Watching TV
Media and Religion in Los Angeles (10 am to noon)

How do we tell serious stories about religion on television? This panel involves four different presenters who will address this question with a focus on their own work.

Moderator
Amir Hussain, Co-Director, Bellarmine Forum

Panelists
Remi Aubuchon is the co-creator for Caprica and the show runner for Persons Unknown, a new series from Fox Television Studios.

Barbara Hall is the creator of Joan of Arcadia.

Marley Klaus is a journalist who was a producer of 60 Minutes and creator of California Connected, which won over 65 national and regional awards

Roger Wolfson is a writer for Saving Grace.

NOTE: This panel will run from 10 am to 10:50 and 11 am to 11:50 am to allow students to attend part of the session if they wish.

Panelists
Fr. Michael Lee SJ is Assistant Professor in the Department of Theological Studies.

Edmundo Litton is Chair of the Department of Specialized Programs in Urban Education.

NOTE: This panel will run from 2-2.50 pm  and 3-3.50 pm to allow students to attend part of the session if they wish.

Join us for an evening of discussion and celebration of Black religious life in Los Angeles.

Moderator
Joseph O. Jewell is Chair of African American Studies.

Rev. Cecil "Chip" Murray is the former pastor of the First African Methodist Episcopal Church, the oldest church founded by African Americans in Los Angeles.

Bishop Gordon Bennett SJ is the retired Bishop of Mandeville, Jamaica and a member of the Jesuit community at LMU.

LMU Voices of Joy Gospel Choir
Victor Bell and Halel Gospel Choir

The Christian-Muslim Consultative Group of Southern California was founded in 2006 to “work in partnership with leaders of various streams of Southern California Christian and Muslim communities to enhance mutual understanding, respect, appreciation, and support of the Sacred in each other.” In this panel, the two convenors of the group will discuss the programmatic and educational elements of their work.

Moderator
TBA

Panelists
Rev. Dr. Gwynne Guibord is the Officer of Ecumenical
and Interreligious Concerns for The Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles.

Jihad Turk is the Religious Director of the Islamic Centre of Southern California.

In our shared existence – in this city, in the United States - differing religious traditions have widely divergent attitudes towards sexual ethics. Underlying these attitudes are fundamental principles concerning what it is to be human, and the place of sexuality in our identity and our society. What does our faith have to do with our sexuality? Given our differences, can we find a common way of integrating sexuality and spirituality, and find norms for social behaviour? Or is my sexuality my own business and no-one else’s?

Moderator
Jonathan Rothchild is Assistant Professor of Theological Studies.

Panelists
Swami Atmavidyananda is  at the Vedanta Society of Southern California.

Venerable Bhante Chao Chu is Abbott of the Rosemead Buddhist Monastery.

Rev. Dr. Phil Hilliard is Senior Pastor of Bethany Church of Alhambra.

Los Angeles is the second-largest Jewish community in the USA. Our panel will discuss the diversity and variety of Jewish identities in Los Angeles.

Moderator
Rabbi Michael Barclay

Panelists
Rabbi Ed Feinstein, Valley Beth Shalom

Rabbi Aaron Katz, Beth Shalom of Whittier

Rabbi Haim Ovadia, Kahal Joseph Congregation

Dr. Saba Soomekh, Visiting Professor in the Department of Theological Studies, studies the Iranian Jewish community in Los Angeles.

Film Screening
The Last Days of the Four Seasons (7:30 to 9:30 pm)
Location TBA (Ahmanson unavailable due to class, perhaps Hilton 100 or St. Robert’s Auditorium)

The Four Seasons is a lodge in the Catskills Mountains region of New York. It is a place where survivors of the Holocaust go to celebrate their lives. Andrew Jacobs, a journalist for the New York Times, has directed a film that captures the final season at the lodge. He will join us for a discussion after the film.

Moderator
Holli Levitsky is Director of the Jewish Studies Program.

Andrew Jacobs, director

Rick Nahmias is a photographer who has documented the Four Seasons Lodge.

From Patmos to the Barrio is the new book by David Sanchez. It traces the historical subversion of imperial myths from the Book of Revelation to the devotions to the Virgin of Guadalupe in contemporary Los Angeles.

Moderator
Stephen Shepherd is Associate Professor of English

Panelists
David Sanchez is a New Testament scholar who is Assistant Professor of Theological Studies

Deena Gonzalez is Chair of the Department of Chicana/o Studies.

The Chumash are one of the native peoples of Southern California, whose traditional lands spread out over some 7,000 square miles. This presentation by an elder will discuss Chumash traditions and teaching, as well as the problems that arose from a lack of convivencia between the Chumash and the missions.

Moderator
TBA

Grandmother Eneke-Alish Huaute is the wife of Chumash Medicine Man Grandfather Semu.

What happens when convivencia fails, and human rights abuses occur? This session will be a conversation between two Canadians who have each devoted their lives to creating common ground.

Moderator
TBA

Panelists
Derek Evans is an Associate at the Centre for Dialogue at Simon Fraser University and was Deputy Secretary General of Amnesty International from 1993 to 1999. He has led more than 70 international delegations dealing with human rights and conflict resolution, and has done work for various United Nations agencies.

J. Edward "Ted" Chamberlin, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, is University Professor of English and Comparative Literature at the University of Toronto. He was the Senior Research Associate with the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, and has worked for over 30 years on native land claims around the world.

The Yaqui are native peoples whose original lands ranged from what is now Northern Mexico to Arizona. They were never defeated militarily by the Spanish, but were converted to Christianity by the Jesuits. The Deer Dance is a ritual that is rarely performed outside of Yaqui tribal lands.

What does it mean to be a member of a minority religion? How do minorities balance their religious-minority status with other aspects of their identity? What are the tensions? And what are the blessings?

Moderator
Robin Wang is Associate Professor in the Philosophy Department and Director of the Asian and Pacific Studies Program.

Panelists
Ven. Kusala Bhikshu is an American-born monk ordained in the Zen Buddhist tradition of Vietnam.

Fr. Wafik Nasry SJ is an Egyptian born Copt. He specializes in the study of early Christian-Muslim controversies, and currently teaches in the Department of Classics and Archaeology and the Department of Theological Studies.

Varun Soni is Dean of Religious Life at the University of Southern California, and the first Hindu spiritual leader of a US campus.

“It is certainly a very good thing that the local Churches in the larger unity of the Catholic communion invite others to pray for peace; our Christian brothers, in the first place; but also, when possible and desirable, brothers and sisters from other religions. When this is done with due respect for the faith convictions of each one, with due openness to the truth, and with reverence for the ways of prayer of all concerned, including the host, then an important witness is given to the deep commitment of all religious men and women to the building of peace.” (Pope John Paul II, First World Day of Prayer for Peace, Assisi, Italy, October 27, 1986).

Join us and representatives of the major faith traditions from Los Angeles, in prayer for peaceful convivencia in our city, our nation, and our world.

Fr. Robert B. Lawton SJ, President of Loyola Marymount University, will participate in this prayer service.

During this election year, there has been a lot of discussion about faith and politics. Panelists from faith and social justice communities in Los Angeles will discuss what issues are important to them, how they mobilize to achieve outcomes, and what roles young people can play in creating the convivencia of the future.

Moderator
Fr. John Coleman SJ is Charles Casassa Professor of Social Values

Panelists
Edina Lekovic is the Communications Director for the Muslim Public Affairs Council.

Rebecca Sager is Assistant Professor of Sociology.

Rev. Alexia Salvatierra is the Executive Director of Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice.

Rt. Rev. Alexei Smith is the Director of the Office of Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.

Steven Windmueller is Dean of the Los Angeles Campus of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion.

Bounty of Lace is a contemporary play by Susan Merson about women in the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. This reading of the play is produced by Jim Holmes and directed by Sr. Judith Royer CSJ. The play will be followed by a discussion featuring the playwright and women from three different faith traditions.

Moderator
Amir Hussain, Co-Director, Bellarmine Forum

Panelists
Susan Merson, playwright

Debra Linesch is Director of the Department of Marital and Family Therapy.

Dr. Laila al-Marayati is a Palestinian American gynaecologist.

Sr. Judith Royer CSJ is Professor of Theatre Arts and Dance .

In this eighth annual presentation of “Artists Speak”, LMU students gifted in creative writing, dance, theatre arts, music, film, visual arts, and other endeavours share their responses to the topic of convivencia as issues which impact themselves, their communities, and the world. This event showcases performances and exhibits of original works reflecting the gifts, creativity and passion of the artists at LMU.

Sr. Judith Royer CSJ and Judy Scalin to arrange, Laurel Ollstein to co-produce

This will be a bus trip for LMU students that will connect them with the national religious traditions of the Mexican Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead).

Pre-registration Details
TBA