The Bulletin, Issue Number 9, Jan. 22, 2007 In order to generate common topics of discussion and to establish traditions of intellectual discourse on campus, the CIC has instituted yearly intellectual themes. The purpose of a them is to stimulate discussion, debate, and intellectual inquiry through various venues, including: speakers, panel discussions, films, art exhibits, music and dramatic performances the theme will be shared with the community. Faculty and staff are encouraged to infuse the theme into their course curricula, engage in in-class discussions and debates around the theme, and support activities that promote the exchange of new ideas and intellectual growth.
When we hear the word "fundamentalism," we tend to think in terms of religion, usually ascribing it to various factions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. It is not, however, restricted to religion, but has also arisen in the areas of science, economics, politics, and the law, among others. Fundamentalism sets up a dichotomy between complexity and simplicity, priviledging "back-to-basics" as a response to the chaos of the modern, intricate lives we conduct in the 21st century. It offers an attractive alternative to many people who seek answers in societies where they feel both powerless and out of control. Its omnipresence in the public sphere makes fundamentalism a cultural phenomenon that must be understood.[1]
Martin Marty, a leading scholar and public intellectual, opens the year-long series "Fundamentally Speaking" on Thursday, Sept. 21 at 7:30 p.m. in Brown Auditorium, Old Main.
Described by Bill Moyers as "the most influential interpreter of religion in America," Marty has written more than 50 books and thousands of articles on the history, practice, and meaning of religion. Marty directed the Fundamentalism Project, a five-year examination of fundamentalist beliefs across world religions. Sponsored by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the project resulted in a five-volume work exploring the origins, meaning, and significance of fundamentalism.
Marty's many honors include a National Book Award for Righteous Empire and more than 75 honorary doctorates. In 1997, President Bill Clinton awarded Marty with the National Humanities Medal. For 35 years, Marty taught at the University of Chicago Divinity School where he was the Fairfax M. Cone Distinguished Service Professor of the History of Modern Christianity.
His talk, "Fundamentalists: Down the Block, Around the Country, and Globally," is sponsored by the Cultural and Intellectual Climate Committee and is Cortland's Constitution Day event.
A book signing and reception will follow his talk. The event is free and open to the public.[2]
Click here to view a video recording of Martin Marty's talk, courtesy of the Communication Studies Department and the students and faculty in COM 342 (Field Television Production).
This year will usher in the birth of C4Act Center for the Arts community theatre. C4Act’s inaugural play is the compelling drama, “Inherit the Wind” by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee, based on the famous Scopes “monkey” trial of 1925. In the play, a young science teacher has been jailed for teaching Darwin in school. He risks losing not only his freedom and his job, but also the love of the local preacher’s daughter. Above the clamorous prayers, celebrations, and opprobrium of a classic American town, two great lawyers argue the case for and against teaching evolution. The final verdict and fatal conclusion may surprise you. The cast of twenty-six features seasoned thespians and fledgling actors ranging in age from 11 to 80+, all under the direction of Bill Whiting, for whom the theatre was named.[3]
Tickets: $10 for regular admission, $8 for seniors & students
Tariq Ali, an editor at the New Left Review, and a prolific historian, novelist, filmmaker and political commentator will speak at 7:30 PM in Old Main Brown Auditorium. Ali's recent book, The Clash of Fundamentalisms, traces the origins of Islamic Fundamentalism and offers a challenging and controversial assessment of the Sept.11 attack on the U.S.
Tariq Ali will also be speaking informally to interested students and faculty beginning at 3:30 PM on Thursday.[4]
Informal afternoon session with Tariq Ali
3:30 PM, 3rd floor of Old Main
Seats are limited to 30 - so get there early!
For further information on Tariq Ali see: www.tariqali.org
Click here to view a video recording of Tariq Ali's talk, courtesy of the Communication Studies Department and the students and faculty in COM 342 (Field Television Production).
Jon M. Sweeney, a Christian author and editor, will discuss his new memoir, Born Again and Again: Surprising Gifts of a Fundamentalist Child, on Thursday, Nov. 9, at SUNY Cortland. Sweeney, whose 2005 book published by Paraclete Press has drawn critical acclaim, will begin his talk at 7:30 p.m. in the Jacobus Lounge, Brockway Hall.
As a child in Wheaton, Ill., Sweeney was raised in a fundamentalist family and became a born-again Christian at the age of five. Both of his grandfathers were independent Baptist preachers and his father worked at the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago. His book describes a solitary childhood in which he was fascinated with the crucifixion of Jesus: "Sunday afternoons, I would close my door and strip my action figures naked, leaving Batman, Aquaman, and G.I. Joe to hang on crosses of my own design, easy to create with Lincoln Logs . . . I would sit quietly gazing at them, thinking on Jesus and his sacrifice, praying with as deep a sorrow as I could muster."
During his freshman year at the Moody Bible Institute, Sweeney was instructed to save souls on the streets of Chicago as part of his Evangelism 101 course. In Bible college, however, Sweeney began to question the certainty of his fundamentalist beliefs. The summer after his freshman year, he was sent as a missionary to the Philippines to convert Catholics to fundamentalist Christianity and experienced the complexity, celebrations and joy of the spiritual lives of the Filipino people. As for his own spiritual outlook, he writes: "Changing faith began to feel less like rejecting and more like accepting."
After transferring to Wheaton College and then flirting with the idea of becoming a monk, Sweeney married and became an Episcopalian. In his book, he writes that his conversion was not a formal affair but consisted of him simply attending his local parish in Vermont, contributing money and volunteering to teach. "I also must confess," he writes in Born Again and Again, ". . . that I will never be a great fan of the organized and denominational church, of any stripe. I don't think, in fact, that we should ever be too settled in our denominational identities."
Rev. Donald M. Wilcox, the Protestant campus minister, said he suggested that Sweeney be brought to campus as part of the "Fundamentally Speaking" series because the author has been part of the fundamentalist community. Even though he has now shifted direction, Sweeney still has respect for those who identify themselves as fundamentalists, Wilcox said. "I think it's often too easy for us to look at fundamentalism and be critical," said Wilcox, who first learned of Sweeney by reading about him in the magazine Christian Century. "I think he can help us step back and be a little corrective of that."
Born Again and Again was named one of the "Best Books of 2005" by Spirituality & Health magazine and received an award of merit in the spirituality category by Christianity Today. Besides his memoir, Sweeney, who lives in Vermont, has written three other books, all published by Paraclete Press: Strange Heaven: The Virgin Mary as Woman, Mother, Disciple and Advocate (2006); The Lure of Saints: A Protestant Experience of Catholic Tradition (2005) and The St. Francis Prayer Book: A Guide to Deepen Your Spiritual Life (2004). He is the editor of Paul Sabatier's classic 1894 biography of St. Francis, The Road to Assisi: The Essential Biography of St. Francis (2004) and a co-author of Praying with Our Hands: 21 Practices of Embodied Prayer from the World's Spiritual Traditions (2000). In addition to his writing, Sweeney is an associate publisher at Paraclete Press, a Christian firm based in Orleans, Mass. [5]
This talk will be held in Brown Auditorium, Old Main at 7:30 PM. Please note venue change.
The Bulletin, Issue Number 9, Jan. 22, 2007
Click here to view a video recording of Eugenie Scott's talk, courtesy of the Communication Studies Department and the students and faculty in COM 342 (Field Television Production).
7:30 PM in the Jacobus Lounge, Brockway Hall
The Bulletin, Issue Number 14, April 2, 2007
Click here to view a video recording of Edward Larson's talk, courtesy of the Communication Studies Department and the students and faculty in COM 342 (Field Television Production).
7:30 PM in Brown Auditorium, Old Main
Russell Banks, the critically acclaimed author of The Sweet Hereafter, a novel that was adapted into a prize-winning feature film, will speak on Tuesday, April 24, in conclusion of SUNY Cortland's yearlong "Fundamentally Speaking" series.
"An Evening with Russell Banks," featuring an interview with the author, will begin at 7:30 p.m. in Brockway Hall Jacobus Lounge. The event is free and open to the public.
Banks, who has written a dozen novels and short story collections, is the final speaker in the College's series of lectures and cultural events that has examined the role of fundamentalism in religion, politics and science.
While his fiction has focused on the experiences of working class people who live in the Northeast, Banks has written two novels that deal with the intertwining of American culture and religion – Cloudsplitter (1998), the story of the anti-slavery activist John Brown, and The Relation of My Imprisonment (1984), a portrayal of an imprisoned Puritan divine.
"He seems to have an insight into how religion and America's national identity are really woven together," said Lorraine Berry, SUNY Cortland's project director of NeoVox, a student produced Internet magazine published at the College. A member of the committee that planned the "Fundamentally Speaking" series, Berry will interview Banks during his appearance on campus.
A resident of Saratoga Springs and Keene, N.Y., Banks was New York State Author from 2004-06. Three of his books are set in hardscrabble upstate New York towns, and his forthcoming novel, The Reserve, to be published next year, is situated in the Adirondacks at the height of the Great Depression.
The Sweet Hereafter (1991), which depicts a tragic school bus accident in a fictional town near Lake Placid, N.Y., won the Grand Prix and International Critics Prize at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival. His novel, Affliction (1990), earned James Coburn a "Best Supporting Actor" Oscar. Other forthcoming film adaptations will include Continental Drift (1985), Cloudsplitter, The Darling (2004) and Rule of the Bone (1995).
Banks is the president of the North American Network of Cities of Asylum, which provides refuge to writers who have been persecuted in their home countries. He previously served as the past president of the former International Parliament of Writers, from which the North American Network was formed to meet a growing need to expand the cities available to persecuted writers.
A graduate of the University of North Carolina, Banks has taught at Columbia University, the University of New Hampshire, New York University and Princeton University. He has won numerous awards for his work, including a Guggenheim Fellowship, National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellowships and the St. Lawrence Award for Short Fiction. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.[6]
Click here to view a video recording of Russell Banks' talk, courtesy of the Communication Studies Department and the students and faculty in COM 342 (Field Television Production).
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