LeRon Shults

Upcoming lectures at Boston, Stanford and Berkeley

Soon I'll be heading out for a trip to the US.

 

The first stop is Boston University, where I'll be participating in a dissertation defense, and giving a presentation on "Science and religious supremacy" for a doctoral seminar and a public lecture on "Conceiving religion: Theology after the birth of God."

 

Second, I'll be presenting a paper at Stanford University, department of anthropology, titled "Excavating theogonies: anthropomorphic promiscuity and sociographic prudery in the neolithic and now."  This is part of my ongoing collaboration with the Catalhoyuk research team led by Ian Hodder.

 

Third, I'll be participating in a seminar at the Center of Theology and Natural Science in Berkeley on a recent book by my friend Amos Yong.

 

Finally, I'll be attending the American Academy of Religion in San Francisco.  Look forward to meeting old friends ...and young ones too  ;).

Wesley Wildman coming to Kristiansand

Dr. Wesley Wildman is coming to the University of Agder later in September and will be participating in a  variety of events around the campus. 

Wildman is professor of theology and philosophy at Boston University, author of many books and scientific articles, and founding director of the Institute for the Biocultural Study of Religion. 

He will be giving a public lecture on Wednesday, 21 September:

"What would Luther do? Religious extremism and violence in the Reformation and Today"

Everyone is welcome.  The lecture will begin at 13.15 in Room B2-001 (main hall), and will be followed by an opportunity for Q&A.  

Professor Wildman will also be involved in two other smaller dialogue sessions on the topic of religion, science and secularity.  If you are interested in participating in one of these, please send me an email (see right panel).

Photos from Dubai trip

Here is a link to an album of Dubai photos

Saving Desire

 

New book on Saving Desire, co-edited with Jan-Olav Henricksen, just announced on the Eerdman's website.

 

 

Photos and paper from AAR

I was the respondent for a session on "Agape, Eros and Alterity" and the American Academy of Religion in Atlanta, Georgia, in October.

Here is a link to the process studies site, where you can see some photos and download my paper.

Interview with CBD academic blog

 

My recent interview with the CBD academic blog has just been posted HERE.

 

Off to America

Soon we are heading off to the US... first I'll be making a presentation at Emory University, at a conference on "The Nature of Love" which is a response to the latest book by my friend Thomas Oord, titled Defining Love...

then off to the American Academy of Religion, where I'll present a paper on Alterity, Agape and Eros, and meeting with many old friends, and young ones too...

then off to Boston University, where I'm meeting with colleagues about future research project possibilities, and will give a public lecture on "Transforming Religious Plurality"...

then off to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, for a couple of days with family, before heading home...

in between we plan to visit Georgia Aquarium, where Gro Anita is going diving with sharks, and I am staying dry, thank you very much, and the Freedom Trail in Boston, and Boone Hall Plantation, where North and South was filmed...

and for the rest, we'll open it up and see what it is...

Gro Anita Presentation

 

Gro Anita is giving a presentation at the philosophy cafe in Valle this weekend. It will be on empathy and the "golden rule." 

 

Download the Kulturveka announcement here.

Back from Turkey, classes have begun

We had a great time in Turkey (see new photo album at right).

Now classes are underway here at UiA, and I'm giving some lectures on "Faith and Ethics" and "Theology of Religions."  I've added a new page (right sidebar under "About") with some articles and chapters that bear on some of the themes we are discussing.

Feel free to take a look at them and post comments or questions.

Archaeology and Religion in Turkey

Next week we're going to Turkey.  First, to Catalhoyuk - one of the earliest locations where humans settled in large numbers, involving domestication of plants and animals.  There will be seminars at the site on the role of "religion" and "spirituality" in the neolithic. 

I have a chapter on this theme in an upcoming book edited by Ian Hodder with Cambridge University Press.  Here is an announcement for the book.

Then we are going to Gobekli Tepe, one of the oldest (maybe the oldest?) place of collective human worship.  

I've been reading David Lewis-William's Conceiving God: The Cognitive Origin and Evolution of Religion, and hope to do an article (or chapter, or book) on this theme eventually too.