Thursday Night Interfaith Suppers 2007-2008

Schedule for Fall 2007

September 20: Ginny Fox, Preparing to Celebrate International Peace Day with the Peace Flag Project @ www.thepeaceflagproject.org

September 27: Ryan Bouton of College Hill for Christ

October 4: Virginia E. Law, J.D., President of PeacePaths, LLC, a Center for Mediation and Education "Leading the Way to Greater Understanding"

October 11: Rebecca Russo '08, a concentrator in religious studies and leader in both Brown Hillel and the Multifaith Council,she spent the spring semester in Morrocco living with a Muslim family. She will share share pictures and her cross-cultural adventures,

October 18: "Student Activism for Social Justice in Israel." Four Israeli students touring American Universities will speak about social justice (Tzedek Chevrati) and Israeli culture (Tarbut), share personal stories of social activism in Israel (especially a discussion of the motivation for the Israeli students' strike in 2007), and address the challenges of being a student in the Middle East and how their education may be different than American education due to factors such as Jewish identity and political
activities on campus. TNS will also discuss cultural relations within Israeli society.

October 25: TBA

November 1: Merry Boak '05, Recruitment Director for Teach for America @ www.teachforamerica.org

November 8: Chris Morrison of Care Highway @ www.carehighway.org

November 15: Peter Scharf, professor of Sanskrit at Brown, on "Silent Awareness:  The Spiritual Foundation of Religion"

November 22: TBA

Schedule for Spring 2008

January 24: Liza Lerman of the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange will speak on "Arts and Spirituality" This event is part of a week long program with Lerman, who is in residence at Brown University and in the city of Providence from January 21 to February 3, 2008.

January 31: Bill Patenaude of Rhode Island Interfaith Power and Light will speak about the threat of climate change, what that has to do with religion/spirituality, and what actions we can take to remedy it. This supper is part of a broader schedule of events led by Empower and Focus the Nation.

February 7: An interfaith discussion on "Worry, Peace, and Religious Holidays," in honor of the upcoming Christian season of Lent.

February 12: A panel of Brown students will discuss the Winterbreaks Project on Environmental Justice

February 21: Rabbi Alan Flam of the Swearer Center for Public Service and the Office of the Chaplains and Religious Life will speak about "Caring for the Soul."

February 28: Casey Marks, a graduate student in Computer Sciences, will speak about the relationship between spirituality and rationality.

March 6: Eric Rodriguez '08 will speak about his experiences in Iraq.

March 20: Elizabeth Walsh will speak about human rights work in Colombia

April 3: Professor Mark Cladis of Brown's Religious Studies Department will present on spirituality and the environment .

April 10: A program about the elections from a religious perspective.

Click here for more photos from President Ruth Simmons' talk at Thursday Supper.