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Areopagus Lecture Series
Areopagus Lecture Series
The Areopagus Lecture Series brings Christian academics to Iowa State to present their professional work in a public setting where the implications of faith for their work are apparent to followers of Christ and to other members of the university community.
The purpose of the lecture series is to present the ISU community with a challenge to consider the continuing relevance of the Christian message to contemporary life.
The Spring 2009 Areopagus Speaker is Dr. Otto Selles, Professor and Chair of French Department, Calvin College. Dr. Selles will give three talks on the theme of "Tolerance's Boundaries."
On Tuesday, March 31, Dr. Selles will speak on "Raiding the Mystical Ark: The Suppression of the Huguenot Multipliant Sect (Montpellier, March-April, 1723)" at 3:30 p.m. in the Memorial Union Multicultural Center.
Is tolerance really an essential civic virtue or does it merely gloss over our failings? In providing an overview of how the concept of tolerance developed in the West, particularly as a response to divisions within Christianity, this lecture focuses on how contemporary views of tolerance compete with each other.
On Tuesday, March 31, Dr. Selles will give a public address on "Tolerance: Virtue or Vice?" at 8 p.m. in the Memorial Union Gallery.
In early Eighteenth-Century France, a Huguenot (French-Calvinist) widow named Anne Robert had a vision that inspired her to organize clandestine worship services in her Montpellier home. Known today as the Multipliants (Multipliers), her group followed prophetic inspirations to blend Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Jewish traditions into what Louis XV‚s court viewed as an unacceptable new religion. In recounting the arrest and trial of the Multipliants, this lecture examines the bewildering worship space–the "mystical ark"–established in Anne Robert's home. In contrast with the absolute intolerance demonstrated by royal authorities, the Multipliants mixed their sectarian practices with an almost modern, Enlightenment sense of tolerance.
On Wednesday, April 1, Dr. Selles will speak on "Jesus Laughed? Humor, Religion, and the Limits of Tolerance" at 3:30 p.m. in the Memorial Union Multicultural Center.
In a pluralistic society, does the respect for differences require then that we restrict or even abandon humor? Or do all we need to lighten up and tolerate a good dose of laughter–religious believers in particular? After presenting some Christian responses to humor, this lecture considers examples of how contemporary comedy has attempted, with varying success, to bridge tensions between different religions and cultures.
For more information, contact Randy Gabrielse (RandyG@isu-areopagus.org).
Previous Areopagus Lecture Series Speakers
Del Ratzsch, Professor of Philosopy at Calvin College (Oct 12-13, 2004)
Public Lecture: "Could 'Intelligent Design' be Legitimate Science?"
Disciplinary presentation: "Humanness at their Hearts: Where Science and Religion Fuse."
Christian community lecture: "The Death of Religion: Greatly Exaggerated Reports from the Science and Religion Wars."
James D. Bratt, Professor of History at Calvin College: "Power and Paradoxes of Evangelical Religion in the Civil War Era" (Feb 17-18, 2005)
Public Lecture: "Why Was the American Civil War also a Religious Civil War?"
Disciplinary presentation: "Abolitionism and the Antebellum Evangelicals: A Secularizing Function?"
Christian community lecture: "How Did Christians End Up on Both Sides of the Civil War? or 'When Politics Becomes Bad For Religion.' "
John Lumkes, Assistant Professor of Agricultural and Bio-Systems Engineering at Purdue University (Oct. 4-5, 2005)
Public Lecture: "Is Sustainable Transportation Possible? An Environmental Stewardship View"
Disciplinary presentation: "Technologies for Improving Efficiencies in Agricultural Machinery"
Christian community lecture: "Engineering and Sustainability: A Christian Perspective from Teaching to Research"
Ronald Wells, Professor of History at Calvin College (Jan. 31-Feb. 1, 2006)
Public Lecture: "Grace, Peace, and Hope in Northern Ireland: Stories of Catholics and Protestants Behind the Peace"
Christian community lecture: “The Friendship of Ken Newell and Gerry Reynolds, Presbyterian Pastor and Catholic Priest in Belfast, Northern Ireland”
John E. Hare, Noah Porter Professor of Philosophical Theology at Yale Divinity School (Feb. 21-22, 2006)
Public Lecture: "Can We Be Good without God?"
Disciplinary presentation: "Kant and the Rational Instability of Atheism."
Christian community lecture: "Three Problems with Academic Life: A Christian Philosopher's Perspective."
Helen Sterk, professor and chair of the Department of Communication Arts and Sciences at Calvin College (Sept. 28-29., 2006)
Public Lecture:"Women and Men: A Culture of Care Perspective"
Disciplinary presentation:"Who's Having This Baby?" (co-sponsored by Women's Studies)
Christian community lecture:"Masculinity Theory—Secular Meets Sacred"
Janel Curry, Dean for Research and Scholarship and Professor of Geography at Calvin College: "Christian Faith and the Environment" (Feb. 27-28, 2007)
Public Lecture: "Christianity and Climate Change: Understanding the Range of Responses".
Disciplinary presentation: "The Problem with Boundaries: Resource Management on Great Barrier Island, New Zealand in An Era of Globalization" (A Seminar of the Graduate Program in Sustainable Agriculture and the Natural Resources Ecology and Management Department)
Christian community lecture: "Hurricane Katrina: An American Tragedy"
Susan Drake Emmerich (Oct. 16-17, 2007)
Public lecture: "Making Peace Between Heaven and Earth: A Faith-Based Approach to Social and Environmental Transformation"
God at Work at ISU: "Resisting the Pressures of Our Age: Living Out a Creation Care Ethic on Campus and After You Leave"
Disciplinary presentation: "Fostering Local Political Involvement: Participatory Action Research for Environmental, Economic and Community Stewardship" (A Seminar of the Graduate Program in Sustainable Agriculture)
Calvin DeWitt (Feb. 18-19, 2008)
Public lecture: "The International Evangelical Environmental Movement"
God at Work at ISU: "Biblical Teaching on Creation Care."
Calvin DeWitt: "Conversations with Cal DeWitt" (Sept. 15-16, 2008)
Public lecture: "Are You Ready to Discuss God's Creation?—Science, Ethics and Practice: Building Bridges Between the Scientific Community and the Faith Community"
Song & Prayer Service: "Are You Ready to Celebrate God's Good Creation?—Song and Prayer Service to Praise God for His Wondrous Creation"
Nature walk: "Are You Ready for a Walk in God's Creation?—An Interpretive Nature Walk"
Conversation: "What’s Up With Global Warming and What Can I Do About It?".
