Dozens of students convened in McMillan Hall for Charlotte Korchak’s talk titled “Concepts and Misconceptions about Israel, Zionism, and Jews.” Korchak, founder and senior educator at the Jerusalem Education Institute (JEI), led the discussion-based lecture focusing on understanding Zionism and the Jewish identity on March 27.

Two organizers of the radical performance activism group Earth Church, William Talen and Savitri D, gave a sermon and answered a series of questions posed by Professor Leigh Eric Schmidt in the second installment in the “Reverent Irreverence” series. The event was hosted by the John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics in Emerson Auditorium, Feb. 6. 

You have an awesome opportunity to learn from students who want to learn from you.

It is strange to simultaneously hold within myself this deep appreciation for the way I was raised and a sadness for my lack of cultural upbringing.

It wasn’t a conversion experience, and it didn’t need to be. I was content enough to learn about a religion and group I knew little about — to replace my own expectations of rigidity with real, complex and kind people of faith. 

Renne hopes that his conversion to Judaism will be over before college ends so that he can go on the Birthright trip to Israel as a college student. And his gender transition, he said, will be an ongoing process throughout life.

A few weeks ago I spoke with professors John Inazu and Mark Valeri to discuss some aspects of the 2020 election. Both professors brought up topics unrelated to the election, like religion in academia, that I found fascinating. The following Q&A is a combination of our first and second talks, shortened and edited for clarity.

As for what incentive atheists might have to lead good lives or behave morally, the general desire for the well-being of yourself and others is not as elusive as one might think.

At the beginning of the semester, the Office for Religious, Spiritual and Ethical Life introduced open hours at Graham Chapel.

Rev. Callista Isabelle will join the Center for Diversity and Inclusion as the Director of Religious, Spiritual and Ethical Life, this semester.