For 2021-2022, we were delighted to offer a new Community Outreach Program, which featured free interactive presentations and workshops by experts about the place of religion in our world today and the history of religion since antiquity.
In addition to public outreach efforts, Public Courses, Faculty research projects, and the Religion and the Pandemic virtual public forum, programming included curriculum development and a postdoctoral program.
Professor and BCSR Director David Marno (UC Berkeley) and Professor and BCSR Co-founder Jonathan Sheehan (UC Berkeley) were the Principal Investigators for the Berkeley Democracy and Public Theology Program.
David Marno received his PhD in Comparative Literature from Stanford in 2011 and began teaching at UC Berkeley the same year. Marno taught English Renaissance poetry and drama and served as the Co-Director of the Berkeley Center for the Study of Religion.
Jonathan Sheehan was the former Co-Director of the Berkeley Center for the Study of Religion and the principal investigator for the “Berkeley Public Theology Project,” funded by the Henry Luce Foundation. Sheehan was a historian and had taught at Berkeley since 2007.
Is religious freedom for everyone? What does outer space have to do with religion? When did history replace God? What is a cult? These are just a few of the many pressing questions being posed by UC Berkeley graduate students. If any of these questions interest you, continue reading to learn how you can participate in a discussion on these topics.
BCSR is offering free free interactive presentations and workshops by experts about the place of religion in our world today and the history of religion since antiquity. A vital part of the BCSR’s mission is to connect research on religion that happens inside UC Berkeley to our broader and more diverse community beyond the walls of campus, in the East Bay and beyond. Through this program, aimed at general and young audiences, we hope to promote religious literacy, cultural knowledge and an insight into the latest academic work.
UC Berkeley graduate students, future professors, and thought leaders visited schools and groups, adapting their presentations to meet the needs of different audiences. The sessions were carefully designed to be non-sectarian and to engage participants in big questions about religion and society. They were suitable for History, Social Studies, Ethics, and Philosophy classes and for diverse groups.
This program was supported by the Democracy and Public Theology Program, generously funded by the Henry Luce Foundation.
Spring 2023 Program
“The Bible Clearly Says…”: The Problems of Making Meaning of an Ancient Sacred Text
Joshua Rumbaoa Garcia, History
The Christian Bible loomed large in Western culture as an authority on morality and ethics, with political figures and public commentators often appealing to it to bolster their credibility. Without wrestling with the vast semantic ranges of words written in ancient languages or debating the varieties of available recensions, people claimed that “the Bible clearly says” their own political or social value was the only correct one. This lecture problematized the notion that any ancient sacred text was obviously univocal and demonstrated how to evaluate interpretations critically. Focusing on the Christian Bible, it surveyed significant problems of translation, collation, and production of its various kinds of literature, as identified by scholars in the field of textual criticism. By challenging the idea that the Bible could say anything clearly at all, the lecture interrogated interpretation as a process of making meaning of literature—namely, hermeneutics. The result was a healthy skepticism toward political and religious leaders’ claims of objective interpretation, informed by an appreciation for the complexity of meaning-making in literature.
This talk was available online or in person in the East Bay Area.
What Can an Abandoned Village in Cyprus Tell Us About Religion and Coexistence?
Aliosha Bielenberg, Rhetoric
This talk focused on Agios Sozomenos, a village near Nicosia, the capital of the Mediterranean island of Cyprus, which had a many-layered past and a complex present. Agios Sozomenos was abandoned by its Greek- and Turkish-Cypriot inhabitants after intercommunal violence on February 6, 1964. Independence from the British Empire in 1960 had not secured lasting peace and stability, as was made clear by the Turkish invasion of 1974, which divided the island to this day. But Agios Sozomenos represented much more than a history of conflict. It had always been a place of plurality and coexistence, from the settlements of 1200 BCE to the many visitors—locals, foreign tourists, and farmers—who frequented the area. Nowhere was this more apparent than in the religious history of the site.
This presentation guided audiences through the village, inviting them to reflect on what this tiny place in the Mediterranean revealed about coexistence and plurality in societies fractured along ethnic, religious, and class lines.
This talk was available online or in person in the East Bay Area.
Tibetan Book of the Dead: Dying, Death, and Rebirth in Tibetan Buddhism
Weiyu Lin, Buddhist Studies
The Tibetan Book of the Dead was one of the most famous Tibetan texts in the West. After its first English translation in the 1920s, it profoundly influenced Western culture. Carl Jung, a founder of psychoanalysis, credited it with inspiring many of his fundamental insights. Likewise, the Beatles’ famous line “turn off your mind, relax, and float downstream” was drawn from this text.
This talk explored excerpts from the Book of the Dead to give audiences a sense of how Tibetan Buddhists envisioned the process of dying, death, and rebirth. The discussion examined concepts such as bardo, tantra, reincarnation, and the energetic body while reflecting on death and the afterlife.
This talk was available online or in person in the East Bay Area.
Empire and Religion: A Global History of Power and Devotion
Sourav Ghosh, History
The passing of Queen Elizabeth II rekindled public debates about the controversial legacy of the British colonial empire. Using this moment as a premise, this talk explored how empires historically shaped religious experiences and how religion played a role in the formation of empires.
By drawing on examples from Taoism and Buddhism in ancient East and South Asia, Hinduism and Islam in medieval South Asia and the Middle East, Christianity in early modern Europe, and modern colonial empires in the Americas and elsewhere, the talk examined how empires and religions mutually influenced one another across time.
This talk was available online or in person in the East Bay Area.
Ruminating with Rumi: The Life and Thought of the Poet
Ahmad Rashid Salim, Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures
The best-selling poet in America died long before the country was founded. Mawlānā Jalal al-Din Balkhi, popularly known as Rumi, passed away in 1273. Since the 13th century, there had been competing and often contradictory views regarding Rumi’s figure and philosophical contributions.
This talk explored Rumi’s life, literary thought, and reception, from his birthplace in Balkh (present-day Afghanistan) to his portrayal in modern popular culture. The discussion featured readings from his poetry and prose in the original language with translations and explanatory notes. Participants engaged with themes of ecstasy, transformation, and the tender moments of life, reflecting on how Rumi’s words continue to inspire contemporary audiences.
This talk was available online or in person in the East Bay Area.