For current Roundtable discussions, please click this link.

The Roundtable is a monthly discussion group where graduate students, local professionals, and professors gather to explore the implications of Christian teachings and practices for all spheres of life. Topics are chosen from subjects of current interest with the goal of encouraging critical thought about difficult and complex issues from a Christian perspective. On many issues we are able to take advantage of the interdenominational make-up of the members of GCF itself by presenting issues from a variety of perspectives. All members of the Cornell and Ithaca community are encouraged to attend. The Roundtable is co-sponsored by Graduate Christian Fellowship and Chesterton House Centre for Christian Studies.

The Roundtable is co-sponsored by Graduate Christian Fellowship and Chesterton House Centre for Christian Studies.

Spring 2006

Saturday, March 10^th, the Roundtable is hosting Dr. Barbara Dafoe Whitehead.

About Our Topic:

Searching for a Soulmate: The Challenge of Dating, Mating, and Marriage In A Hook-Up Culture

Today's young adults are facing challenges in courtship and marriage that are unique to their generation. In large measure, this has to do with a recent and historic transformation in the mating system. The traditional mating system was designed to pair off young men and women for marriage. Today, the mating system is designed to pair off a diverse population of singles for a wide variety of intimate relationships. As a consequence, marriage-married singles can't assume that every single is interested in marriage. Some singles are interested in sex without strings; others want relationships without rings; still others want to marry. Further, today's mating system lacks the traditional institutional supports from family, school, and faith communities that once guided romantic relationships. The contemporary courtship system has been de-institutionalized. Finding a suitable marriage partner has become a do-it-yourself project. Last of all, marriage-minded singles, and especially singles of faith, also face the challenge of dating in a hook-up culture where sex has been radically separated from the promise or expectation of marriage.

Barbara Dafoe Whitehead will explore the social, cultural and technological forces behind the transformation in courtship and will discuss some of the ways that young adults can meet the challenges of today's dating culture.

Our Speaker

Barbara Dafoe Whitehead is co-director of The National Marriage Project at Rutgers University, on behalf of which she has testified before the US Senate. She has written numerous scholarly articles, as well as articles for popular magazines and newspapers, and the books The Divorce Culture and Why There Are No Good Men Left: The Romantic Plight of the New Single Woman.

Details:

Dr. Barbara Dafoe Whitehead - Searching for a Soulmate: The Challenge of Dating, Mating, and Marriage In A Hook-Up Culture
Time: 7:00 - 9:00pm Saturday, March 10
Place: Big Red Barn

Saturday, March 31^st, the Roundtable is hosting Dr. Suresh Canagarajah.

Fall 2006

Saturday, November 18^th, the Roundtable is hosting Dr. Martha Stipanuk.

About Our Topic:

Is There Room for Christ in the Cornell Classroom?

In his recently released book 'The Language of God', Dr. Francis Collins, Director of the Human Genome Project for the National Institutes of Health, writes: 'The situation in our university and world today is that you can be regarded as the best educated or the top expert in any field, and have not a thought of God.' This was not always so. For all the great philosophers of the past, whether Christian or non-Christian, knowledge was an aspect of wisdom: it was part of an understanding of life as a whole, out of which a sense of what really mattered, what was really worth pursuing in life, would emerge. Julie Reuben, of Harvard Graduate School of Education, in 'The Making of the Modern University', argues that, with the transition from the classical to the modern university, transcendence and biblical theology were largely lost, being seen as outside the realm of human knowledge. Over time, the irrelevance of God and morality to knowledge was allowed to solidify and take on the appearance of truth. This is now so reinforced by the structure of our educational and social institutions that it seems normative - the separation of the intellectual and the devotional, of knowledge and morality, of public and private, of secular and religious. In this Roundtable, we will consider the question: Are 'the good' and 'the true' inevitably sundered? Must we teach our students as though the subject matter has nothing to do with God nor God with them? Is our treatment of our subject adequate without relating it to God? Is to not do so a gross failure of intellect?

Details:

Dr. Martha Stipanuk - Is There Room for Christ in the Cornell Classroom?
Time: 7:00 - 9:00pm Saturday, November 18
Place: Big Red Barn

Saturday, October 14^th, the Roundtable is hosting Rev. Rob Foote, Rev. Steve Froelich, and Rev. Bob Smith.

About Our Topic:

Christ and Culture

In 1951 H. Richard Niebuhr published his seminal work Christ and Culture. Niebuhr, who taught Christian ethics at Yale Divinity School for 30 years, maps a 5-part typology of how Christians have historically related their faith traditions to culture. All conversations about Christianity and culture in the last half century have taken place in light of the categories Niebuhr described. Even the New York Times called the book "a superb piece of analytical writing." Following publication of the 50th anniversary edition of this classic work, we have invited invited three local pastors representing three different traditions--Catholic, Lutheran, and Reformed--to reflect on how their faith traditions continue to relate to culture in light of Niebuhr's framework.

Details:

Pastors' Panel - "Christ & Culture"
Time: 7:00 - 9:00pm Saturday, October 14
Place: Morrison Room, Corson-Mudd Hall

Please note the atypical location. The Morisson room, A106, is on the ground floor of Corson-Mudd, which is on Tower Rd. between Kennedy Hall and the Biotech building.

Sunday, September 24^th, the Roundtable is hosting Dr. Paul Maier.

About Our Topic:

Jesus -- Beyond the New Testament

Many people assume that all information about the people and events that gave birth to the Christian faith derives from the Bible. But ancient history and archeology provide fascinating additional details that add fresh dimensions to the Scriptures. The biblical record can in fact be tested and supplemented by new research findings. In this lecture, Dr. Paul Maier, a historian and author of several books, will discuss some fresh information on Jesus beyond the Gospels.

Spring 2006

Kathleen Vogel

About Our Topic:

Please Let Me Die: The ethics of medical intervention

Our Speaker

Kathleen M. Vogel is Assistant Professor of Peace Studies/Science & Technology Studies. Prior to taking her current position, she was a William C. Foster Fellow with the Bureau of Nonproliferation in the Office of Proliferation Threat Reduction at the U.S. State Department. She has also served as Ed A. Hewett Fellow for the National Council of Eurasian and East European Research with joint appointments from Sandia National Laboratories and the University of New Mexico's Institute of Public Policy. She holds a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Princeton University. Dr. Vogel is interested in understanding the technical and social factors influencing the proliferation of biological weapons technology to terrorist groups and countries of proliferation concern, and related security issues involving dual-use biotechnology. She was the instructor for "Ethical Issues in Health & Medicine," Fall Semester 2005.

Details:

Dr. Kathleen Vogel - "Please Let Me Die: The ethics of medical intervention"
Time: 7:00 - 9:00pm Saturday, April 29^th
Place: Big Red Barn

Lamin Sanneh

About Our Topic:

Encountering the West: Christianity and the Global Cultural Process

Our Speaker

Lamin Sanneh was educated on four continents and has taught in three. A professor at Harvard for eight years, he has been Professor of World Christianity and of History at Yale University since 1989. He is a Life Member of Clare Hall, Cambridge University, and was appointed by Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI to two Pontifical Commissions at the Vatican. His books include Whose Religion is Christianity?, The Crown and the Turban, and the forthcoming study from Oxford University Press on World Christianity called A House of Many Mansions: Pillars of a World Religion.

Details:

Dr. Lamin Sanneh - Encountering the West: Christianity and the Global Cultural Process
Time: 7:00 - 9:00pm Saturday, April 1^st
Place: Morisson Room (ground floor of Corson-Mudd Hall)

Alan Love

About Our Topic:

Natural Theology: Recent Developments and Future Potential

Natural theology has experienced a renaissance over the past few decades. A variety of philosophical and scientific research has focused on many variations of the so-called "argument from design," especially with respect to more particular theological commitments (e.g. Trinitarianism). In parallel with these investigations is a dramatic upturn in explorations of the relationship between science and theology, both past and present. One feature of interest on the contemporary landscape of natural theology that connects with the history of science is the appeal to particular kinds of metaphysical ideas (e.g. 'causal powers', 'potentiality', or 'substance') that were philosophically suspect during much of the twentieth century. The tripartite aim of my presentation is:

1. to highlight how some of these themes can be observed in recent natural theological literature and locate their relevance from the perspective of the history of science;
2. to dwell on some of the reasons why these ideas were originally thought to be problematic; and,
3. to recommend that those engaged in natural theological argumentation take more seriously the philosophical difficulties involved in utilizing these ideas.

I will concentrate much of my attention on 'potentiality' and discuss how one area of contemporary science, developmental biology, has been largely overlooked in natural theological reasoning. A number of interesting questions emerge from these considerations such as whether the rationale for deploying these metaphysical concepts in natural theology arises from philosophical, scientific, or theological domains.

Our Speaker

Alan Love is an Assistant Professor of Philosophy at The University of California at Santa Cruz. With degrees in biology and philosophy, Love studies the nature of conceptual change and explanation in the biological sciences, and evolutionary biology in particular.

Details:

Dr. Alan C. Love - "Natural Theology: Recent Developments and Future Potential"
Time: 7:00 - 9:00pm Saturday, March 11^th
Place: Big Red Barn
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Fall 2005

Donald Bartel

About Our Topic:

Why Work? Call and Priorities in Academic Life

When I came to Cornell as an Assistant Professor I needed to review and modify my understanding of Christian calling in the light of the heavy demands of a research university. In that process I have been drawn to Col. 3:23-24, the theological essays of Dorothy Sayers, C. S. Lewis, and Frederick Buechner, and the counsel and encouragement of Christian colleagues past and present. I'll share my journey and in the process attempt to raise general questions to help us think about the work and environment to which God has called us.

Our Speaker

Donald Bartel holds a joint appointment as a professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and as a senior scientist in the Department of Biomechanics at the Hospital for Special Surgery, the orthopedic affiliate of Cornell University's Weill Medical College. His work focuses on the mechanics of the human musculoskeletal system, with an emphasis on bone implants and joint replacements.

Details:

Dr. Donald Bartel - "Why Work? Call and Priorities in Academic Life"
Time: 7:00 - 9:00pm Saturday, December 3^rd
Place: Olin Hall 218

Nick DiFonzo

About Our Topic:

Rumors and Rumor Accuracy

Recent rumors related to hurricane Katrina have dampened rescue worker response. A rumor of a suicide bomber led to a stampede in Sadr City, Iraq, that killed 950 people. The same false and derogatory rumor -- that a presidential candidate had hypocritically misquoted the biblical text John 3:16 -- circulated about George W. Bush and John Kerry during the 2004 election season. Rumors foment, fascinate, infuriate -- and are sometimes rather funny. They are a regular feature of our social landscape and they have a reputation for being false. What exactly constitutes rumor, why do they spread, and is their poor reputation deserved? Dr. Nicholas DiFonzo, Associate Professor of Psychology at Rochester Institute of Technology, will examine these and other questions. He will focus especially on the question: how effective is the rumor mill at producing fact instead of falsehood?

Our Speaker

Nicholas DiFonzo is Associate Professor of Psychology at Rochester Institute of Technology. He is a recognized expert in the psychological processes involved in rumor with over 50 publications and presentations in this area. He has served as an expert legal witness involving the spread of the famous -- and false -- Satanism rumor. Dr. DiFonzo was also recently awarded a $750K grant from the National Science Foundation to investigate how rumors propagate through social space and over time.

Details:

Dr. Nick DiFonzo - "Rumors and Rumor Accuracy"
Time: 7:00 - 9:00pm Saturday, October 15^th
Place: The Big Red Barn

Ken Myers

About Our Topic:

The Possibilities and Pitfalls of the Academic Life: A Christian Perspective

Life in the academic world is lived in constant tension between its possibilities and pitfalls ... not least for the Christian believer. If it is true that, as Robert Jenkins quips, "We serve a talkative God, who does not even seem to be able to do without a library," then what gets talked about in academe -- and how it is talked about -- is likely to be of interest both to God and his people.

Ken Myers, host of the Mars Hill Audio Journal and former Arts & Humanities Editor for National Public Radio's All Things Considered and Morning Edition, considers several of these challenges in this survey of cultural critique of the academy from authors as widely varied as Wendell Berry, Jaroslav Pelikan and Marion Montgomery. Topics considered will include

• Careerism vs. Service
• Care about speech and specialized vocabularies
• Objectification
• What constitutes knowledge?
• Is there a difference between "evil" and "deviance" -- and does it matter?

Our Speaker:

Ken Myers is host of the Mars Hill Audio Journal (http://www.marshillaudio.org) and author of "All God's Children and Blue Suede Shoes."

Details:

Ken Myers - "The Possibilities and Pitfalls of the Academic Life: A Christian Perspective"
Time: 7:00 - 9:00pm Saturday, September 17^th
Place: The Big Red Barn

Spring 2005

Ian Hutchinson

This Saturday, April 16^th, the Round Table is hosting Dr. Ian H. Hutchinson.

Our Topic:
Science: Atheistic or Christian?
The common perception ofmany people today is that science has a strongly atheistic bias. This view is fed by some distinguished scientists and science popularizers and often by Christians. In this talk, in contrast to the mythic commonplace view, the facts of history, the philosophical principles, and the demographics of science will be briefly discussed. They give a much different picture: one in which the foundations of science appear as more Christian than atheistic. So we will try to understand how the present perception came about; what elements of truth it contains, and what of falsehood; and what might be done to move our culture and our churches towards a more constructive view of the relationship between science and faith.

Our Speaker:
Ian H. Hutchinson is Professor and Head of the Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering at MIT. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and of the Institute of Physics. A graduate of King's College at the University of Cambridge, and of the Australian National University, his primary research interest is the magnetic confinement of plasmas; seeking to enable fusion reactions, the energy source of the stars, to be used for practical energy production. For fifteen years he headed the Alcator Project, the largest university-based fusion research team in the nation. He is author of the standard monograph on Plasma Diagnostics and of more than 120 scientific journal articles. Dr. Hutchinson has written and spoken widely on the subject of Science and Christianity, in academic, professional and congregational contexts.

Details:
Dr. Ian H. Hutchinson - "Science: Atheistic or Christian?"
Time: 7:00 - 9:00pm Saturday - April 16^th
Place: The Big Red Barn

Doug and Carolyn Brown

This Saturday, March 19^th, the Round Table is hosting Doug and Carolyn Brown. They will be discussing different aspects of mission work.

"Over the course of its history the Christian church has debated the tension between ministries of evangelism and ministries of social action. Drawing upon scripture and our perspective of 10 years of experience in community development with the church in the Democratic Republic of Congo, we will address finding the balance between the two."

Our Speakers:
Doug recently completed my Ph.D. in Applied Economics and Management here at Cornell University. He is currently working on a project that is part of the National Science Foundation\u2019s Biocomplexity Program on Coupled Natural and Human Systems. The principle goal of the project is to measure, understand and model the interlinked biophysical and socioeconomic processes characteristic of small farms in Kenya. His main interest has been sustainable agricultural intensification in the humid forests of central Africa.

Natural Carolyn is a PhD candidate in Natural Resource Policy and Management in DNRResources. She researches the sustainable management of non-timber forest products in the humid forest zone of southern Cameroon.

Prior to coming to Cornell, the Browns spent ten years in the Democratic Republic of Congo initiating a village development project in partnership with the Congolese church.

Details:
Doug & Carolyn Brown - "In Word and In Deed: Finding the Balance."
Time: 7:00 Saturday - March 19th
Place: Crossroads Life Center (corner of Buffalo and Stewart)
http://www.crossroadslifecenter.org/map.htm

David Mustard

This Sunday, February 13^th is the first Graduate Christian Roundtable of the spring semester. We are privileged to have David Mustard of the University of Georgia speaking on "Access, Opportunity, and Financing Higher Education".

Our Speaker:

David Mustard is an associate professor of Economics at the Terry College of Business at the University of Georgia. Mustard's research focuses on microeconomic policy-related questions, especially law and economics, crime, casino gambling, lotteries, gun control, sentencing, labor economics, education and merit-based aid. He has completed three marathons, donated almost seven gallons of blood, attends Faith Presbyterian Church, and resides in Athens with his wife Elizabeth, two sons David Andrew and Stephen, daughter Mary, and cat Leo.

Details:

David Mustard - "Access, Opportunity, and Financing Higher Education"
When: Sunday, Feb 13^th
Time: 7:00 - 9:00 pm
Where: The Big Red Barn

A lecture and interactive discussion about the merits of merit based aid and social obligations to equal access.

Fall 2004

Bob Fay

"The Biblical Narrative & the Story of Science: Conflict of Cooperation"

Our Topic:

Conflict or cooperation? Do science and religion compliment each other, or are they diametrically opposed? What role does religion play in science? Conversely, what role does science play in religion? Historically, science and religion have been closely intertwined. At times this relationship was mutually beneficial and great advancements were made. Other times the relationship was dominated by one to the detriment of the other.

In our current academic system, what is the relationship of science and religion? Is it constructive or detrimental? At a personal level, how do your religious faith and your scientific work compliment each other?

Our Speaker

Robert C. Fay, Professor of Chemistry, has been a member of the Cornell faculty since 1962. He is a graduate of Oberlin College (A.B., chemistry) and the University of Illinois (M.S. and Ph.D., inorganic chemistry). In addition, he has done graduate work in Biblical Studies and related subjects at Wheaton College and Regent College (Vancouver, B.C.). Dr. Fay has been an NSF Science Faculty Fellow at the Universities of East Anglia and Sussex (England), a NATO/Heineman Senior Fellow at the University of Oxford, and a Visiting Professor at Harvard University and the University of Bologna (Italy). He enjoys teaching, was a 1980 winner of the Clark Distinguished Teaching Award, and is the co-author of a general chemistry textbook. Dr. Fay is a faculty advisor to the Cornell Christian Fellowship and the Graduate Christian Fellowship.

Details:

When: Saturday, November 20
Place: Big Red Barn

James Skillen

"Election-Time Blues: Christians as Participants and Pawns in the Political Process"

Our Topic:

In light of the fast approaching election, our discussion this week will be political in nature. Rarely has an election been so charged with religious overtones. Religious leaders have openly endorsed a particular candidate and even gone so far as to claim God is behind him. Other religious leaders have warned that voting wrongly will endanger one's eternal soul. Church membership rolls have been solicited for voter recruitment. Some Christians doubt whether there's any point in voting or being involved in politics at all. A sane voice seems hard to find.

James Skillen is a veteran of addressing the question of how Christians might appropriately engage the public square. A tireless advocate for social justice, he defies many of the stereotypes associated with justice advocacy. He offers a "third way" between bandwagon conformity to a party platform and cynical disengagement.

We suggest reading the following articles to sample Skillen's thinking and prepare for the discussion:

• "Election 2004"
• "Elections and the Economy"
• "Heaven Above and Our Way on Earth"
• More articles are available at http://www.cpjustice.org/pjr/

Our Speaker:

Dr. James Skillen became Executive Director of the Center for Public Justice in 1981, a position he held up until he became president in September, 2000. In addition to editing the Center's quarterly Public Justice Report, Dr. Skillen has authored and edited numerous books and articles, including:

• A Covenant to Keep: Meditations on the Biblical Theme of Justice (Grand Rapids: CRC Publications and the Center for Public Justice, 2000).
• Recharging the American Experiment: Principled Pluralism for Genuine Civic Community (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1994).
• The Scattered Voice: Christians at Odds in the Public Square (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1990);

Dr. Skillen received his B.A. from Wheaton College in philosophy and a B.D. from Westminster Theological Seminary. After graduate study in philosophy at the Free University of Amsterdam, he completed his M.A. and Ph.D. from Duke University, both in Political Science. He is married to Doreen Skillen, the Center administrator. They have two children Jeanene and James (who is married to Beth and a Ph.D. candidate at Cornell).

Details:

When: Saturday, October 30
Place: Big Red Barn

Spring 2004

Richard Middleton

"Creation & Combat: Old Testament Creation Theology & Human Violence"

Our Speaker:

Professor Middleton has co-authored two books and is currently an assistant professor of Biblical Studies at Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School. His first book, "The Transforming Vision", is now a standard text on worldview formation. His second book, "Truth is Stranger than it Used to be", is a highly discussed Biblical view of Postmodernism.

Richard Middleton and his wife Marcia are originally from Jamaica. They have two sons, Andrew and Kevin. Richard is a former Inter-Varsity staff member from Canada. He is currently a Ph.D candidate at the Institute for Christian Studies in Toronto. His research interests include humanity as image of God; theology of suffering; Old Testament creation theology; postmodern readings of the Bible; the Bible and popular culture; Scripture as canonical narrative; ethics and the Old Testament.

Details:

When: February 28
Where: Edwards Room, Anabel Taylor Hall

Elaine Howard Ecklund

"What Can Social Science Contribute to our Churches"

Our Speaker:

Elaine is an active member of GCF and a PhD candidate in the Sociology department here at Cornell. She will be presenting on the topic "What Can Social Science Contribute to our Churches?" Elaine's doctoral research is motivated by the question, "How does religious participation influence the way second-generation immigrants construct and practice citizenship at the local community level?"

Details:

When: January 31
Where Edwards Room, Anabel Taylor Hall

Fall 2003

Richard Baer

"The Diversity Myth: Political, Cultural, and Religious Exclusion in the University."

Our Speaker:

Dr. Baer is a Professor of Natural Resources at Cornell University. He graduated from Harvard with a Ph.D in the history and philosophy of religion. He is very involved in influencing public culture through the press. His articles have been printed in the Wall Street Journal, Education Week, and other media sources. He is also a fellow of The Center for Public Justice.

One of Dr. Baer's articles, "Politically Correct Diversity" appeared in the Cornell Daily Sun (Oct 26th. 2001) http://www.cornelldailysun.com/articles/3600/

Details:

When: November 22

Charlie Cramton

"From Law School to Practice and Back Again: Reflections on the Christian Walk and Calling." (hosted by Christian Legal Society)

Our Speaker:

Charles D. Cramton is currently the Assistant Dean for Graduate Legal Studies at the Cornell Law School, a position he has held since fall, 2000. Prior to that time, he was the Assistant Dean for Alumni & International Affairs at Cornell Law School. Among other duties at Cornell, he has been responsible for the school?s extensive LL.M. program (55-65 foreign students per year), J.S.D. program, joint degree programs with foreign law schools, coordinating visiting scholars and visiting foreign faculty, and a Summer Institute in Paris, France jointly sponsored with the Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne. He has been the school?s principal contact with the ABA on matters of accreditation for the school?s international programs and is the past chair of the American Association of Law Schools Section on Graduate Programs for Foreign Lawyers. Since October 2000, he has served as one of 16 members of the New York State Continuing Legal Education Board. Prior to coming to Cornell, he was in private practice for over ten years in Rochester, New York, concentrating on corporate and business law. Dean Cramton received his B.A. in 1978 from Cornell University, his M.A. in legal history from the University of Virginia in 1980 and his J.D. from Cornell Law School in 1983. He is admitted to practice in New York.

Details:

When: October 25
Where: Moot Court Room in the Law School (Third Floor classroom)

Spring 2003

Kent Fuchs

"The Sacrifices, Opportunities, and Rewards of a Christian Academic - is it Worth the Effort to Excel?"

Our Speaker:

Kent Fuchs is Dean of Cornell's College of Engineering.

Details:

When: March 29
Where: Edwards Room, Anabel Taylor Hall

Charles Lee

"Success and Significance", or "Christian Finance: You and Your Money"

Our Speaker:

Charles M.C. Lee is the Henrietta Johnson Louis Professor of Management and Director of the Parker Center for Investment Research (at Cornell University). He is a Chartered Accountant from Ontario, Canada, and received his Ph.D. from Cornell University in 1990. From 1990 to 1996, he was a faculty member at the University of Michigan Business School. He was the 1995-96 Visiting Economist at the New York Stock Exchange. He also holds a Certificate in Biblical Studies from Ontario Theological Seminary, and is fluent in Mandarin Chinese.

Professor Lee's research interest encompasses security valuation, financial statement analysis, behavioral finance, and market microstructure. Much of his work has explored the effect of human cognitive constraints on market participants, and the information efficiency of stock markets. Most recently, he has focused on the interaction between fundamental valuation and market sentiment indicators. He has published extensively in major scholarly journals, and his research is frequently featured in the popular press.

Details:

When: Sunday, February 23
Where: Edwards Room, Anabel Taylor Hall

Fall 2002

Nigel Cameron

"Cloning and the Challenge of Biotechnology: a critical public issue from a Christian perspective"

Our Speaker:

Dr. Nigel Cameron is Dean of the Wilberforce Forum.

Details:

When: December 7
Where: Edwards Room, Anabel Taylor Hall

Chris Brady

"Paul, the Rabbi's and Me"

Our Topic:

Chris Brady talks about his personal journey as a Christian, from Cornell student to director of the Jewish Studies Department at Tulane.

Our Speaker

Current director of the Jewish Studies Department at Tulane, Dr. Brady received his B.A. in Near Eastern Studies and History from Cornell in 1992, a graduate diploma in Jewish Studies from the University of Oxford and an M.A. in Old Testament from Wheaton College in 1994, and a Doctorate of Philosophy in Oriental Studies, Rabbinic Literature from the University of Oxford in 200.

Details:

When: Thursday, November 21
Where: Edwards Room, Anabel Taylor Hall

James Skillen

"American Statecraft & the Response to Terror"

Our Speaker:

James Skillen is President of the Center for Public Justice in Washington DC (www.cpjustice.org) and author of several books and articles. Dr. Skillen received his B.A. from Wheaton College in philosophy and a B.D. from Westminster Theological Seminary. After graduate study in philosophy at the Free University of Amsterdam, he completed his M.A. and Ph.D. from Duke University, both in Political Science. He is married to Doreen Skillen, the Center administrator. They have two children Jeanene and James (who is married to Beth).

Details:

When: October 26

Andy and Catherine Crouch

"Postmodernism & Science"

Details:

When: September 21

Spring 2002

Scott MacDonald

"The Relationship Between Christianity and Morality"

Our Speaker:

Scott MacDonald is Professor of Philosophy and Norma K. Regan Professor in Christian Studies. He received his Ph.D. from Cornell in 1986. He specializes in medieval philosophy and philosophy of religion. His interests also include ethics, philosophy of action, and Aristotle. He has taught advanced courses in recent years on Augustine, Aquinas's moral psychology, the concept of free will in the Middle Ages, the place of Aristotle's Posterior Analytics in medieval philosophy, and divine goodness. He regularly teaches "Logic, Evidence and Argument" (Phil 131) and "Religion and Reason" (Phil 263). Before joining the Sage School in 1995, he served on the faculty of the University of Iowa.

Lamin Sanneh

Details:

When: Sunday, April 14

Don & Eleonore Stump, w/ daughter Monica

"The delicate balance of raising a family in the University environment"

Our Speakers:

Eleonore Stump is the Robert J. Henle, S.J., Professor of Philosophy at Saint Louis University. Author of several works in medieval philosophy, philosophy of religion, and metaphysics, Stump has served as president of the Society of Christian Philosophers, and president of the American Catholic Philosophical Association. She delivered the prestigious Gifford Lectures at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland in 2002. She is also on the Chesterton House advisory board.

Details:

When: Sunday, February 10

Fall 2001

Kathleen Vogel

"Biological Weapons: Proliferation, Terrorism, and a Christian Perspective"

Our Speaker:

Kathleen Vogel is a Postdoctoral Associate at Cornell University

Details:

When: December 15
Where: Edwards Room

Yrjo Grohn

"Decision Making and the Will of God"

Our Speaker:

Yrjo Grohn is a Professor of Epidemiology in the Department of Population Medicine and Diagnostic Sciences

Details:

When: November 17
Where: Crossroads Life Center

David Powers and Samir Alatout

Our Topic:

David Powers and Samir Alatout, both Professors of Near Eastern Studies, will speak on the history of and current events in the Middle East.

Details:

When: October 20
Where: Crossroads Life Center

Bob Johnson

"Experiences in working with persons from diverse religious and cultural backgrounds"

Bibliography

Our Speaker:

Bob Johnson has been director of CURW for 20 years.

Details:

When: Septempber 8
Where: Crossroads Life Center

Spring 2001

Feminism II: "Women's Roles in the Church"

Jenny Hampton and Elaine Ecklund continue last semester's discussion.

Details:

When: Sunday, April 22
Where: Crossroads Life Center

Merrill Ewert

"The Church: Building Social Capital and Strengthening Civil Society"

Bibliography

Our Topic:

The concept of social capital has captured the attention of social scientists and people interested in strengthening local communities. From its very foundation, the Church has contributed to that process. Now, we are seeing a new appreciation for this process, among citizens as well as political leaders. This discussion will focus particularly on what this means for Christians who care about the needs of the poor and oppressed.

Our Speaker:

Merrill Ewert is Director and Associate Dean of Cornell Cooperative Extension.

Details:

When: March 11
Where: Crossroads Life Center

David French

"The Modern American Challenge to Religious Freedom"

Bibliography

Our Speaker:

David French is a lecturer in legal ethics in the Cornell Law School. He is also the Chief Council for InterVaristy Christian Fellowship's Religious Freedom Crisis Team.

Details:

When: Sunday, January 28
Where: Crossroads Life Center

Fall 2000

Panel on Poverty and Development

The Topic:

• Some Facts on Poverty: an introduction of the scale of the problem, statistics, the effects of poverty in different cultures, the results of certain responses to the problem.
• God's View of Poverty: what does the Bible say about poverty?
• What is Development? What does the Bible say about it?
• What is our response?

The Panel:

Dr. Christopher Barrett is an associate professor in the Department of Applied Economics and Management. His teaching and research focuses on the alleviation of food insecurity and poverty and on sustainable agricultural development. He is also President-Elect of the Association of Christian Economists. He, his wife and five children live in Lansing, where they belong to All Saints Catholic Church.

Dr. Ben Okumu, a Kenyan, obtained his PhD from the University of Manchester (UK) in collaboration with the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), one of the CGIAR Centers. He was awarded ILRI's Doherty Award as the most promising young scientist in 1999, and is currently a post doctoral research associate at Cornell University (USA). His research interest is in bioeconomic modeling and natural resource management.

Douglas Brown is from Canada and is a PhD student in the Department of Applied Economics and Management, (formerly ARME) specializing in the area of Economics of Development. He worked for 11 years in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in the area of Agricultural and Community Development.

Carolyn Brown is from Canada and will begin PhD studies in the Department of Natural Resources in Jan 2001. She will be doing research in the area of community-based natural resource management as it applies to subsistence farmers in the rainforest of West Africa. From 1988 to 1999, Carolyn worked together with Doug in the DRC, partnering with the local church in ministries of agricultural and community development.

Details:

When: November 12
Where: Crossroads Life Center

Discussion on Feminism and Christianity

Jenny Hampton and Elaine Ecklund - "Feminism and Christianity"

Elaine has typed up notes from this Roundtable.

Discussion Questions:

1. What is feminism anyway?
2. Should I call myself a feminist?
3. Are there forms of feminism, as a Christian, I can agree with?
4. As a woman, how should I respond to a traditional church culture which often does not value my calling to the academic world?
5. As a man/woman who is called to primarily care for/nurture children, how do I respond to a "feminist" academic culture where these things do not always seem to be valued?
6. How do I live faithfully/serve in an evangelical church setting and in an academic setting without feeling as if I am living dual lives? (*This question seems primarily geared towards women, but might also prove helpful for men who are/will be part of dual-earner couples.)

Details:

When: October 29
Where: Crossroads Life Center