Open to all UMW students, CPR has two new courses for the spring semester! CPRD 299, Mysterium Humanum Studies: Madness, will use a multi-disciplinary set of guest lectures to explore the topic of madness. Approaches will include classics, philosophy, disability studies, religious studies, and art history, to name a few. The class meets on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3:30 to 4:45 and satisfies major requirements for Classics, Philosophy, and Religious Studies majors. There are no prerequisites. RELG 231C4, Special Topics: Christianity in Africa, will survey the history of Christianity in Africa, particularly on selected regions: Egypt and sub-Saharan Africa. Dr. Violet Gandiya (Ph.D. , University of Cambridge) will teach the course on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 12:30 to 1:45 p.m. There are no prerequisites, and the course satisfies an elective for Religious Studies majors. … [Read more...]
CPR mourns the passing of Dr. Diane Hatch
It is with deep regret and sadness that the Dept. of Classics, Philosophy, and Religion announces the passing of its beloved colleague, Dr. Diane Hatch, Professor Emerita of Classics. Prof. Hatch passed away on Saturday morning, October 13, 2018, at the age of 76. Prof. Hatch began teaching Latin and Classics at Mary Washington College in 1966 and retired in 2000. She received her B.A. in Latin from Sweet Briar College and her M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill). Dr. Hatch co-edited with Dr. Elizabeth Clark The Golden Bough, The Oaken Cross: The Virgilian Cento of Faltonia Betitia Proba. Above all, she was dedicated to teaching and her students. … [Read more...]
Conference schedule for Religious Freedom in a Fractured America, March 22 and 23
Please join us for UMW CPR's conference, Religious Freedom in a Fractured America. Day sessions will meet in the University Center's Colonnade Room on March 22 and 23. Thursday evening's special panel on "Religious Freedom in the Streets: Remembering Charlottesville" is set for Monroe 116 at 7 p.m. Many thanks to the University of Virginia's Center for the Study of Religion, UMW's Women's and Gender Studies Program, UMW's Political Science and International Affairs Department, the UMW Department of History and American Studies, and the UMW Leidecker Center for Asian Studies for their generous support! MARCH 22 UNIVERSITY CENTER, COLONNADE 9:30AM-10:00AM Opening Remarks 10:00AM-12:30PM Panel: Anti-Intellectualism and Religious Freedom Matthew Scherer (George Mason University): "religious freedom: a longer view on contemporary questions" Monica Miller (Lehigh University): “The Struggle of (Black) Gods Today: A.L.L.A.H and the Rhetoric of Divine … [Read more...]
UMW/CPR to host Conference “Wild Places, Natural Spaces”
14th Annual Conference The International Association for the Study of Environment, Space, and Place University of Mary Washington April 27-29, 2018 Conference Theme: Wild Places, Natural Spaces Call for papers We live in a world increasingly populated and altered by human beings. Along with the physical transformations have come fundamental changes in how we conceptualize our relationship with the world around us. Where once wild places represented darkness, danger, and temptation, they now conjure images of personal challenge (“conquering” the Appalachian trail or Mount Rainier), individual spiritual renewal, or hope against the degradation of rampant consumerism, inequality, or political rot. Nature—and its supposed pure form, wilderness—is both seen as the opposite of all things human and yet our true home. These changing and often inconsistent metaphors and models guide us in every area of our lives—the social, economic, aesthetic, philosophic, religious, and … [Read more...]
Fourth Annual Virginia Undergraduate Symposium
The Classics program will be hosting the Fourth Annual Virginia Undergraduate Research Symposium in Classics on Friday November 10th, 1-5 p.m., in the Hurley Convergence Center's Digital Auditorium. Free and open to the public. The program is below, and if you'd like more information, you can follow this link. Virginia Undergraduate Symposium in Classics IV University of Mary Washington, Hurley Convergence Center Digital Auditorium Friday, November 10, 2017 1-5 PM Symposium Program 1-1:45 - Keynote: Dr. John Camp, Randolph-Macon College Recent Excavations at the Athenian Agora 1:45-2:00 - Questions and Answers 2:00-2:20 - Marshall LeMert (University of Mary Washington) The Tomb of Alexander the Great 2:20-2:40 - Rebekah Hale (Randolph-Macon College) Ancient Greek and Modern East African Tortoise Shell Lyres: An Ethnological Comparison 2:40-3:00 - Tess Monks (University of Richmond) Redundant Dido: Repetition and Alliteration in Virgil and … [Read more...]
Zen Garden construction begins
Last month, initial work on the the Leidecker Center for Asian Studies' Zen Garden began with the installation of three large boulders, weighing 10.5 tons combined, which will anchor the contemplative space. First proposed in 2015, the garden was approved as part of the renovation of the amphitheater behind Trinkle Hall. Assistant Professor of Religion Dan Hirshberg explained the significance of these multi-ton rocks, noting that "arranging these stones, and all the more so on such a massive scale, is a uniquely challenging aesthetic process, and something of a mystical one as well. According to the Zen tradition, when done authentically, their precise arrangement is said to invoke a vision of perfection in this imperfect world, a glimpse of nirvana in samsara (cyclic existence), enlightenment despite the persistence of ignorance. Like a visual koan, a garden is meant to unlock the inconceivable paradox of apparent existence and its ultimate emptiness." Coinciding with the launch … [Read more...]
CPR Student Profile: Sarah Attkisson
Q&A with Sarah Attkisson (Classics '18) What are you doing for your internship? - I’m working at the WJLA studios in Arlington for the show Full Measure with Sharyl Attkisson. Right now, I’m mostly doing research for the stories that will eventually go on air. I had to familiarize myself with the subjects of terrorism overseas, ISIS, and political issues here in Washington D.C. We’ve also been paying attention to diplomatic relations between China, North Korea, and America. I also go on shoots and help out the cameraman or whoever else needs assistance. I definitely appreciate not sitting at a desk all day, every day. I like being out in the field. What are you thinking of doing after graduation? Do you see the internship factoring into that decision? - I would love to continue working here. I grew up in the newsroom environment, but never really wanted anything to do with working for a news station until I started this internship. So far it’s come naturally … [Read more...]
Get Zen! Yodo Kurahashi-sensie and Miyuki Yoshikami-sensei
For the next event sponsored by the Japan Foundation and the Leidecker Center for Asian Studies, master musicians Yodo Kurahashi-sensie and Miyuki Yoshikami-sensei will perform a live concert featuring eighth-century instruments, the shakuhachi (bamboo flute) and koto (a 13-stringed instrument). The shakuhachi in particular has been used in some forms of Zen contemplative practice for centuries, and several of the pieces to be performed stem from the Zen tradition. The concert will be Wednesday, April 5th at 4:30pm in Lee Hall 412. Catered reception with gourmet Indian food to follow. This event is free and open to the public - please share widely. … [Read more...]
Religious Freedom Essay 2017
Students from Mary Washington and Germanna are invited to submit essays on the subject of religious freedom. Prize money totals $1250! Essays due by 11 pm, December 9th, 2016. For more details, check out our page. … [Read more...]
Meet our new faculty in Religion! Q&A with Professor Jennifer Barry
Meet our new faculty in Religion! Q&A With Professor Jennifer Barry Where are you from or where have you lived? My father was a pilot in the Air Force so we moved around quite a bit. By the time I graduated high school, I had already moved 12 times. As an adult, I have continued to move from place to place for my education and professional opportunities. In total, I have lived in 11 different states in the US and 2 countries overseas (Adana, Turkey and Ramstein, Germany). I have lived in the Virginia area 4 separate times throughout my life. What do you study (area of expertise)? In the Department of Classics, Philosophy, and Religion, I fall under the R. My specific area of study is early Christianity, but I focus primarily on late antiquity. Late antiquity is that transitional moment when Christianity becomes the favored cult of the late Roman Empire. I study topics such as clerical exile, orthodoxy and heresy, and gender and sexuality. I often describe myself as a … [Read more...]