2010 Symposium
Concurrent Sessions
Wednesday, Sept. 15, 1:15 - 2:15 pm1. Words as Bread and Wonder
Judith Valente, broadcast journalist, poet, essayist
Using her own poetry and the writing of others, poet, journalist and television broadcaster Judith Valente will explore how words can nourish us, bring us to a place of wonder, help us rediscover the sacred the everyday and live a more contemplative life. Valente will also draw upon her experiences as a regular visitor to a contemplative Benedictine monastery. Participants will have time to reflect on write about where they find wonder in their own lives.
2. Recovering the Wonder of the Bible: Reading as Play
Dr. Karoline Lewis, Assistant Professor, Luther Seminary
When the Bible became infallible and inerrant, it also became dull and decidedly lifeless. What difference does this make on how we view God, how we construct biblical authority, how we define truth, and how we make sense of the world? Might the release of the Bible from the captivity of historicity recapture the wonder of both the world that scripture imagines and our world today? Can entering into the biblical world through a lucid or playful attitude uncover truths not just about God but about ourselves?
This session will introduce strategies of reading that engage playfulness and that imagine the interplay of text and reader as a game, not with the hope of winning (the meaning of the text) but with a hope of discovery, of making sense of the world from a deep awareness of shared experience into which the Bible can speak.
3. Animals Run Wild: The Enchanted World of the Bible
Dr. Elna Solvang, Associate Professor, Religion
The Bible reflects an ancient world, yet the Bible—like many modern books, films, and games—uses fantasy to tackle tough questions and communicate deep values. This session will explore some of the enchanted animals of the Bible, such as Leviathan and the Serpent, and the issues they pose for ancient and modern audiences.
The format of the session will include reading the passages, information from biblical scholarship to set a context, and conversation among participants about the enchanted creatures and their significance in the “Post-secular Age.” Discussion of these enchanted creatures will have natural connections to the issues of freedom, ecology, reason and faith that will be raised in the plenary presentations.
4. Enchantment and Alienation in Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey
Dr. Bryan Luther, Professor, Physics
Stanley Kubrick's film 2001: A Space Odysseyexplores the tension between the marvelous and mysterious and the human ability to engage these aspects of the universe. Kubrick presents us with wondrous technological and mystical experiences while he simultaneously shows us the failure of modern spaces, language and relationships to connect us with these transcendent events. Kubrick's vision of enchantment and alienation offers insight into the problems and promises of re-enchantment in a post-secular age.
5. Glaciers as an 'Endangered Species'
Dr. Stewart Herman, Associate Professor, Religion
Alpine glaciers lost half their volume between 1850 and 2000, and may disappear by 2100. Mt. Kilimanjaro's glaciers lost one-quarter of their mass from 2000 to 2007. The glaciers of Glacier National Park may be gone by 2030, and perhaps as early as 2020. The impending 'extinction' of these iconic glaciers prompts the question: what do glaciers mean to us? How might a world be diminished by their loss?
Glaciers merit wonder not only because of their austere majesty, but because they express paradox. They move but are not alive. They are made by nature, yet sometimes disgorge amazing human secrets, such as the 5000 year old Neolithic hunter discovered in Austria in 1991. They threaten villages, but also provide life-nourishing water. They can be vast and crushingly heavy, yet delicately suspended in high cirques. They are massively frozen sinks of cold, yet keenly sensitive to subtle changes in climate.
This session will encourage the discussion of what glaciers, as an endangered species of natural artifact, mean. It will begin with a narrated slide show about Alpine glaciers, stemming from a weeklong serendipitous exploration taken in July 2009. The slide show will document the retreat of three well-known glaciers in Switzerland--their intersection with human settlement. Discussion will be freeform, loosely ordered to the question: what do glaciers mean to us?
6. Is Technology Replacing God as a Source of Wonder?
Dr. Ahmed Kamel, Associate Professor, Computer Science and Jonathan Pikalek, Instructor, Computer Science
In his article titled “In iPad We Trust,” in the January 28, 2010 issue of Newsweek, Daniel Lyons argues that technology had replaced religion as a source of mystery and wonder and that this is the reason society places so much emphasis on the introduction of new items of technology. He argues that this attitude raises our collective expectations (and consequently our level of disappointment) from new technology. This phenomenon is best illustrated by noting that prior to the introduction of the iPad, some users of internet forums had dubbed it the “Jesus tablet.”
The author further argues that historically speaking, religion gave people a sense of control over their destiny. Once the role of religion has been so diluted, people started yearning for this sense of control using other avenues. Technology provided us with a false sense of the control that we yearn for. While the hoopla around the introduction of the iPad was unprecedented, it can be argued that it is only a matter of scale and we have had similar (albeit milder) expectations from other technological devices with the inevitable anticipation, wonder and disappointment. We will use this article and a sampling of technological introductions (with expectations and disappointments) as a starting point to lead the audience into a journey of self discovery into our own use of technology and our expectations from it and compare that to the historical context of religious discovery.
7. Minding the Body: Cultivating a Sense of Wonder, Well-Being, and Responsibility through Contemplative Practice
Dr. Michelle Lelwica, Associate Professor, Religion
In a society that emphasizes the importance of efficiency, productivity, and profit, it is easy to lose touch with a sense of the greater mysteries surrounding our lives. Both the pressures and conveniences of our fast-paced, double-tasking, 24/7 connected culture can deplete our health and leave us feeling stressed out and disconnected from a larger sense of purpose. What’s more, the mental and physical distress so many individuals experience daily inhibits their ability to care about – must less seek to alleviate – the sufferings of others.
What happens to us as individuals and as a society when we spend less and less time engaged in this particular mode of knowing? How does the constant feeling of being behind, rushed, or under pressure take a toll on our bodies? How might engagement in contemplative practices promote both a feeling of wonder and personal/physical well being, as well as a sense of responsibility for the common good?
This session aims to stimulate conversation about the connections between the capacity for wonder, the experience of well being, and the ability to act responsibly in the world. In particular, we will explore the role contemplative ways of knowing may play in helping us make these connections. Some of the questions we will ask include: 1) What factors threaten well being and a sense of wonder in the context of higher education? 2) What are the dangers of losing a contemplative dimension of higher education? 3) What is the connection between mental/physical/spiritual health and becoming responsibly engaged in the world? 4) How might contemplative practice foster a sense of wonder, well being, and social responsibility?
In addition to discussing these questions, those who attend this session will be invited to participate in a contemplative practice (mindfulness meditation) designed to foster the ability to be present to/pay attention to what is happening in the moment without judgment.
8. Technological Marvel: Avatar and Beyond
Dr. Greg Carlson, Assistant Professor, and Dr. Donald Rice, Professor, Communication Studies and Theatre Art
This session will explore the ways in which director James Cameron uses technology in both the filmmaking and storytelling of Avatar to create a seamless, believable, and immersive universe for audience members to experience and explore. Computer-generated imagery has been a mainstay of effects-driven Hollywood spectacle for many years, but Cameron’s film – in part due to its incredible financial success – raises the stakes for the use of cinematic technologies while directly addressing the cinema’s ability to comment on technology in our world.
To what extent does Avatar create a fertile ground for dialogue about technology and identity? Does the film celebrate the wonder it creates, or does the wonder of “plugging in” to the world of Pandora become an obsession that robs identity from the participant? In what ways does the movie’s inclusion of spirituality and religion intersect with Jake Sully’s transformation from disabled Marine to enabled Na’vi? Questions like these will be discussed during an interactive session that will include screening clips from Avatar. The movie’s influence on filmmaking itself, and to what degree it has had revolutionary impact, will also be explored.
9. Trolls, Elves, and Odinistic Rites: Scandinavian Pagan Revival in the 21st Century
Dr. Milda Halvorson, Assistant Professor, Norwegian and Scandinavian Studies
This session will focus on the popular fascination with the Old Norse mythology and pagan religion in contemporary societies in Scandinavia and the United States. The fascination and interest with alternative rituals and belief system takes many forms and shapes – from black metal bands to pagan societies and neo-Nazi organizations. Sometimes an interest is triggered by a simple romanticization of the glorious Viking heritage or appreciation of the mystical Scandinavian nature, but it can also be a rebellion against the role of Lutheran State Church in Scandinavia, and, unfortunately, sometimes the fascination can turn into the blind worship of the Germanic race. This session, inspired by discussions in the Scandinavian folklore course “Troll Within Us: Scandinavia Through Folklore” in Spring 2008 and 2010, will present different perspectives on the topic and invite the students to think about their personal interests, religious tolerance, and ethic boundaries.
10. The Wonder of C.S. Lewis: Deep Magic in the Age of Science
Kayla Goetz ’11, Dr. Roy Hammerling, Associate Professor, Religion
C.S. Lewis commenting on J.R.R. Tolkien’s "The Lord of the Rings" once argued that the purpose of imagination and fantasy is to pull away the “veil of familiarity” from the world in order to restore a sense of wonder, which is all too often hidden in the midst of scientific advances and what he called “modern snobbery.” Says Lewis, “By dipping [our modern lives] in myth we see them more clearly. I do not think it could have been done any other way.” In order to prove his point he wrote fantasy (“The Chronicles of Narnia”), science fiction ("Out of the Silent Planet"), and other imaginative works ("The Screwtape Letters") for the purpose of reawakening his audience to magic and wonder in a world reeling from the harsh realities of two world wars. This session will explore C.S. Lewis’s idea that it is not possible for people to lead meaningful lives without a sense of wonder, magic, and joy, especially as they are experienced in myth.
