Studies, University of Madras, India View Photos from the Event
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November 3, 2004 Ecumenical Religious Art: The Reign of Akbar in Mughal India
Joanna Williams Professor of History of Art University of California at Berkeley
Dr. Williams’ lecture discussed Akbar, the remarkable Mughal Emperor who ruled at the same time as Elizabeth 1 in England, and was open to all the religions that he encountered in India: Hinduism, Jainism, Christianity, as well as various forms of Islam. He was also a great patron of painting, which reflects both his ecumenical ideas and a certain skepticism about dogma. Williams is the author of The Two-Headed Deer: Illustrations of the Ramayana in Orissa.
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November 5, 2003 Through the Gates of the Alhambra: Revisiting the Question of Islam and Pluralism
S. Nomanul Haq History of Art and Asian and Middle East Studies University of Pennsylvania
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November 6, 2002 The Chinese and Religion in the Context of Globalization
Zhuo Xinping Director and Dean Institute of World Religions and the Center for the Study of Christianity at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing
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November 7, 2001 The Genocide Continuum: Peace-Time Crimes and the Violence of Everyday Life
Dr. Nancy Scheper-Hughes Professor of Anthropology University of California at Berkeley
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October 1, 2000 Sound and Motion as Human Unifiers: A Lecture-Demonstration
Pandit Chitresh Das Chhandam School of Kathak Dance, San Rafael
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October 1, 1999 Religious Pluralism in America: A New Assessment of the Issues
Diana L. Eck Professor of Comparative Religion and Indian Studies at Harvard University, and director of the Pluralism Project
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October 1, 1998 Cleansing the River Ganges: Ecology and Religious Practices
Veer Bhadra Mishra Professor of Hyrdaulic Engineering at Banaras Hindu University and mahant of Sankat Mochan Temple
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November 1, 1997 Religion and Culture: The Interfaces in a Global Perspective
Seyyed Hossein Nasr Professor of Islamic Studies George Washington University
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October 1, 1996 Seeking Common Ground: Models for Understanding and Negotiating Religious Diversity
Judith Berling Professor of Chinese and Comparative Religions Graduate Theological Union
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October 1, 1995 Proclaiming Christ in a Pluralistic World
John B. Cobb, Jr. Professor Emeritus, School of Theology at Claremont, Claremont Graduate School; Co–Director of the Center for Process Studies
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October 1, 1994 Myths With and Without Political Points of View: Universalist Problems, Cross-Cultural Solutions
Wendy Doniger Mircea Eliade Professor of History of Religions University of Chicago Divinity School
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October 1, 1993 Spiritual Personality Types: The Sacred Spectrum
Huston Smith Thomas J. Watson Professor of Religion and Distinguished Adjunct Professor of Philosophy Emeritus Syracuse University
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October 1, 1992 God's Body: And Other Problems for Men in Monotheism
Howard Eilberg-Schwartz Assistant Professor, Department of Religious Studies Stanford University
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October 1, 1991 The Telos of Religion and Culture: An Interpretation
Surjit Singh Professor Emeritus of Christian Philosophy San Francisco Theological Seminary
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