• About the Center
• Research Areas
• Project Management and Development
• Current Projects
• Center Calendar
• Publications
• Photographic Exhibits
• Resources
  • Religion and Public Life Seminar
  • Religion and Health Access
  • Faith-Based Child Care
  • California Religious Demographics

Center Calendar

2008 Upcoming Events

Orphans of the Rwanda Genocide: Portraits of Survival and Hope
Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels
555 W. Temple Street, LA 90012
Free admission, but regular parking rates apply

The exhibition of photographs by Jerry Berndt is presented by the Office of Justice and Peace and its Commission of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, and Catholic Relief Services (CRS), The exhibition was organized by the California African American Museum and the Center for Religion and Civic Culture. Read more about the exhibit.

2008 Past Events

Skeletal Figures: The Emotional Intuition of Form
Monday, January 28, 2008, 5:30 p.m.
HNB Auditorium
Followed by reception

Barbara Maria Stafford, 2008 USC Templeton Fellow, delivers one of her six distinguished lectures in the series entitled "Crystal and Smoke: Putting Image Back in Mind."

Religion and Public Life
Tuesday, January 29, 2008, 12:00 to 1:30 p.m.
SOS B40

Join the Religion, Identity and Global Governance program for a discussion of The Economist's special report on Religion and Public Life. Participants are asked to read the report and join the discussion. The event will be led by a panel of discussion leaders, including Professors James Heft and Donald Miller of the USC School of Religion, Professors Patrick James and Steven Lamy of the USC School of International Relations and Dr. Anthony Cerulli of the University of Chicago. Learn More.

Cold Intimacy/Hot Entanglement: Meaning in Combinations
Tuesday, January 29, 2008, 5:30 p.m.
HNB Auditorium

Barbara Maria Stafford, 2008 USC Templeton Fellow, delivers one of her six distinguished lectures in the series entitled "Crystal and Smoke: Putting Image Back in Mind."

Blind Faith: The Unholy Alliance of Religion and Medicine
Knight Chair Lunch Forum on Religion and Medicine
Wednesday, January 30, 2008 : 12:00pm to 1:00pm
Annenberg School for Communication, Room 207

USC Annenberg Knight Chair in Media and Religion Diane Winston welcomes Richard Sloan for a forum on the topic of his new book. Dr. Richard P. Sloan is professor of Behavioral Medicine (in Psychiatry) at the New York-Presbyterian Hospital at the Columbia University Medical Center, and chief of the Division of Behavioral Medicine at the New York State Psychiatric Institute. He will discuss his book, Blind Faith: The Unholy Alliance of Religion and Medicine.

RSVP is required. To RSVP, email bakere@usc.edu. This event is co-sponsored by the USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture and the USC Davis School of Gerontology.

Motor Mirroring: Recognition as the Performance of Other Minds
Thursday, January 31, 2008, 5:30 p.m.
HNB Auditorium

Barbara Maria Stafford, 2008 USC Templeton Fellow, delivers one of her six distinguished lectures in the series entitled "Crystal and Smoke: Putting Image Back in Mind."

Inner Sky: Cave Vision and the Landscape of Sensory Deprivation
Monday, February 4, 2008, 5:30 p.m.

Barbara Maria Stafford, 2008 USC Templeton Fellow, delivers one of her six distinguished lectures in the series entitled "Crystal and Smoke: Putting Image Back in Mind."

Join the webcast. (Windows Media Player Required)

The Miscellaneous Subject: Episodic Personhood from Mosaic to Bar Code
Tuesday, February 5, 2008, 5:30 p.m.

Barbara Maria Stafford, 2008 USC Templeton Fellow, delivers one of her six distinguished lectures in the series entitled "Crystal and Smoke: Putting Image Back in Mind." Join the webcast.(Windows Media Player Required)

The Long Conscious Look: Towards a Pedagogy of Attentiveness
Thursday, February 7, 2008, 5:30 p.m.,
Followed by reception

Barbara Maria Stafford, 2008 USC Templeton Fellow, delivers one of her six distinguished lectures in the series entitled "Crystal and Smoke: Putting Image Back in Mind." Join the webcast. (Windows Media Player Required)

Building Community: Reflections on Ethiopian Life in Los Angeles
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Messob Restaurant, 1041 S. Fairfax Avenue

The USC Center for Religion & Civic Culture, with support from a California Council on the Humanities California Stories Grant, presents a multimedia presentation of photographs by Ara Oshagan, and interviews by Rebecca Haile on Ethiopians in LA. A panel discussion follows the presentation.

• Dr. Getatchew Haile Professor of Medieval Studies, St. John's University
• Mesai Haileleul, Founder and Director, Addis Art Gallery
• Dr. Donald E. Miller, Professor of Religion and Sociology, USC
• Elias Wondimu Journalist and Founder, Tsehai Publishers
• Moderated by Rebecca Haile Author, New York City

The Knight Chair Lunch Forum presents J.J. Goldberg, editorial writer, The Jewish Daily Forward The event is co-sponsored by the Center for Religion and Civic Culture and the Department of Political Science. RSVP to bakere@usc.edu.

"Behind this Convent"
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Leavey Library Auditorium

On March 25, the USC School of Cinematic Arts, and the USC Shoah Foundation Institute, and the USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture, will host a screening of "Behind This Convent," a documentary film directed by Gilbert Ndahayo. The film explores his efforts to discover the tragedy that befell his village during the 1994 genocide.

The screening is free, but seating is limited. To reserve a seat, call (213)740-6724 or send e-mail to mcnear@usc.edu.

2007 Event Archive

William Dyrness and David Morgan will discuss historical and contemporary visualizations of Jesus by different religious communities. Dyrness, an author and professor of theology and culture at Fuller Theological Seminary, researches sacred imagery in Los Angeles congregations. He is a senior fellow of the Center for Religion and Civic Culture. Morgan, the Phyllis and Richard Duesenberg professor in Christianity and the arts at Valparaiso University, is a noted expert in material culture and popular religion. His most recent book is The Lure of Images: A History of Religion and Visual Media in the United States.

The lecture is part of Visions & Voices: The Arts & Humanities Initiative.

The event will be webcast live and archived. Watch the webcast.

For more information, click here.

One Nation and Unity Productions Foundation, along with the USC Center on Public Diplomacy at the Annenberg School, the USC Annenberg Knight Chair in Media and Religion, and the USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture present "Laughing While Muslim: A Town Hall Meeting on Pluralism in America."

To participate in person, go to the USC Andrus Gerontology Auditorium at 1:30 p.m.

To join the 2 p.m. PST Webcast, go to http://sparkmedia.acrobat.com/laughingwhilemuslim. Flash Player is required. Select "enter as guest" and type in your first and last name. If you lose the Internet connection, join the conversation via teleconference by calling (800) 261-3225. The conference code is 4636154#.

This one hour town hall conversation with students, scholars, and activists at USC, American University, and in cyberspace will begin with video clips from the comedy show Allah Made Me Funny. Video, panel responses, and questions from the audience and viewers on the internet will shape the free-ranging conversation, which seeks to dispel myths and create understanding.

The discussion will be moderated by Ralph Begleiter, formerly of CNN International and currently a professor of communication at the University of Delaware.

At USC, the panelists are:

• Edina Lekovic, Muslim Public Affairs Council
• Kareem Salama, musician, lawyer, cowboy
• Sheikh Yassir Fazaga, religious leader, Orange County Islamic Foundation

"What Do You Believe?"
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
5:30 p.m. screening followed by discussion
Leavey Library Auditorium

This award-winning film by Sarah Feinbloom explores the candid views of teens as they discuss everything from hormones to heaven. The film paints a broad picture of the spiritual lives of youth while delving into the issues that are at the heart of being human.

This event is co-sponsored by the Center for Religion and Civic Culture, the Office of Religious Life, the Knight Chair in Media and Religion. The screening is an affiliated event of Visions and Voices: The USC Arts and Humanities Initiative.

Learn more about the film.

Buddhist Art and Architecture: A field trip to Hsi Lai Temple
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Tour and lunch, 10:15 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

Nestled in the bedroom community of Hacienda Heights is Hsi Lai Temple, the largest Buddhist temple in North America. The temple's gardens and statuary are modeled after traditional styles of the Ming and Ching dynasties. Nuns from the Fo Guang Shan Buddhist Order work to spread their version of humanistic Buddhism. The field trip is part of Visions and Voices: The USC Arts and Humanities Initiative.

The tour is open to current USC students. You must use the provided transportation to participate. Space is limited and advance registration is required. RSVP beginning Tuesday, October 2, at 9:00 a.m. at www.usc.edu/visionsandvoices.

Islamic Art: A Museum and Mosque Field Trip
Friday, November 16, 2007
Tour and dinner: 3:15 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Tour the impressive Islamic art collection at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art with Dr. Linda Komaroff, LACMA's curator of Islamic art. Following the tour, participants will travel to the Islamic Center of Southern California for dinner and discussion with Jihad Turk, director of religious affairs. The lecture and tour is part of Visions and Voices: The USC Arts and Humanities Initiative.

The tour is open to current USC students. You must use the provided transportation to participate. Space is limited and advance registration is required. RSVP beginning Tuesday, October 25, at 9:00 a.m. at www.usc.edu/visionsandvoices.

"A Son's Sacrifice
Friday, November 30, 2007
Lucas Building, Room 108
5:00 p.m.
Parking is $8 at Gate 8, Parking structure B.

Join us for a screening of “A Son’s Sacrifice,” winner of the Tribeca Film Festival’s Best Documentary Short award.

A SON'S SACRIFICE follows the journey of Imran, a young American Muslim who struggles to take over his father's halal slaughterhouse in New York City. A first-generation American, Imran must confront his mixed heritage and gain acceptance from his father's immigrant community at the traditional storefront slaughterhouse. On the holiest day of the year, Imran must lead a sacrifice that will define him as a Muslim, as an American, and as a son. Directed and Produced by Yoni Brook, Produced by Musa Syeed, Executive Produced by Marco William.

Following the screening, discuss the film with Yoni Brook, director and producer, and Musa Syeed, producer. Learn more about the film.

2006 Event Archive