UPbeat

News for and about University of Portland faculty and staff.

Theology Thursdays

Theology Thursday Lecture, April 5: “Preparing Students to Encounter Suffering of Grief & Loss”

University of Portland professors Rebecca Gaudino, Barb Braband, and Anissa Rogers will present the next Theology Thursday lecture, “Preparing Students to Encounter the Suffering of Grief and Loss,” on Thursday, April 5, at 7:30 p.m., in the Terrace Room. The lecture is free and all are welcome.

Gaudino, Braband, and Rogers make up an interdisciplinary research team and will present their award-winning interview and Photovoice project as well as a pedagogical model that has emerged from their research into how to teach students to accompany people who have experienced loss.

For more information contact the theology department at x7274 or theol@up.edu.

Theology Thursday Lecture by Simon Aihiokhai, April 6

The next Theology Thursday lecture will feature Simon Aihiokhai, theology, as he presents “New Perspectives for Interfaith Dialogue in the 21st Century” on Thursday, April 6, at 7:15 p.m., in Franz Hall 120. The event is free and open to all.

Arguing for the place of religious truths in the era of globalization, this talk explores how African indigenous religions appropriate a pragmatic approach discerning the relevance of religious truths that inspire the flourishing of communal life.

Aihiokhai is a Nigerian-American theologian, currently a visiting assistant professor of systematic theology at the University of Portland. His research and publication engage religion and identity in Islam, Christianity, and African religions. His articles have appeared in Journal of Ecumenical Studies, Black Catholic Theological Symposium Journal, International Journal of African Catholicism, and in several edited books. Aihiokhai continues to be an active interlocutor in the ongoing Christian-Muslim dialogue in Nigeria and the Roman Catholic/African religions dialogue. He worked as a missionary among many cultures in Nigeria for ten years and continues to reflect on the rich experience he gained from his encounters with people of the Muslim and African religious faiths.

For ADA accommodations or event information contact Deborah MacKinnon, theology, at mackinno@up.edu or x7274.

 

Theology Thursday Lecture, March 31

mcmanus copyThe next Theology Thursday lecture will be presented by senior theology major Jessica Brown and Sr. Kathleen McManus, OP, theology, on Thursday, March 31, at 7:30 p.m., in the Terrace Room. The lecture is free and open to all.

Brown and McManus will present “The Global Suffering of Women: An Ethical Imperative for the Church.” While the Catholic Church exercises incomparable influence for good throughout the world, they posit, the Church’s inherent patriarchal structure functions to reinforce oppressive social and cultural attitudes, thus contributing to the suffering of women.

The lecture came about with support of the Dundon-Berchtold Institute, which provided the research grant that has allowed Brown and McManus to collaborate on their project during this past academic year.

For ADA accommodations or event information contact Deborah MacKinnon, theology, at 7274 or mackinno@up.edu.

Theology Thursday Lecture, Feb. 25

turnbloom copyThe theology department will introduce its newest faculty member, Dave Turnbloom, as he presents the first two Theology Thursday lectures of the spring 2016 semester. Turnbloom will speak on “The Sacraments: God’s Life in our Lives,” on Thursday, February 25, at 7:30 p.m., in Franz Hall Room 120. His lecture is free and open to all. Turnbloom will explore questions about the Sacraments, including:

  • Can bread teach us about God?
  • What does perfumed oil have to do with Jesus?
  • Why do Christians insist on dunking babies in water?

All are invited to come hear about the rituals of Christianity and how the faithful underestimate their power.

For ADA accommodations or event information contact the theology department at 7274 or mackinno@up.edu.

Theology Thursday Lecture With Rene Sanchez, Oct. 8

Staff and faculty portraits
Staff and faculty portraits

Theology professor Rene Sanchez will present “The Prophetic Church and the McDonaldization of Society” as part of the theology department’s Theology Thursdays lecture series on Thursday, October 8, at 7:30 p.m., in Franz Hall room 120. The lecture is free and open to faculty, staff, students, and the public.

Sanchez will explore a social phenomenon called the “McDonaldized society,” and the question of what it means to be a prophetic church in this society. Using the work of sociologist George Ritzer, which analyzes this social phenomenon and its four dimensions of efficiency, calculability, predictability, and control, Sanchez will reflect on how McDonaldization creates a human condition of numbness and inauthenticity. Drawing from the concept of “dangerous memories” from Johann Baptist Metz and the concept of “prophetic pathos” from Walter Bruggemann, Sanchez will discuss how a prophetic Church can confront this phenomenon and offer an alternative way of being human.

For more information contact the theology department at 7274 or theo@up.edu.

Theology Thursday Lecture, Nov. 7

Staff and faculty portraitsThe next Theology Thursday lecture will feature UP theology professor Michael Cameron as he presents “A Beginner’s Tour of  Saint Augustine’s Confessions” on Thursday, November 7, at 7:30 p.m., in Shiley Hall room 301. This presentation, sponsored by the theology department, is free and open to faculty, staff, students, and the public. Cameron will tour the thirteen books of Confessions in order to see inside the mind of the greatest figure of ancient Christianity. For more information contact Debbie MacKinnon, theology, at 7274 or mackinno@up.edu.